Fresh Peach Ice Cream
You probably won’t be surprised when we tell you that we eat a lot more candy-filled and chocolate ice cream than we do fruit-based ice creams. However, sometimes there’s nothing better on a sweltering summer day than a few scoops of fresh strawberry or peach ice cream. A few years ago, we made a fabulous strawberry ice cream, and a couple of months later we added peach to our to-do list. We’ll ignore the fact that it’s been three years and celebrate the fact that it’s made, right?! Peach ice cream just screams summer, and since we’re smack dab in the middle of the season, it seemed like the reliable time to finally churn it up.
We mashed together a few different recipes to pull this one together, but it’s primarily a riff on our favorite vanilla ice cream recipe. To accent the creamy vanilla, we macerated chopped peaches in sugar and lemon juice overnight, then whisked the resulting juice into the custard base before churning. When the ice cream is almost done freezing, all of the chopped peaches get thrown in. The sweet peach juice flavors the ice cream in a wonderfully subtle way; that, along with the chunks of peaches throughout makes it feel like spoonfuls of summer in every bite.
While we'll always gravitate toward the ice creams loaded with chunky candy add-ins, we are in absolute love with how refreshing this ice cream tastes. We'll be eating it all through the dog days of summer!
One year ago: Banana Split Ice Cream Cake and From-scratch Butterscotch Sauce
Two years ago: S’mores Cupcakes
Three years ago: Snickerdoodle Blondies
Four years ago: Chocolate Ice Cream
Five years ago: Hearty Whole Wheat Bread
Six years ago: Bacon, Cheddar and Green Onion Scones
Fresh Peach Ice Cream
Yield: 1 quart A wonderfully creamy ice cream loaded with fresh peaches and natural peach juice.- 1½ to 2 pounds (680 to 907 g) fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped finely into tiny pieces
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, divided
- 4½ teaspoons (4.5 teaspoons) lemon juice
- 1 cup (244 ml) whole milk
- 2 cups (476 ml) heavy cream, divided
- Pinch of salt
- 6 egg yolks
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- Combine the peaches, ½ cup of the sugar and the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Warm the milk, remaining ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup of the heavy cream and the salt in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and place a fine-mesh sieve on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, a few minutes. The mixture should register 170 to 175 degrees F on an instant-read digital thermometer.
- Pour the custard through the fine-mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and place the bowl over an ice bath. Stir occasionally, until the mixture is cool. Cover and transfer the custard to the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.
- When ready to churn the ice cream, place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl with the custard and pour the peaches into the sieve, allowing the accumulated juice to strain into the custard. Whisk the juice into the custard and set the peaches aside. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, adding the peaches when the churning is about three-quarters complete. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.
Notes
Nutritional values are base on the whole recipe
- Yield: 1 quart
- Prep: 30 minutes
- Total: 8 hours
Ingredients
- 1½ to 2 pounds ( 680 to 907 g ) fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped finely into tiny pieces
- ¾ cup ( 150 g ) granulated sugar, divided
- 4½ teaspoons ( 4.5 teaspoons ) lemon juice
- 1 cup ( 244 ml ) whole milk
- 2 cups ( 476 ml ) heavy cream, divided
- Pinch of salt
- 6 egg yolks
- ¾ teaspoon ( 0.75 teaspoon ) vanilla extract
Method
- Combine the peaches, ½ cup of the sugar and the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Warm the milk, remaining ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup of the heavy cream and the salt in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and place a fine-mesh sieve on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, a few minutes. The mixture should register 170 to 175 degrees F on an instant-read digital thermometer.
- Pour the custard through the fine-mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and place the bowl over an ice bath. Stir occasionally, until the mixture is cool. Cover and transfer the custard to the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.
- When ready to churn the ice cream, place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl with the custard and pour the peaches into the sieve, allowing the accumulated juice to strain into the custard. Whisk the juice into the custard and set the peaches aside. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, adding the peaches when the churning is about three-quarters complete. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.
