Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Step back into your childhood with a bowl of yummy, creamy homemade peach ice cream. Fresh peaches are combined with cream, vanilla and sugar.
My ice cream maker gets quite a work out during the summer. It’s one of our favorite treats and my boys think it’s so much fun to come up with different flavors. In early spring, strawberry ice cream made with Louisiana strawberries is always a must. But by early summer, when the peaches start hitting the farmer’s market, we switch to creamy homemade peach ice cream.
Fresh or Frozen Peaches?
Fresh peaches can’t be beat and if you have easy access to them, I encourage you to use them. However, if the mood for peach ice cream strikes you in say, January, when it is decidedly NOT peach season, frozen peaches are just fine. No need to thaw them first.
Ice Cream Ingredients And Tools You’ll Need
You’ll Need:
- 3 cups fresh or frozen peaches, sliced
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups white granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 2 ¾ cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
How To Make Homemade Peach Ice Cream
This recipe does need to be churned with an ice cream maker. If you just try to freeze the mixture without churning, you with a lot of ice crystals and not the creamy treat you were hoping for. I have been using this Cuisinart Ice Cream maker for years. I store my freezer bowl in the bottom of my deep freezer to ensure that I am ready to go should the mood strike me.
Start by placing the sliced peaches in a large mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and ½ cup of granulated sugar. Stir to coat the peaches, then place them in the refrigerator and allow them to sit for at least two hours. This can even be done the day before.
Afterwards, strain the peaches from the juice, but save the juice. If you like chunks of peaches in your ice cream like I do, reserve half the strained peaches and chop them up into smaller pieces. Puree the rest.
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the whole milk and sugar. Keep whisking until you are sure the sugar is dissolved. Then add the heavy cream, any reserved peach juice, the chopped and pureed peaches and the vanilla extract.
Pour this mixture into the FROZEN bowl of your ice cream maker. Turn it on allow it to churn according to your ice cream maker. The ice cream will be the consistency of soft serve ice cream at this point. You can eat it as is at this point. Otherwise, scoop it out into a freezer safe container and let it firm up in the freezer for a few hours.
The Best Way to Store Homemade Peach Ice Cream:
If you plan on eating your homemade peach ice cream within a day or so, you can pour it into a bread loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer until firm. That does, after all, make for a prettier presentation
However, if you anticipate the ice cream lasting more than a week, you’ll want to place it in a freezer safe container with a lid. Carefully layer a piece of plastic wrap over the surface to prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface.
Place the ice cream towards the back of the freezer, rather than storing it in the door, to keep the temperature consistent.
More Ice Cream Recipes:
- Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
- Cinnamon Sugar Pecan and Fig Ice Cream
Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh or frozen peaches sliced
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1-1/2 cups sugar divided
- 1-1/4 cups whole milk
- 2-3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the peaches with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Stir until combined and set aside for at least two hours.
- Strain the peaches through a colander and reserve any juice. If you like big chunks of peaches in your ice cream, set aside half of the peaches and chop into smaller pieces. Puree the rest.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk and remaining sugar just until sugar is dissolved.
- Add the heavy cream, reserved peach juice, pureed peaches and vanilla.
- Pour mixture into a prepared ice cream maker. Churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- About five minutes before mixing is completed, add the remaining chopped peaches.
- You can eat the ice cream at this point. However, if you would like a firmer consistency, transfer the ice cream to an airtight freezer container and freeze for about two hours.
Best peach ice cream I’ve ever had! I’m a newby at ice cream making. Because this was the first recipe I used/loved, I went out and bought 2 pecks “fancy colossal peaches”, pealed them all and then cut them up and froze in 1# packages. Did my diligence finding the best ice cream maker I could afford and then found one that had only been used a couple times. Last night I made a sorbet, this morning vanilla bean custard base (too much work;)) and later today another batch of peach ice cream. I’m going to add a couple tablespoons vodka this time and see if it will keep it from freezing so hard and minimize ice crystals. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!