Brown sugar gives this ice cream a mellow, caramelly flavor, which is the perfect backdrop for chunks of ripe peaches. It's particularly delicious drizzled with warm caramel or served alongside a wedge of angel food cake. Making homemade ice cream in an electric ice cream maker is super-easy, follow these steps for perfect results.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe peaches
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- Pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preparation:
- To peel the peaches, heat a pot of water until it comes to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Meanwhile, wash peaches and cut an X into the skin at the base of each peach. When water is boiling, drop peaches into the boiling water and boil for one minute, then transfer peaches to ice water. When peaches are cool, slip the skins from the peaches, beginning at the X cut, and dice the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks, . Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- In a saucepan, combine the milk and the cream and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Gradually whisk in the milk a little at a time, to keep eggs from scrambling, until the milk is completely incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla. Strain the custard into a clean bowl. Mash or puree about 1/2 cup of the diced peaches and stir into the custard. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, several hours or overnight.
- When the ice cream custard is completely chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instruction. When the ice cream is nearly completely frozen, add the peach chunks to the mixture (If your ice cream maker does not allow you to add chunky ingredients, stir in the peaches when you remove the ice cream from the machine.
- Serve the ice cream immediately or freeze until ready to serve. If ice cream has been in the freezer, let it soften for about 10 minutes before serving to make it easier to scoop.
