caramelized peach ice cream

From my trip to the farm I over purchased, which I do a lot. This time it was peaches. Not wanting them to go to waste and with not desire to make more jam and cut up more jalapeños I decided on cobbler and peach ice cream. 

In addition to making use of some great peaches this ice cream killed a couple other birds for me too. I got to finally use the ice cream maker we got as a gift for our wedding, I got to cross another recipe off my magazine challenge and we were out of ice cream so one less trip to the store. It was a little more time intensive than I thought. Not at all the hour the Martha Stewart people told me it would take. That seems to always be the case for me though so I think it is me not them. Though knowing what exactly was in my ice cream and just how fresh it was balances it all out. 

Ice cream really calls for very little. The vanilla custard base calls for milk, heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. The peach portion of the even only needed peaches and sugar. I was very excited about the containers I was going to get to put my ice cream in. We have been eating Talenti gelato and they come in these great plastic containers that have been great for leftovers in the fridge and the freezer. Getting to use them for our ice cream got me really excited. So excited I had to photograph it and show you just how cool they are! It really is the little things.

 The cute bowl was part of the gift with the ice cream maker and while we hadn't used the ice cream maker we use those bowls every week for some kind of snack or dessert. I just realized this whole post ties back to the people that gave us the ice cream maker and bowls because they introduced us to that gelato.

Below I have the recipe typed out so you can check it out. If you want an easy printable version you can click the link and head to Martha Stewart web site. There were other great recipes in this issue. Fresh fig and chocolate chunk ice cream looks like a great one to try and if you are adventurous sweet corn and basil ice cream looks yummy too.

Caramelized Peach Ice Cream from July/August issue of Martha Stewart Living 

1 pound ripe peaches (about 3 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
Vanilla-Custard Ice Cream base (see below)

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add peaches to boiling water and blanch until skin is pulling away, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of ice water. When cool enough to handle, peel and pit peaches. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

2. Combine peaches and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just caramelized and syrupy, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. (You should have about 1 1/4 cups.) *tip...if you don't cool the peaches completely when you add it to your churning ice cream it will melt and take longer to set in freezer.

3. Chill a loaf pan in freezer at least 10 minutes. *I skipped this step because I put my ice cream in my fancy containers

4. Freeze and churn custard base in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Add peaches at end of churning and churn 5 more minutes; transfer to pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until hardened, at least 2 hours; ice cream can be frozen 2 weeks ahead.

Vanilla-Custard Ice Cream base

1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla seeds and pod. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-hihg heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.

2. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in half of milk mixture. Pour egg-milk mixture back into pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Pour costard through a fine sieve into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water; discard vanilla pod. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; custard base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.