Bi-Rite's Orange Cardamom Ice Cream

I love this ice cream! I had my first taste during a recent trip to San Francisco. I hadn't planned on getting any as I was only accompanying friends that wanted some of Bi-Rite's ever-so-popular salted caramel ice cream. While perusing their flavors of the day, the orange and cardamom ice cream immediately caught my attention. I've never used cardamom in my cooking before. This spice, a member of the ginger family, is commonly found in Middle Eastern cuisine and is probably best known as a flavoring in Indian chai tea. Cardamom pods are one of the more expensive spices, right behind saffron and vanilla beans. I was super curious how this ice cream would taste, especially paired with orange, one of my favorite ice cream flavorings (ie Black Sesame & Orange Ice Cream).  

I only had a small sample spoonful but it was enough to know, I love orange and cardamom ice cream! Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this but the cardamom tastes and smells just like Fruit Loops cereal to me. I was super excited to find green cardamom pods at Wholefoods and decided to make this yummy ice cream for Thanksgiving this year. My family liked it alot but many of them thought it was ginger ice cream - probably because they are as unfamiliar with cardamom as I was. Regardless, this was super yummy and the consistency of this Bi-Rite ice cream was perfect and froze very well. I may just use this custard base from now on for all my ice cream recipes.

Bi-Rite's Orange Cardamom Ice Cream 
adapted from Serious Eats 

Ingredients 
2 tablespoons (1/4 ounce) green cardamom pods 
1 3/4 cups heavy cream 
3/4 cup 1% or 2% milk 
1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
5 large egg yolks 
1 large orange 

Directions 
Put the cardamom pods in a small skillet and put the pan over medium heat. Toast, stirring frequently, until aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool for a minute, then use a sharp knife to coarsely chop the pods. 

In a medium heavy saucepan, stir together the cardamom, cream, milk, sugar and  salt. Put the pan over medium-high heat. When the mixture just begins to bubble around the edges, remove from the heat and cover the pan. Let steep for about 30 minutes, or until the cream mixture has a distinct cardamom flavor. (Taste it to monitor the progress; the mixture will become bitter if oversteeped.) 

Add the egg yolks to the pan and whisk briskly to incorporate over medium-high heat. Continue to cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, coats the back of a spatula, and leaves a clear mark when you run your finger across it, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
 
Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer and into a clean container. Working directly over the container, use a fine grater to grate the orange zest into the ice cream base. Set the container into an ice bath, wash your spatula, and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight. 
 
Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is churning, put the container you'll use to store the ice cream into the freezer. Enjoy right away or, for a firmer ice cream, freeze for at least four hours.