Natural Sweetness

There hasn’t been a whole lot of baking around here lately. The incessantly hot weather combined with the lack of air conditioning makes turning on the oven almost the same as stepping foot in one. What there has been a lot of though, is ice cream. My blog is named after ice cream, after all, so it might actually be about time I started posting some!

I am in love with summer stone fruit at the moment, and I just can’t get enough. I think I ate three plums yesterday, and a handful of apricots as well. Produce wise, this is my favourite time of year. I picked up some beautiful peaches recently, and wanted to do something nice with them before they all just got eaten (leaning over the kitchen sink, juice dribbling down your arms.) I’d always loved the look of this Honey Peach Ice Cream from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours and thought it would be just perfect for summer. It is.

The custard base was relatively easy to make, and the most delicious custard I’ve ever eaten. The honey brought out the peaches’ natural sweetness, and it smelled incredible while they were simmering away. I might have actually swooned a little. The only change I would make next time is instead of adding diced, uncooked peaches to the churned ice cream right at the end, I would cook up and puree all of the peaches instead of just two, and add half to the custard, and the other half to the ice cream once it has been churned to create a nice peach swirl through the ice cream when it is frozen.

We ate the ice cream just by itself, but I can imagine it would be just perfect with a fruity pie, or a cobbler, or even to top a simple grilled or roasted peach. You could also substitute other stone fruit for the peaches. I think nectarines or apricots would work perfectly as well.



Honey Peach Ice Cream
Makes about 1L (1 Quart)
Recipe from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

• 4 large ripe peaches, peeled and pitted
• ½ cup honey
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1cm chunks and place in a small saucepan. Add the honey and bring to a boil, and then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, until the peaches are soft but not mushy.
2. Transfer the mixture into a blender or food processor and puree. Set the peach puree aside while you make the custard.
3. Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. While still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid to temper the eggs. Still whisking, slowly pour in the remaining liquid.
4. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon – if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track.
5. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard into a glass measuring cup or heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and peach puree.
6. Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it.
7. Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While it is churning, finely dice the remaining two peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend.
8. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop. It will keep for about 2 weeks in the freezer.