Ingredients

2 cups milk

4 tsp. cornstarch

1¼ cups heavy cream

⅔ cup sugar

2 tbsp. light corn syrup

½ tsp. kosher salt

Zest of 1 orange

3 tbsp. mascarpone cheese, softened

½ cup puréed roasted beets

2 tbsp. poppy seeds

Preparation

  1. In a bowl, stir together ¼ cup milk and the cornstarch; set slurry aside. In a 4-qt. saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, syrup, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add orange zest. Cook for 4 minutes; stir in slurry. Return to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

  2. Place mascarpone cheese in a bowl and pour in ¼ cup hot milk mixture; whisk until smooth. Then whisk in remaining milk mixture; stir in beet purée*. Refrigerate mixture until chilled.

  3. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer’s instructions, adding poppy seeds during the last minute of churning.

*Note that the freezing time usually takes 2-4 hours depending on your freezer.

  • To purée the beets: I tend to pour 1/4 cup of the milk mixture into the blender with the already blended beet to create a purée as I find it difficult to purée without a liquid.