14 July 2011

Ice Cream Social ~ Peach Ice Cream


During the summer when I was a little girl I always enjoyed ice cream at my great-grandmother, Louise's, house. Every night before they went to bed, Louise and Daddydear always had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Louise rarely bought ice cream, but made her own. The churn was a wooden bucket that held the ice and ice cream salt, with a metal container and dasher that had to be hand cranked. She always put the ice cream in an enamelled pan with a sliding lid to store it in the freezer. When we would visit we thought it was a wonderful treat to have a bowl of ice cream at night.

Another way I enjoyed ice cream as a child was when my grandmother would let us walk up the street to the general store in their little town and get an ice cream treat. She would either give me a nickle or let me charge it to her account. Typically I would get an Eskimo Pie. (And btw, does anyone know why this ice cream on a stick is called a pie?) For those of you who might be unfamiliar with an Eskimo Pie, it is a small block of vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate so that it has a chocolate shell and is on a popsicle stick. My grandfather always grew lots of strawberries, so Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream was also a summertime treat at their house.

When I was a teenager I decided I liked ice cream sandwiches - chocolate cookie with vanilla ice cream. And my early teen years were when my best friend and I ran the Peach Stand on the highway for her grandfather's peach farm. We always had tons of peaches in the summer and peach ice cream was a treat we really enjoyed. Later, when I was married and moved to Texas, I discovered Bluebell Fresh Peach Ice Cream. That was a great facsimile of what we had made at home in earlier years. Luckily, my grandmother had given me a Waring Ice Cream Parlour machine one year for my birthday. It was electric and used table salt, but it was still messy. However, it was much easier than hand-cranking or having to find ice cream salt.

Sometime after that I sort of lost my taste for ice cream. It's not something I buy or keep around the house. But a few years ago we had an excess of fresh figs on our tree and of course I had a recipe for Fig Ice Cream. I got a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and gave it a try. Oh my! That ice cream was so good and the Cuisinart made it so easy to make ice cream, that I have been making fresh fruit ice creams every summer. And a few times in the winter I have made Nigella's Pomegranate Ice Cream.

Which brings us to today. First, Suzy from Kitchen Bouquet is hosting another Ice Cream Social this year. Click on the logo to join in or just to see all the wonderful frozen treats being brought to the party.


Second, this weekend we celebrate not only National Ice Cream Day, but National Peach Ice Cream Day. I want to take part in the Ice Cream Social and we have lots of peaches on our trees.


What could be more perfect?

Before we get busy in the kitchen, I will say that this is my basic fruit ice cream recipe. While today peach is on the menu, you can use figs, strawberries, other berries, stone fruit, etc.

Let's start the custard by getting the egg (free-range from my CSA) and sugar in the pot.


Custard cooked until it coated the spoon:


Peaches sliced with sugar and lemon juice added:


Ingredients in Cuisinart:


Dipped out and ready for the social:



Homemade Peach Ice Cream

2 cups chopped fresh peaches
1 Tbsp lemon juice
generous 3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream, whipped slightly

Combine fruit, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar. Let stand until sugar is dissolved.

Mix remaining sugar with egg in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the milk and cook, continuing to stir constantly, until mixture is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and refrigerate custard several hours to chill. Combine fruit mixture with milk mixture and fold in the slightly whipped cream.

Freeze in 2 quart ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instructions. Then place in airtight container in freezer to ripen for several hours.

With this recipe I'm also joining:
Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum
Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking


Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,
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24 comments:

Southerncook said...

Becky, I'll have to try your peach ice cream recipe. Each recipe of yours that I have tried I always love and I have been looking for a Peach Ice Cream recipe that cooks the eggs. My tried and true does not cook the eggs, need I say more. I recently tried Sara Fosters recipe in her latest book and found it to be just okay in comparision to my tried and true.

Thanks for sharing.

Carolyn

Thibeault's Table said...

Oh My, doesn't that look good. It is when I see photos like yours that I realize I need to replace my ice cream maker.

Ann

webbie said...

Looks sooo good! I've been contemplating a trip to the U-pick peach orchard. This would be great.

The Fajdich Times said...

There is nothing better than homemade ice cream:)

Anonymous said...

It just don't get no better than homemade peach ice cream,I'm slobrn'!!
I'm visiting from Foodie Friday.
Hope you can visit LazyonLoblolly for cookbook giveaway.
~Jo
LazyonLoblolly

black eyed susans kitchen said...

I forgot how much I like peach ice cream! Looks amazing!!

Kathy G said...

Sure brings back such fond childhood memories Becky!! Fresh peaches..our cows rich cream+peaches from our orchid =the best Peach Ice cream ever growing up. We would have friends over to make it!!

Laurie K said...

Nothing better than fresh peach ice cream. My mother used to make it with a hand cranked freezer (I was the cranker). Thanks for the quick pleasant flashback, Becky!

Susanna said...

‎:-)~

Diedra said...

Ummm, peaches. Thanks for the fattening thoughts!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

That is absolutely a friday's favorite.
Pass me a bowl!

Irene said...

YUMMMMMM, Becky when I saw this I went and bought a basket of peaches......it looks so good. :-)))

Maggie said...

I really admire anyone who makes their own ice cream, I always buy Carte D'Or vanilla and add fresh fruit to it.
Thanks for sharing your memories and recipes, have a wonderful weekend.
Maggie @ Normandy Life

Terri Steffes said...

I love my cuisinart ice cream maker! Your recipe comes at the perfect time. Peaches are nice and ripe now! Nice to meet you.

Vee said...

That sounds like the freshest tasting most delicious ice cream. Makes me want to purchase an ice cream machine.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Homemade it the best! And you have your own peaches? WOW! That sounds delicious! ♥

bj said...

Sounds just delicious.
Just last week, daughter had us out for dinner and she made a freezer of Peach Ice Cream...did not think to get a single picture for my ice cream post. :(
xo bj

Beth said...

Becky, Your peach ice cream looks great! I plan to print the recipe and give it a try! I like the Cuisinart ice cream maker too. Much easier, no mess.
Blessings, Beth

Lynn said...

Love the pic of the peaches on your tree, just beautiful! Sounds like a great ice cream recipe too-thanks:@)

Suzy said...

Love your post and the graphics you used. As you might have gathered I love vintage ads and photos! Loved hearing you recount your ice cream faves. Your recipe sounds great and I wish I had fresh figs to give that a try. Thanks so much for joining in for the Social this year. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year! It will be approximately the same weekend - Nat'l Ice Cream Day.

Foley said...

Oh, those peaches are amazing! That looks so refreshing..it will be awhile before we get the really good peaches in the store, but I will be thinking of this!

Linda said...

Yum! Jersey peaches just starting to come out here...I can not wait for my first batch of peach ice cream!
Yours looks wonderful!

Marsha said...

This sounds wonderful - I cannot wait to try it soon. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

Cassy said...

Hmmm, that sounds good.
I wanna make that ice cream at home too.
Thanks for sharing.

Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Lessons