I met my husband when we were both working at a Swenson’s Ice Cream factory in Springfield, Missouri. We were both seniors in high school, and I was assistant manager, working after school and weekends. It’s funny the things we remember from 30 years ago (that can’t be right, how has it been that long?). He remembers how I used to tell him he didn’t clean the ice cream freezers good enough, and I remember him being sweet and changing out tubs of ice cream for me. I guess things never change. Another thing we both remember is the Swiss Orange Chip Ice Cream. It was a dark chocolate ice cream flavored with orange, with chocolate chips. I have never tried to recreate that flavor, but have thought about it often.
Then, I decided it was time. Even though I’m trying to lose some weight and not cook too many fattening things, I had some nice heavy whipping cream leftover from a dinner I made a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t want to waste all of the nice cream. So, Chocolate Orange Chip Ice Cream is was. I used the Chocolate Ice Cream in David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop as my base recipe. To it, I added orange zest, orange extract, Grand Marnier, and chopped chocolate. The ice cream turned out luscious. It is one of the creamiest ice creams I have made, with a nice fluffy texture. The orange is pronounced, but not overly so. And the extra chocolate from the chips is just perfect. I know this is one I will be making again in the future. Next time, instead of chocolate chips, I might have to chop up some chocolate covered candied orange peel…

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CHIP ICE CREAM
Makes about 1 Quart
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Guittard 72% cacao)
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
Grated zest of 2 large oranges
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
Warm the milk, sugar, salt, and orange zest in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla and orange extracts, and the Grand Marnier. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. At the end, stir in the chopped chocolate pieces.