Friday, August 20, 2010

Ice Cream Fridays: Honey Peach Ice Cream


Welcome to another edition of Ice Cream Fridays. Every Friday you can look forward to a new ice cream recipe which will hopefully inspire you to break out your old dust covered ice cream maker that is hiding somewhere in a closet (yes, I'm talking about you). Since I'm always looking for inspiration and ideas, feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page, and let me know what ice cream flavor you would like to see. Who knows, you might just get lucky and it will be featured the following week. 

With only a couple more Fridays left after today's featured post I will be retiring the Ice Cream series for the year. I'm still left with a list a mile long of different ice creams yet to try. So, picking and choosing which one to make should have been hard, but I was getting a little help in the form of a gentle nudge from my friend Sharon and facebook follower Christy. Both of them named Peach Ice Cream as their favorite flavor when I had asked a while back. I love a good peach ice cream as well, but there was only one problem with the execution, the peaches. For the life of it, I could not get my hands on decent tasting peaches. I was looking for bright red peaches, the same ones that as you bit into them the juices are running everywhere and you'd better have a napkin handy. Nope, all I could find for weeks and weeks were great looking peaches on the outside but they were hard as rocks and flavorless on the inside. My husband (the official taste tester and critic for this blog), took it upon himself to try peach after peach in search of the perfect one. Did he ever find it? Unfortunately not, so I ended up having to use some mediocre ones that "worked" since I really wanted to make this ice cream. 



While I was looking for the perfect peach ice cream, I had a couple of criteria in mind. One, it had to be full of peach flavor (this would have been achieved with better peaches) and two, it couldn't just be a vanilla base with peach chunks mixed in. So, after looking at different recipes I had narrowed it down to one from David Lebovitz and one from Dorie Greenspan. I really liked David's concept (he adds sour cream to the mix) but ended up choosing Dorie's version since I had already made a Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream earlier in the year. Dorie's version was different by including honey and I thought it sounded heavenly in combination with the peaches.
Peeled peaches are chopped and cooked with honey until soft, then the mixture is pureed. Meanwhile a basic egg custard is cooked and the peach puree is added to the finished base along with vanilla extract. I went a step further and added ground up vanilla bean to my custard for additional flavor. After a good chilling in the refrigerator, the custard is churned in the ice cream maker, and right before finishing, more diced peaches are added.

This ice cream turned out very well, despite the sub-par peaches, so I can only imagine how incredibly tasty it would be with ripe, juicy ones. I loved the subtle honey flavor that infused the ice cream throughout. My kids were not sure about this flavor when I set out to make it, but every single one of them happily emptied their bowls. I will stay on the hunt for decent peaches, and will definitely make this flavor again. Maybe next year I'll have to have a peach ice cream throw-down between Dorie and David!



Honey-Peach Ice Cream
(adapted from "Baking: From my home to yours")
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

4 large ripe peaches (about 2 pounds), peeled and pitted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla beans

Preparation:

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks and toss them into a small saucepan. Add the honey and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft abut not mushy, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a  blender or food processor and whir to puree. Set the peach puree aside while you make the custard.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid - this will temper or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down the back of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and our the custard into a 2-quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and the peach puree.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

24 comments:

  1. Peach is my hubby's favorite ice cream flavor. I bought him a carton of Breyers yesterday, but I'm sure he would love to have some Susi's. The honey sounds really good with peaches. Too bad, you're not having luck finding good peaches this summer.

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  2. Susi, Du musst einfach mal mit zu uns auf den Markt. Wir haben die leckersten Pfirsiche von den Westhaengen Colorado's. Ist ja kaum zu glauben. dass es bei Dir keinen anstaendigen Markt gibt, sorry. Ein Carepaket vielleicht?
    Das Eis wurede meiner Familie auch gefallen. Wird gleich im meinem Dorie Buch vermerkt.
    Gruesse.

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  3. I love the flavor combination in this ice cream! Great job!

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  4. golosissima questa coppa!!bravissima!ciao!

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  5. Even with my "morning" sickness, this ice cream looks like it rocks. Yummmm.....

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  6. did I mention I love Ice Cream!!!!!!! that peach and honey ice cream sounds delicious!!! wow!!
    I do have to get an ice cream maker, for all these great recipes!

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  7. I wish I could send you some peaches- I have some absolutely lovely "drip down your chin while you are eating" ones. This ice cream looks lovely!

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  8. I love the way you researched the recipes looking for the perfect one that would capitalize on that wonderful peach flavor. That's definitely good thinking:) Peaches are a favorite of mine but I've yet to try a peach ice cream. This recipe looks like the "ultimate" in peach ice cream.

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  9. Yay!!! Looks so good & I bet it was delicious:) Thank you so much for making it!! I plan on buying an ice cream maker soon. What do you recommend...(sorry if you already have)?

    Christy

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  10. Christy, I'm glad you like it :o) As far as ice cream makers are concerned I use this one:
    http://tinyurl.com/28vorwa
    I have used and abused it this summer and it delivers every time but if you only make ice cream occasionally this one is great as well:
    http://tinyurl.com/23qcj35
    Hope this helps :o)

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  11. Susi we have the same ice cream maker. That thing doesn't quit!

    I'm really going to miss this series when it's over. It's hot year round in Miami so my ice cream cravings never, ever go away.

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  12. M, not to worry, I'm sure there will be the occasional seasonal ice cream flavor featured :o)

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  13. Delicious! Peach ice cream is one of my favorites. I love your addition of honey.

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  14. My husband enjoys making ice cream and with peach season in full swing, this would be a beautiful flavor to enjoy.

    As always, your recipe/ideas are great.

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  15. I am in love with peaches right now so the idea of a peach ice cream sounds heavenly! Lovely flavor with honey.

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  16. What! Retiring Ice Cream Fridays for the year??? Oh dear. Well, I guess all good things must come to an end, and that's okay. This just means you'll have more time to make other delights! Yet again, this peach honey ice cream looks like something right out of a dream, Susi. Another beautiful, creamy dessert comes from your kitchen! Lovely as always. :)

    Jane

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  17. I love honey flavored icecream, yours looks delicious!

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  18. You suddenly know me oh so well - peach is my ALL TIME FAVORITE flavor of ice cream - it just screams summertime...

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  19. Honey & peach ice cream sounds so good right now. I'm not going to lie, I kind of want a bowl for dinner! I love your pictures!

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  20. This looks so good! I'll have to scroll through the other ice cream recipes -- I don't think I've made enough this summer.

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  21. Thanks for your ice cream maker recommendations!

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