peach ice cream
peach season
I have a rule that each August I eat as many peaches as possible. We have great peaches in upstate New York, but a very short season. But we are luckily close enough to Pennsylvania to get an influx of PA peaches each summer. My absolute favorite way to enjoy peaches is to make peach ice cream, or at least top vanilla ice cream with cut up perfectly ripe peaches.
My love affair with peach ice cream started at an early age, from old-fashioned peach ice cream made each August at the Goshenhoppen Folk Festival. This annual historical folk festival showcases how Pennsylvania Germans lived in the 18th and 19th century and has demonstrations on every aspect of daily life including farming, hearth cooking, butchering, water dowsing, laundry, and so much more. As long as my family has been going to the festival, the only demonstrations that interested me were the cooking ones that gave out free samples. I was happy to stuff my face for hours with free samples of chicken potpie, schnitz un knepp, and many other traditional PA German foods. But the most highly prized free sample of the festival was hand-churned peach ice cream made with local PA peaches.
my favorite ice cream base
My ice cream recipe, adapted from Dorie Greenspan, is for a Philadelphia-style ice cream, with powdered milk and vodka to make it extra creamy. Vodka does double duty preventing ice formation in this recipe. First I soak diced peaches in vodka and sugar for 2 hours to overnight. The sugar pulls liquid out of the peaches, and sugar and vodka are able to infuse into them. This lowers the peaches’ freezing point and prevents the pieces from turning icy in the freezer. I then add the strained peach-infused soaking liquid into the ice cream base, again lowering the freezing point of the ice cream and adding an extra layer of peach flavor.
herbal ice cream
This summer my friend Geraldine at Suntrap Botanical had a great idea to use one of her tinctures (herbal infused vodka) in place of plain vodka to give the ice cream an extra herbal boost. We decided linden’s floral scent and relaxing properties would be a dreamy pairing with peach. The linden tincture adds an essence more than any flavor; ice cream made with plain vodka will be just as dreamy and creamy.
peach ice cream
Equipment
- ice cream machine
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb super ripe peachs (~3 large)
- 3 tbsp plain vodka or linden tincture
- 1 c sugar divided
- 2 c heavy cream
- 1 c buttermilk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp powdered milk
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Plan ahead:
- If needed put your ice cream maker base in the freezer a day before you make the ice cream.
- Core and cut up peaches into small pieces (I left the peach skins on, but you can remove the skins if desired). Place peach pieces in a medium bowl and mix with ½ c sugar and vodka (or tincture). Cover and move to the fridge; let sit for 2 hours or up to a day.
Blend and churn the ice cream:
- Strain peaches, reserving ¼ c of the peach-infused alcohol (the remaining peach-infused alcohol makes a great summery cocktail mixed with seltzer). In a blender or food processor, blend together peach-infused alcohol, remaining ½ c sugar and all remaining ingredients.
- Pour ice cream base into chilled ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instruction. In the last minute of churring, add reserved peach pieces. Transfer ice cream to freezer containers and freeze at least 4 hours before serving.
Notes
more herbal recipes
never heard of Linden, will have to try!