Saturday, August 14, 2010

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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28 comments:

  1. I recently had Breyers' Peach Ice Cream for the first time and LOVED it. I can only imagine how much better a homemade (and MORE PEACHY) version would be! Yum!

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  2. Wow homegrown peaches and then peach ice cream - amazing!

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  3. very luscious fruits there! and the icecream is so decadent!And yes.. thank you so much on the frosting post..helped me in finally getting a perfectly frosted cake!

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  4. the ice cream looks so yummy .... nice pic too :) loved it

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  5. this is the recipe I use for icecream and it always comes out great with any kind of fruit.....beautiful pictures

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  6. What a delicious idea for an ice cream... Peaches!

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  7. I think somehow you and I have some mental connection or something because I was just talking about peach ice cream the other day. This happens a lot actually. I think of something and I jump on the computer and find that you have posted about it. I'm not trying to be creepy I just think it's really weird.

    Anyway. This ice cream sounds and looks amazing! I wish I had a neighbor with a peach tree in his back yard. Especially one that looks like Alton Brown! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. This does sound very good.I only wish I could get peaches fresh from the tree.LOL Not going to happen in southern Manitoba
    Blessings,Ruth

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  9. This is from my friend who told me her ice cream maker had never been used? When was that... um, over a year ago? You're using it now, and dontchya love that book?! I've been looking at the peaches on my counter, having bookmarked a peaches & honey ice cream. Monica, you did a great job. Photos, recipe and all.
    xoxo

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  10. My Dad made peach ice cream growing up.
    To me a fond memory is climbing the peach treee, just after a rain.
    Sitting up there eating a rain kissed peach...pure Heaven!
    Looks fantastic!

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  11. Oh man, this makes me miss East Texas so much! I must make this ice cream! Monica, you are an angel!

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  12. I'd like to be your neighbor--the one where you bring the peach ice cream over to! This looks deliciously cool and we could use some cool right now.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  13. I need some peaches! I'll definitely try this.

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  14. yes i do love peach ice cream. that color is just to die for isn't it?

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  15. Monica, we just bought a big basket of fresh peaches this weekend and besides freezing them, i'm going to try a new recipe . . . i think that it will be your ice cream. we made one peach ice cream recipe a month ago ( I think from the Neely's) and it was so sweet that we threw it away! i trust your recipes so this will be the one I try next! Thanks so much! Roz

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  16. looks so refreshing! i have had such a hard time with peaches, i can't get them off the stone without ruining the slices!

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  17. I have made this recipe and it is a winner! Great photos!

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  18. Oh, I was going to bookmark this recipe until I saw the inclusion of sour cream. Blech! Otherwise, it looks fantastic!!

    I never got to get peaches from Fredericksberg because I drove through there at 11pm. Oh well. :(

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  19. Now how did you know my neighbors have a peach tree? They really do and it is heavy with peaches right now. They haven't offered though, so we went to the orchard instead! Sour cream in the ice cream would add such richness. I'm trying this one!

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  20. I thought I commented on this. Must be that AB reference distracted me too much. haha
    I made a similar ice cream last summer. The sour cream added the perfect tang to the sweet peaches. We loved it.
    This looks stunning and I'm needing to stop at a farm stand this week and pick us up some peaches.

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  21. Hi

    How did you peel your peaches.

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  22. Hi Jackie, I just used a paring knife to peel the peaches but a more effective way to peel them is to score the bottoms and dunk them in boiling water to remove the peels. See here:

    http://www.yumsugar.com/Simple-Tip-Easily-Peel-Peaches-348963

    Monica

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  23. YUM! Peach ice cream is one of my very favorite summer indulgences. I've never made it myself, though, but I think I need to change that soon!

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  24. Ripe summer peaches just make me so happy so I would love your ice cream! That was so nice of your neighbor - I'm jealous!

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  25. fresh peach ice cream sounds like it would be my new best friend!

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  26. Monica,

    We are making your version of peach ice cream this week!

    We have so many put-up peaches from this summer and need to make some ice cream, big time!

    We sadly made the recipe posted on the Neely's Food TV site with all of it's evaporated milk plus sweetened condensed milk.....it was so super sweet, we nearly gagged and threw the entire batch away. AND I HATE to throw away good peaches!

    So your recipe is what we will try next! I'll let you know the results!

    Love, Roz

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Thank you for your supportive comments. I appreciate each and every one of them!