Roasted Peach Ice Cream
... When you live in a part of the world where there really is no distinct change of seasons, you come to rely on certain signs to tell you when one is slipping into the next. For me, one of the harbingers of Summer is when I see little roadside stands overflowing with freshly picked Georgia peaches popping up along our suburban roads.
Whenever I do come across one, it's hard for me to drive on by. I always have to stop and check it out. I'm usually rewarded with ripe, plump, sweet and juicy little orbs of peachy goodness. The problem is that I end up buying way more than my small family can eat, and they start going bad before we can use them up. When that happens, I dig into my bag of tricks and pull out a "peachy keen" recipe for them. Sometimes, it's a cobbler or a crisp. Sometimes, a pie or a tart. And sometimes, a muffin or a cake. This last time, however, it was a rich and creamy roasted peach ice cream.
... If you have never eaten a roasted peach, you are missing out. When sprinkled with a little sugar and roasted, peaches get all sticky, gooey and caramelized. Their sweetness intensifies threefold. They're delicious served with some spiced whipped cream or creme fraiche, or used as a dessert topping. When churned in to a luscious homemade ice cream, they reach new heights of gloriousness!
To roast the peaches, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Pit and halve the peaches, and toss them in some white or brown sugar. Then, place them on a baking sheet, cut side down. Roast them for about thirty to forty minutes, until they are really soft and the skins are brown. After they've cooled, remove the skins and chop them roughly. Reserve in a container until you're ready to use them. Make sure you scrape out every bit of the syrupy juice from the baking sheet too.
... This ice cream is very easy to prepare. The recipe for the ice cream base does not include eggs, so there's no tempering to deal with. It is virtually foolproof. Plus, you can also make it using other stone fruits like nectarines or apricots as well. I also like to add a few tablespoons of some kind of liqueur to my ice creams. The reason I do this is so that the ice cream doesn't get rock hard in the freezer. For this recipe, I added a little white peach liqueur. This is strictly optional.
The next time you have some peaches hanging around threatening to spoil, try making some Roasted Peach Ice Cream. I promise you won't be disappointed!
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Mike over at Mike's Table is hosting a new event called You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Frozen Desserts! He's calling for food bloggers to create some delicious, summery frozen desserts, so I'm sending this one his way.
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Roasted Peach Ice Cream
Roasted Peach Ice Cream
Adapted from Alton Brown
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2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peach preserves
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
Pinch kosher salt
4-6 medium roasted peaches
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Combine all ingredients, except the peaches, in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a candy thermometer to inside of pan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and strain into a lidded container. If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble on the surface, remove it from the heat.
Combine all ingredients, except the peaches, in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a candy thermometer to inside of pan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and strain into a lidded container. If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble on the surface, remove it from the heat.
Cool the mixture, then refrigerate it overnight.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream machine according to unit's instructions. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 and reached a soft serve consistency, add the peaches and continue turning to incorporate. Spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.
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Makes 1 quart
...Enjoy!
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Comments
I've never had peach ice cream before; peaches are rare (but not impossible to find...), and often I can't really tell that I'm already buying nectarines!
I love your ice cream and especially your title for it too!
Nectarines will work as well as peaches for this. If you can find either one - try it.
Tartelette- Thanks! You can't beat the sweet fragrance of fresh peaches! Mini-SGCC has a peach perfume that smells divine!
Sweet & Saucy- Glad you liked it. My pleasure about the link. :)
WORC- Georgia peaches are generally smaller than their CA cousins. Honestly, I prefer yours, but I can't always get nice, ripe ones.
Noble Pig- Ack! That was supposed to say "Roasted". I forgot to change it when I changed my mind.
Zen Chef- Welcome! It can be yours! Lol!
Val- They're very similar to barbecued. I'm just "grill challenged". ;)
Ivy- Thanks! Glad you like it! I have you in my Reader, but I lurk a lot. I do really love your recipes, though. :)
I've been eating a lot of peach sorbet with a little dollop of vanilla ice cream, but this takes it.
Peter- Lol! Party on!
Heather- I love peaches too, and the Georgia peaches are really sweet and juicy. I love all kinds of ice cream, but in the summertime, I always go for the fruity ones.
CookiePie- Get out! You're swelling my head! ;)
Kathy- Thanks! You have a good imagination!
Obsessive- Oooh! That sounds great!
Laura- Thank you! Peach schnapps would be perfect!
Kristen- Thanks! It's actually a good way to use less than great peaches too. Roasting them makes them a lot sweeter.
Giz- Uh oh! Should I call 911? ;)
After making balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream I've been wanting to roast other fruit for ice cream and this looks absolutely delicious, as soon as the Ontario peaches are out I'm giving this a try!
I love this ice cream flavor - gotta try roasted peaches asap!
MY.
GAWD.
I'm coming over.
I may be rolling to NY via car in a couple of weeks - tell me where a good stand is and I'll meet you there - ice cream on me (literally, I'm kind of a slob...)
Brad
The best thing to do in this situation is to take your ice cream out of the freezer about 10-20 minutes before you plan to serve it and either leave it out on the counter or put it in the fridge to soften up. Sorry, I should have noted that in the recipe.
For future reference, both sugar and fat do not freeze well. You can try using more sugar or honey in your ice cream recipes. Also, you can use a higher cream to milk ratio in your ice creams. The higher fat in heavy cream will usually give you a softer product. If you are using a recipe that contains egg yolks, you can also try adding a few extra yolks. This may also yield a softer, creamier ice cream.
I hope this helps.
Thank you!
Thanks for the wondrous recipe.
Thanks for the tip about a small amout of liquer in the ice cream. And thanks for the great site. I just ran across it today...I think I'll stick around!
I have some fresh peaches here and I think I know what to do with them now -- roast 'em!