TWD: Honey Peach Ice Cream

I was glad for and nervous about this week's recipe. Glad, because us making ice cream signals summer at my house. (Last year, we traded who got to pick that week's recipe) My canister has been in the basement freezer sad and lonely waiting for a call to duty. But I was a bit nervous because it's not quite peach season. I can find some California peaches around here that are pretty good, but I'd rather use a fruit that's really in season. And I'm not a big fan of honey. There are few, if any, recipes that I use that call for honey. Still, I was going to trust that Tommi of Brown Interior knew what she was doing when she chose this recipe. (Check out her blog for the recipe. Or go buy the book already!)

So there I am at the store the other day. I found some peaches. They smelled pretty peachy. I took it as a good sign and bought them. I left them on the counter for a few extra days to get a little more ripe. Dorie called for four peaches that equaled half a pound. It took me six peaches to get there.

This recipe called for peeled peaches to be cooked with the honey and then pureed. It actually called for half the peaches to be cooked and added to the base and half to be added when the ice cream was being churned. We are not fans of chunky fruit in ice cream in our house. Too icy. So I cooked it all. I think it was a good decision. It mellowed out the honey flavor so that it was an accent and not overpowering. I made the custard yesterday. My custard came together pretty fast; faster than I think it was supposed to, but I didn't notice any ill effects. I added all the peach puree and then put it in the fridge to ripen overnight. Side note -- if the taste of the custard is any indication, this is going to be good ice cream!

I made the ice cream today. This made a very generous 1 1/2 quarts. It looked like the ice cream was trying to push its way out of the canister. More for us!

This ice cream was a big hit. The peach flavor was just right. The honey was subtle and added a nice sweetness. I used my homemade vanilla (read - alcohol based), so the ice cream stayed a nice scooping consistency. I absolutely think this is a recipe I would use again. I can see this being made with other fruit purees as well.

I used the immersion blender to puree the fruit. It was a good choice because it left little bits of peaches. You can see the peachy flecks.

Ice cream for everyone!

I've chosen next week as my skip week. I'll try to make something fabulous from another cookbook. As if there is such a thing...