SUNDAY SLOW SCOOPERS – PEACH ICE CREAM
PEACH ICE CREAM
This week our selection was peach ice cream. It’s hard to get good peaches at the grocery stores in Alaska, so I ordered them from my community-supported agriculture, Full Circle Farm, in hopes that I would be able to get some very flavorful ones. I was disappointment in them this time. They were very juicy, but not very flavorful. I made the ice cream anyway, but I don’t believe the flavor was as good as it would have been had my peaches been more flavorful. This is another uncooked ice cream, so very quick to make. This one called for 1/2 cup of sour cream. I was making this quickly before leaving town, and I forgot to buy sour cream. So I substituted 1/2 cup plain yogurt. The yogurt I had on had was fat free, which might have affected the texture of the ice cream a little. This ice cream was less creamy than the others I have made. Not icy, but less creamy. I served my ice cream with a topping of homemade raspberry jam, thinned with a little chambord, and toasted almonds on top. A take on peach melba. Although this ice cream was good, it was not my favorite, and with so many other wonderful ones to choose from, I probably won’t make it again. But don’t let that stop you from trying it.
PEACH ICE CREAM Makes about 1 quart
1 1/3 pounds ripe peaches (about 4 very 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 the 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, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
I used the sour cream as the recipe called for and it seemed very rich and creamy served right after it was made. But, I have to say, that the next day it was a bit too firm and almost icy. So maybe, if you had it in the freezer for a while before serving, it wasn’t really your substitution that made it seem less creamy. That said, I really liked this ice cream and I would make it again, but only when I had good peaches and if I planned to serve it right after making it.