Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Preparation

1. Slice the peaches into eights and place in a blender with the lemon juice and salt. Blend until the mixture is pureed and pour into a medium size saucepan.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, to concentrate the flavors. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the stevia, honey and the egg yolks until they are thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the flour and set aside.
4. In a medium size saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer. Slowly beat the hot milk into the eggs and sugar, pouring it in a thin stream with the mixer running.
5. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon, until the custard thickens slightly. Do not let the mixture come to a boil.
6. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Stir in the peach puree, cream, vanilla and lemon extracts.
7. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
8. Freeze the custard in 2 or 3 batches in your ice cream machine, depending on it’s capacity, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Notes: This recipe yields 4 quarts which is too much for the standard 2 quart ice cream maker to handle all at once. You could run it in two successive batches, or (my preference), make one batch and serve it fresh, saving the remaining custard in the refrigerator for the next day. That way you have two days of homemade ice cream! This recipe can also easily be halved.

When I was little, my Uncle told me that ice cream helped you sleep better. Which, of course, is true. I swear. I can’t remember a trip to my grandparent’s house when they didn’t take me out for an ice cream cone or dish up a big bowl of it as a before-bedtime treat. Naturally.

I grew up thinking that ice cream was one of the main food groups. It was a necessity. And homemade ice cream…well, that was one of the very best possible things you could ever make. My grandparents and my parents had the old-fashioned homemade ice cream makers that took bags of salt and ice and was so noisy you could hardly hear yourself think. They would pull it out for special occasions, because what was a birthday without homemade ice cream for heaven’s sake?

So, I come by my love of ice cream honestly. And peach ice cream is one of my absolute favorite flavors. Especially when it’s homemade with late summer Colorado peaches.

My husband doesn’t do well with dairy products and I try to limit the amount of sugar available to all of us without limiting the amount of delicious sweet treats available to all of us. So, this recipe uses almond milk and stevia. Feel free to use regular milk and sugar if you like, but you really can’t tell the difference between regular milk and sugar and almond milk and stevia. And it does make this ice cream much better for you. That way you can eat more.