Sour Orange Ice Cream

Third day of exploring the orange and marmalade culture of Central Florida, and we tasted wild orange ice cream at the Hemlock Inn in the Highlands Hammock State Park (floridastateparks.org/highlandshammock/). The ice cream was the bribe to convince my ten-year-old to go for another walk in the forest where we thought we encountered a Florida panther three days before. She wasn't too keen to return (neither was I). We did not run into a panther on the return visit, but did encounter a wild pig rooting around for oranges dropped from the wild orange trees growing amongst the palms and other trees. (Sorry, I didn't get a photo of the wild pig, as I was too busy walking away--quickly.)

In my family ice cream is what you always have in moments of crisis, so we went to the Hemlock Inn, as I said, and ordered our ice cream. (They make sour orange cheesecake and sour orange pie, too, but the woman at the counter said it hadn't set up well that day, so they couldn't sell it.)

It had a lot of ice crystals in it (that happens when you freeze homemade ice cream) but it had a nice, subtle orange taste--like a really good Creamsicle. The woman who served us didn't know, but I suspect they made the ice cream from those Calamondin oranges, because there was a huge tree nearby loaded with them.

I think I shall have to try making some when we get home. Maybe some marmalade ice cream too.

Calamondin marmalade anyone?

So, still in Central Florida, and this morning, we went to McCracken Farms (mccrackenfarms.com), a small, family farm in Sebring. Riding in a golf cart through the groves, we inhaled the gorgeous scent of orange blossoms and fruit and saw pink-and-yellow wild yarrow along the paths. When we stopped, our guide cut open a Honeybell orange and a tangerine for us to taste before we picked. (Actually, he picked more than we did, as we were too busy taking photos). As a Northerner, I've always wanted to pick oranges straight off the tree, and so my loving husband documented the experience for me:

On the ride back, I spotted trees with tiny, round oranges, which our guide said were Calamondins, a cross between a mandarin orange and a kumquat--"a very sour orange," he said. We tasted them, and they were very sour indeed. "Perfect for marmalade, though, so I brought some home.

Since I'm on vacation, I decided to go for easy and tasty--not pretty and Marmalade Awards-ready (dalemainmarmaladeawards.co.uk) I threw them in large pot filled with water and boiled them for nearly an hour--until the skins were soft, and they were nearing collapse. 

Then, because there was no food processor in the house where we are staying, I put the Calamondins, in into the blender and to try and chop them roughly. (Remember, I'm not going for beauty, but taste and ease.) It didn't work, so I ended up smooshing them in my hands, breaking up the skins and taking out the seeds.

Next, I boiled them up for 15 minutes. Which turned out to be too long. Alas, my gorgeous Calamondin marmalade turned into marmalade toffee. 

Delicious, (that perfect combination of sour and sweet) but useless, unless you think marmalade candy is a good idea.

I will have to try this again. If anyone out there has made marmalade from these tasty little oranges, can you please let me know?

Aftto collapse.

My Marmalade Vacation in Florida

On vacation in Sebring, FL with my parents, who have rented a villa in this Central Florida town. Central Florida is known for its citrus groves (the Florida Natural and Tropicana orange juice factories are in this region), so everywhere we drove, there were miles and miles of oranges and grapefruit which thrive in the sandy soil and high annual rainfall. There are even a grapefruit and orange tree in the backyard of the villa where we are staying. The fruit looks brown and unappetizing, but we picked some, and the grapefruit was juicy and sweet, as were the oranges.

On the drive back from Orlando (Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, for the ten-year-old in our group), we stopped by Davidson's of Dundee (dundeegroves.com), a marmalade and orange candy factory and store.

This place, whose citrus candy operation has been featured on the Food Network, makes nine kinds of marmalade, an orange-pecan-cinnamon preserve, four kinds of citrus jelly (Key Lime, Orange, Pink Grapefruit, and Tangerine), and orange "butter" made from finely chopped citrus peel.

Their marmalade was a very pretty: clear jelly with peel suspended in it. But I have to admit, we didn't love it, as it was made with corn syrup--way too sweet for our taste. It's a lovely place to visit, though, and the citrus candy was nice. They even had milk chocolate alligators for sale, which I was tempted to buy for my godson's Easter basket.

Tomorrow, we're going to McCracken Farms (mccrackenfarms.com) to pick oranges; I can't wait!