As you can tell, I love ice cream. I love to make it, eat it and watch others enjoy it. Now that it is Summertime, ice cream is on my mind daily – I could eat it instead of a meal and sometimes do. With all the abundant fresh fruit this season there are numerous choices to make a great ice cream.
Fruit ice cream is harder to make than chocolate, or nut based ice creams because of the water content in fruit. Extra water adds ice crystals to the ice cream, which is a complete no-no in the ice cream world. The trick to making a great smooth and creamy fruit ice cream is to cook your fruit with sugar ahead of time, before adding it to the ice cream base.
This Fresh Peach Ice Cream is delightful in the height of peach season, but you can always whip up a batch in the fall and winter months using frozen peaches. I hope you like it as much as I do!
Ingredients
6 large peaches – diced, skins 0n
2/3 cup sugar – divided
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon almond extract
To Prepare:
1. Place your diced peaches with 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the peaches for 12 minutes until soft.
2. While still warm, spoon the peaches in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set the puree aside until needed.
3. In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of heavy cream and milk over medium heat, until simmering.
4. Whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and then add 1/4 cup of hot cream to the yolks slowly, while whisking (this is called tempering).
5. Drizzle the egg yolk mixture into the hot cream mixture, while continuously whisking.
6. Continue to cook the cream mixture over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. You should be able to draw a line on the back of a wooden spoon.
7. Strain the hot cream base into a bowl to remove any curdled egg bits.
8. Mix together the last 1/2 cup of heavy cream with the peach puree, and add it to the cream base.
9. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Process the ice cream in your ice cream maker until thick and creamy.
10. Spoon the ice cream into a plastic or ice cream container and chill for 2 hours. Enjoy!
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