This Monday is a holiday here in BC, it’s called… wait for it… BC DAY! I thought to celebrate the province I live in I would use one of my favourite British Columbian ingredients: PEACHES. Taking a trip to interior BC in the summertime is not complete if you don’t stop at a road-side fruit stand for some fresh juicy peaches grown in the sprawling Okanagan orchards.
I love using seasonal ingredients and I have been dying for the peaches to be at optimal ripeness so I could turn them into ice cream. This week I did exactly that. I toiled over whether to make a straight up peach ice cream or do peaches and cream. While I decided on peaches and cream there is still a lot of summer left to try an even peachier version. I’ll keep you posted when I try it out!
I have to add that this photo set may be my favourite yet. Emma is a genius behind the camera and my dear friend Emily gifted me with these adorable bowls for my birthday. I was so eager to give them a try and the colour of these yellow and orange bowls worked so beautifully with the peachy ice cream. Thanks Emma & Emily for helping make this Scoop Shoot so awesome!
No experiment in ice cream making should ever be considered a failure if it yields edible ice cream. This week, however, I did learn a lesson. What I learned was that peaches have a lot of moisture in them. I know this should seem obvious, they’re about the juiciest and messiest fruit I can think of. I thought I accounted for the moisture by taking any water out of the recipe for the peach swirl but I highly advise mashing the peaches as much as possible. I thought it would be nice to leave them a little chunky, however I wound up with rock hard peaches in my ice cream.
- 4 peaches peeled and chopped into very small pieces
- 2 Tbs white sugar
- 1.5 cups of heavy cream
- .5 cups of milk
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbs white sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Combine all ingredients for the peach swirl (peaches and sugar) in a heavy-bottomed pot and simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally
- Remove from the heat and use a fork to mash up the peaches and hot syrup so it forms a sauce, no large chunks should remain
- Put in the fridge to cool
- 1) Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.
- 2) Combine the heavy cream, .5 cups of milk and the white sugar in a heavy bottom pan and heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is hot but not simmering or boiling. This should take about 5 minutes.
- 3) Take a cup of the hot cream mixture and drizzle it slowly into the egg yolks while whisking. Make sure you combine slowly or else you might end up with scrambled eggs!
- 4) When the yolk and cream mixture is thoroughly combined, drizzle it slowly into the rest of the hot cream while whisking.
- 5) Continue to heat on medium, stirring constantly with a spoon, for about 5 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of the spoon.
- 6) Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
- 7) Pour into a storage container of your choice, placing plastic wrap along the surface of the ice cream base to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the fridge until COMPLETELY cold, overnight is best.
- 8) Churn according to your ice cream maker's directions. Remove and swirl in the peaches, I did it in two layers as I scooped the ice cream into my storage container. Enjoy immediately for a soft-serve ice cream or return to your storage container and freeze for a harder more store-bought consistency!
- Ensure that the peaches are mashed into very small pieces. Even when cooked down, if large chunks remain they will become hard and icy!
I highly recommend combating the hardness of the frozen peaches by blending them into a milkshake! Delicious!