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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 |
Peach ice cream is the essence of summer. In its sheer uncalled-for goodness, it transcends the category of mere food and borders a realm of luxury attainable only by grace and good fortune. With a generous amount of pureed fresh peach, this version is almost like a hybrid of ice cream and sorbet. Be sure to use fragrant, fully ripened peaches. Prepare the custard several hours before you plan to freeze the ice cream.
(Makes about 2 quarts)
1 vanilla bean
2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
4 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and mashed
1.) Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the insides with the edge of a knife to free the seeds. Place the seeds and pod into a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir in the milk, and heat until the milk is steaming hot, almost boiling.
2.) While the milk is heating whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir half of the hot milk mixture slowly into the yolk mixture, then pour it all back into the saucepan and cook, stirring gently, until steaming hot and slightly thickened. Do not boil.
3.) Take the vanilla custard off the heat and transfer it to a glass baking dish and put the dish in the freezer to chill. When the custard is thoroughly chilled, stir in the whipping cream and the peaches.
4.) Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to a tightly covered container and freeze for several hours or overnight to set.
Copyright, Greg Atkinson, 1999
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