Serves 6
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  1.  Depending on what ice cream machine you have, you may need to freeze the machine bowl before making ice cream. Read the instructions and place the bowl in the freezer the day before if needed.
  2. To make the ice cream, pour the cream and milk into a medium heavy-based pot, then add half of the sugar. Slit the vanilla pods down their length using a small sharp knife and scoop out as many of the tiny black seeds as you can into the cream mixture. Add the empty pods into the pot as well to infuse extra flavour.
  3. Place the saucepan over a low heat and gently heat the cream and milk until small bubbles begin to form around the edges, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let it come to a boil.
  4. Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the remaining sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about two minutes until the mixture has thickened, is pale in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters.
  5. Using a ladle, add a little of the cream mixture into the egg yolks and beat to combine. Keep adding the cream very slowly, one ladleful at a time to avoid scrambling the eggs. Once the mixture is about half cream mixture, half egg, pour in the remaining cream mixture and stir to combine well.
  6. Return to the pan and place over a low heat. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, stirring constantly. It is important to cook the mixture fully, but be careful not to let it get too hot too quickly as it may scramble. Watch that it doesn’t boil – as soon as you see any bubbles coming to the surface, it should be thick enough. Remove from the heat immediately so the mixture doesn’t curdle. If you have a temperature probe, you can take it off when it reaches 90 ̊C.
  7.  Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl, then sit this bowl in a bigger bowl. Add iced water to the outside bowl until about one- third full and allow to cool (this takes about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming.
  8.  Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, giving it a chance to get very cold.
  9.  Get the ice cream machine running. Scoop out the vanilla pods from the cold custard, then slowly pour into the machine. Leave it to churn for 30 minutes or according to your machine’s instructions.
  10. Once churned, spoon the ice cream into a plastic container.
  11. Once the ice cream is fully churned, stir in the Digestive biscuits.
  12. Grated the zest from the orange, then peel away the pith and divide into segments.
  13. Gently stir the zest and orange segments into the ice cream, along with any juice they have released.
  14. Stir in the cream cheese.
  15. Cover with cling film, then a lid, and freeze for a minimum of three hours. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.
PicnicFreezer-friendlySweet thingsStep-by-stepCheesecakeKidsFruit desserts

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