Just Peachy

Our neighbor has a peach tree in his backyard and he invited us to come over and pick some peaches. Well, no, that's not entirely true. He picked peaches that were ready to be eaten and bagged them up to give us, but we weren't home and they got overly ripe so he said we could come over and pick fresh peaches from his tree. This turned out to be a good thing because I got to pick the ones I wanted AND take pictures of them. They're just so pretty and fuzzy.

Last years we got peaches from Fredericksburg- it's kind of like the peach capitol of Texas. I wondered how I would prepare them when Mr. H informed me not to touch them or I'd "ruin them". Alright then. We ate those peaches, simply sliced in a bowl. And we did the same with most of these peaches from our neighbor's tree. Side note: Have I mentioned before that my neighbor looks like Alton Brown? Because he totally does! Anyway, with a good portion of our fruit I made this wonderful peach ice cream from David Lebovitz- the ice cream guru.

After preparing this ice cream, I realized something. I realized that I've never had peach ice cream- I've only had what I *thought* was peach ice cream. What do I mean by that? Well, what I thought was peach ice cream , was simply vanilla ice cream with peaches in it. THIS ice cream is different and it is definitely peachy. It's icy and creamy at the same time, you can taste the vanilla but it's subtle- almond extract might be nice too. But the peaches take center stage. As it should be. Before Summer ends, pick some peaches from your neighbors tree or get some from a roadside stand and make this ice cream.

Peach Ice Cream from Perfect Scoop

Printer Friendly Recipe

• 1 1/3 lbs. (600 g) ripe peaches (about 4 large peaches)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice

Peel the peaches, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in the sugar, then cool to room temperature.

Puree the cooked peaches and any liquid in a blender or food processor with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla and lemon juice until almost smooth but slightly chunky.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (overnight is best) then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Variation: To make Nectarine Ice Cream, simply substitute nectarines for the peaches. There's no need to peel the nectarines, since their tender skins soften during cooking.

Summer in a bowl.

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