Peachy Keen, Jelly Bean!

Peaches. I have a love/hate relationship with peaches. I would never just pick up a peach out of a fruit bowl and eat it. If someone offered me a choice of fruit pies, I would never choose peach. And anything peach-flavored, like candy or jelly. Blech! Not a fan at all!

But there is a way I enjoy peaches. More like adore. More like willing to smack my own husband to get. And that is: peach ice cream. When I was a kid, my dad and I used to take peach ice cream pilgrimages. We’d drive around to every ice cream shop we could think of in search of it. It’s not easy to find here in the Midwest. Once we found it, we’d go back at least once a month during the summer to have some, even if it was a half hour away. It’s our absolute favorite flavor!

So, I bought the KA ice cream maker attachment last week, let Eric pick the first flavor, which was all well and good. But, my motivation behind the purchase was only one thing: homemade peach ice cream. Yum.

The results: The texture was perfect, the color perfectly peachy…BUT my peaches were just not quite sweet enough. It’s still good (oh, I’ll still eat it. All of it. In a matter of days, most likely) but it would be downright SPECTACULAR if I had really really good peaches. I’m not sure you can even buy really really good peaches here in Iowa…I’ve never shopped for peaches before! If you are blessed with good peaches in your area, I recommend this recipe. If you’ve never had peach ice cream, get some. Now. Run, don’t walk!

PEACH ICE CREAM(Recipe Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein)

Ingredients:

• 3 large, sweet peaches, peeled and pitted
• ¼ cup peach nectar (found in the Mexican foods aisle at the supermarket)
• Juice ½ lemon (since my peaches weren’t all that sweet, I may knock this back next time.)
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbs. all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

 

Slice the peaches in eighths and place in a blender with the peach nectar, lemon juice, and slat. Blend until the peaches are pureed. Set aside.

 

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until they are thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the flour. Set aside.

 

Bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful no to let the mixture boil or the eggs scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then mix in the peach puree and cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

**Note: I like chunks of fruit in my ice cream, so I cut up an additional peach and added it to the ice cream after about 15 minutes of mixing. This is just a personal preference.

ENJOY! 🙂