Peach Ice Cream

To me peaches are the best produce of summer! There's nothing I love more than a tasty peach in July. I thought peach ice cream would be the perfect dessert to share with neighbors and so I embarked on finding a delicious peach ice cream. This recipe is great but the peach flavor is a bit more subtle than I was expecting. We served the peach ice cream with snickerdoodle cookies which complemented the peach ice cream with its cinnamon-sugary sweetness perfectly. Even though the ice cream isn't quite as peachy as it could be it's still worth a share and certainly worth effort to make!

Fresh Peach Ice Cream from brown eyed baker

   Yield 1 quart | 30 min prep time | 8 hours total

Ingredients

1½ to 2 lbs fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped finely into tiny pieces

¾ c granulated sugar, divided

4½ tsp lemon juice

1 c whole milk

2 c heavy cream, divided

Pinch of salt

6 egg yolks

¾ tsp vanilla extract

Directions 

   Combine the peaches, ½ cup of the sugar and the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight.

   Warm the milk, remaining ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup of the heavy cream and the salt in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

   Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and place a fine-mesh sieve on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.

   Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, a few minutes. The mixture should register 170 to 175 degrees F on an instant-read digital thermometer.

   Pour the custard through the fine-mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and place the bowl over an ice bath. Stir occasionally, until the mixture is cool. Cover and transfer the custard to the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.

   When ready to churn the ice cream, place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl with the custard and pour the peaches into the sieve, allowing the accumulated juice to strain into the custard. Whisk the juice into the custard and set the peaches aside. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, adding the peaches when the churning is about three-quarters complete. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.

Snickerdoodles from Smitten Kitchen and Martha Stewart

   Yields three dozen 3 to 4-inch cookies

Ingredients

2 3/4 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

16 tbsp (2 stick or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 c sugar, plus more if needed

2 tbsp ground cinnamon, plus more if needed

2 large eggs

Directions

   Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine. At this point, I chilled the dough for an hour (or you can overnight) before scooping it, because I otherwise found it too difficult to scoop into balls and roll but the original recipe doesn’t find this step neccessary.

   Preheat the oven to 400°, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

   Once dough has chilled, in a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small ice-cream scoop* to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after five minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about five minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack.

Smitten Kitchen note: Martha recommends a size 30 (1 1/4 ounce) ice cream scoop but I used a size 40 (3/4 ounce) and they came out 3 to 4 inches across, or plenty huge.

Eibl note: I used a heaping tablespoon and they were nicely sized.

We hosted neighbors that live a block over from us and are a young couple! We enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to more get-togethers. We served this turkey pesto meatball and homemade tomato sauce with orzo and a side salad. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a pic of the buffet but here's the table setting:

It's Always Caturday

Dupree relaxing after evening play chasing the mouse.