Summer’s inevitable demise is almost upon us, but there’s still time to make the most of all its glorious gifts, including the veritable cornucopia of juicy, seasonal fruit.

If you find yourself with an overabundance of peaches, or some that are too soft to eat fresh, I strongly recommend making this ice cream. It doesn’t require an ice cream machine or churner, and the delicate flavor of peach shines through, unlike anything store-bought.

Click here for the blackberry version of this ice cream.


You can serve it plain, in bowl or in a cone, but my favorite way to eat this is with cut-up fresh peaches and a drizzle of balsamic reduction syrup.


To make the ice cream, you’ll start by quartering the peaches:


Then you’ll blend the peaches and pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to make a puree. Do not skip this step, unless you want grainy ice cream. See how much I had to discard in the white bowl?


Next, you’ll whisk the sugar and eggs over a double boiler until thick and frothy, like this:


To make a double boiler, fill a saucepan with an inch of water, and place a larger bowl on top, so that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water, like this:


Once that mixture has cooled, you’ll whip your cream, fold the mixtures together and freeze. This recipes makes a lot–it fills an entire 9″×13″ pan to the brim. But you can easily halve the recipe for a smaller quantity.


I don’t recommend freezing it in a pan. You’ll want to use an airtight plastic container. I just used the pan here to show you how much the mixture makes.

Ingredients:

  • 6–8 peaches
  • ¼ cup water
  • 6 eggs
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 4 cups heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt

Note: This recipe does not require an ice cream machine or churner, but it does have quite a few steps. Because of the time and effort involved, I’ve given quantities to make quite a large amount of ice cream (enough to fill one 9″×13″ baking pan to the brim), but the amounts can very easily be halved with no problems.

Directions:

  1. Wash and quarter the peaches. Remove pits. Place the peaches into a blender or food processor with ¼ cup water. Puree until smooth. Pass the peach puree through a fine-mesh strainer, and stir in the salt. Discard solids; retain and set aside the puree. Puree should come to 3½ cups.
  2. Create a double boiler, using a bowl and a small pot. Fill the pot with an inch or so of water. Use a bowl large enough to sit over the pot without touching the water. Place the bowl over the pot, and the pot on the stove.
  3. Pour the heavy cream into a cold metal bowl. Slit the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and submerge it in the heavy cream. Refrigerate the heavy cream while you do the next step.
  4. Crack the eggs into the bowl, and whisk to break the yolks. Add the sugar. Bring the water in the pot to a simmer, and whisk the egg mixture until it thickens, increases in volume, and turns pale yellow (approximately 10–15 minutes). You can use an electric hand mixer to speed up this process. When the mixture is ready, remove bowl from pot and refrigerate 10–20 minutes, until cooled.
  5. Retrieve the heavy cream from the fridge. Remove the vanilla bean from the heavy cream, and use a knife to scrape the seeds into the cream. Discard the pod. Whip the heavy cream to medium-soft peaks.
  6. Retrieve egg mixture from the fridge. If it has separated, you may need to whisk it to bring it back together.
  7. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the peach puree into the egg mixture. Then gently fold the peach and egg mixture, in small increments, into the whipped cream.
  8. Transfer the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze 8–12 hours, until firm.