Adventures with the Ice Cream Maker: Orange Popsicle Ice Cream

So, I made this ice cream a long time ago (it is actually getting somewhat chilly in Texas -- around 60 during the day, ha ha) but only got around to posting this now.  This ice cream is from one of my favorite books, David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop.  I have made many different flavors from this book, and they have all been great, so I feel sad saying that this was not a hit with me.  I love, love, love orange and cream popsicles, so I was excited about this flavor and quite sad when it didn't turn out like I wanted it to.

So, why am I posting about it?  Two reasons.  One, my husband enjoyed it, so I think it is a matter of taste.  Two, I think it was the quality of the ingredients that made this not a big hit.  You have to zest three oranges and, once I tasted the ice cream, I think the zest was bitter and so it infected the whole ice cream.  I don't know how you figure out if your zest is bitter or not.  The orange smelled sweet, but the flavor of the ice cream was somewhat off for me.  David suggests pairing this ice cream with white chocolate (and making a kind of tartufo out of it) and I think that would have helped here, as it would have had more sweetness to balance the bitterness.  It also may have given it more of the "orange and cream" flavor that I was looking for.

Anyway, I encourage those of you who can find really good oranges to try this ice cream and tell me how it is.  I'm thinking it was just me.

Here is the recipe:
Orange Popsicle Ice Cream

2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 oranges
1¼ cups freshly squeezed orange juice (from 3-5 oranges)
1 cup sour cream
½ cup half-and-half
2 tsp. Grand Marnier
In a blender, pulverize the sugar and orange zest until the zest is very fine.  Add the orange juice, sour cream, half-and-half, and Grand Marnier, and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.