Peach Ice Cream

Afternoon temps hit 102 degrees on my way home from work yesterday. You know what that means? It's time to make the ice cream. It's time to only eat the cold foods. Anything frozen is better. And the peaches are coming now too. I picked some up at the farmers' market last weekend.

This is my favorite peach ice cream recipe, not only because of it's velvety rich flavor, but also because it is so very easy to make. No standing over the stove making custard. Just a little peach peeling and stirring. Big return on investment.

The recipe comes from a book I received as a gift from my friends Joan, Dave and Jack. (Thanks, guys!) I always think of it as their ice cream since I made it the first time for them. The combination of peaches with sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream sounded intriguing. And it really paid off. This is the peach ice cream by which all others will be compared. The book is Ice Cream: The Perfect Weekend Treat, by Susanna Tee. There's a lime and mascarpone ice cream recipe in there I'm looking forward to trying next.

I got a little carried away and brought home a lot of peaches, so I put more than the 4 that the recipe calls for. Also, I used part whole milk and part cream instead of just straight cream, because it's a really rich mixture. Would probably be fine with all milk, but then you'd lose the airy texture of the whipped cream.

Peach Ice Cream

1 pound ripe, peeled and pitted peaches
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup cream

Purée the peeled peaches, condensed milk, whole milk, and lemon juice. Strain through a sieve to remove the pulp. Refrigerate for several hours until very cold.

When the peach mixture is very cold, whip the cream. Fold the whipped cream into the peach mixture and then pour into ice cream maker. Churn in ice cream maker according to its directions. (Mine took about 25 minutes.)

Pour into freezer safe container and place in the freezer for at least an hour to continue freezing. This ice cream is scoopable straight from the freezer, so you don't need to let it soften much.

Makes almost a quart and a half.

Adapted from Ice Cream: the Perfect Weekend Treat by Susanna Tee.