Buttermilk peach ice cream on a summer morning
I was talking to my grandmother the other day, and she mentioned that she had just eaten a peach from her tree. “It was a perfect peach,” she said. The season is almost over in Texas, but it’s just begun here in New York so last Saturday I scooped up a few at the farmers’ market.
While our peaches aren’t as famous as Georgia’s, it’s difficult to find a more sweet, juicy and tangy peach than a Texas peach. And while, yes, we Texans like to brag about many things, peaches are near the top of my list.
My grandmother freezes bag upon bag of her peaches every year, and there are also plenty of peach pies and cobblers made with the harvest. But it’s reached that point in the summer when I no longer want to heat up my apartment by baking—I need my food to be quick and cool. So when it comes to peaches—what I’ve been craving is the soft floral flavor of peach ice cream.
Back home, we had Blue Bell’s Peaches & Homemade Vanilla available by the gallon during the summer months when you needed a taste. But here in New York City, I’ve seen peach sorbet but no peach ice cream. That’s not a problem, however, since homemade ice cream is always better than store bought.
I asked my grandmother for her peach ice cream recipe but she didn’t have one to give me. “Just throw the fruit in like you’d do with any fruit ice cream,” she said. She then shared with me her basic vanilla ice cream recipe, which sounded wonderful but a bit too complex.
I’m a simple person when it comes to my homemade ice cream. I don’t like to use anything but cream, sweetener and flavor. I know that lots of people prefer to make ice cream with eggs, but I’m too lazy and impatient to mess with making a custard. Instead, I just want to throw the ingredients into my ice-cream maker and whip it into something thick and delicious—the faster the better.
I mentioned that I had buttermilk on hand and I asked my grandmother what she thought about my including that with the cream. “That sounds fabulous!” she said. “And I would love some of that though I reckon it doesn’t ship very well.” So, I promised to make her some next time I visited.
I think that super ripe peaches make for the best ice cream. And my favorite way to ripen them is to leave them sitting in a bowl in the window for a couple of days. In the heat, the fruit becomes soft more quickly, plus whenever a breeze comes in through the screen, the air smells of peaches.
When they’re ripe and I’m ready to make ice cream, I peel and quarter them and then toss the peaches with lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar. I place them in the refrigerator to steep overnight, which vastly improves the intensity of the flavor.
In the morning, I mix buttermilk with the cream, add some vanilla and then stir in the peaches. I pour the mix into my ice cream maker and half an hour later, I’m eating fresh peach ice cream for breakfast.
I can’t think of a sweeter, cooler way to start a sultry summer day. Can you?
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Buttermilk peach ice cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced peaches, fresh, or frozen and thawed
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Toss peeled and sliced peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Cover, refrigerate and let macerate at least for a couple of hours, preferably overnight or all day.
- Puree 1 1/2 cups of the peaches (save the rest for mixing in after you make your ice cream), and then mix puree with cream, buttermilk and vanilla.
- Freeze according to your ice-cream maker’s instructions.
- Note: To peel the peaches, I place them into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, and then transfer them to a bowl filled with ice water to halt the cooking. The skin should rub right off after blanching. If you use canned, you also might want to use less sugar if they were canned in syrup.
Blue Bell ice cream! Texas peaches! You are most definitely killing me here. NJ has decent peaches but nothing like those from Texas. One of my very fondest memories of visiting my grandparents in east Texas was on hot summer Sundays when we would come home from church and my dad and uncles would churn up a batch of homemade ice cream (almost always vanilla or peach). My job was to be the one who sat on the freezer so that it would hold still while they were cranking. The whole freezer would then be covered with blankets and set in a cool spot (hard to find in Aug in east Texas) to cure. Meanwhile the women folk would be cooking a big ol’ meal. We would normally eat around 2:00 in the afternoon. The rest of the afternoon was spent with the adults napping and my brothers and cousins and I climbing the magnolia tree or sneaking up to the pool hall where we would lift each other up to take a peak at what they were doing in there (we only got caught once). The very best part was that we would have ice cream for dinner! No “real food” just a huge bowl of peach ice cream. Sometimes blackberry cobbler would be subsituted and that’s where the blue bell ice cream came in. Ice cream for dinner — truly what children’s memories are made of. Thank you for taking me back to those days. Are Texans the only ones who are this nostalgic???
I would guess it is hard to find peach ice cream in the store in New York City. Your ice cream looks sublime.
Luckily I had a peach on my desk! I was saving it for the afternoon, but I ended up eating it while reading your peach ice cream post! Mmmm peaches…
Casasailer–I know exactly what you mean–it’s a highly addictive substance, whatever it is!
Nola–That sounds like a great combination to me!
Mom–Did you recognize that orange bowl? I told you I’d get good use out of it!
Chu This–Yep, so many of us do.
Shweetpotato–Sorry to be such a tease!
Mike–Nope, no ice cream left (what I didn’t eat for breakfast ended up being part of my dinner). And thanks for posting the Blue Bell link.
Katie–You definitely need to make peach when they’re in season!
Talida–It’s a terrific way to start the day!
Katie–Breakfast, lunch, dessert–whenever–it’s always good!
Just a plane ride away–As long as you use real cream, it’ll have a smooth texture.
Amy C Evans–It would be incredible on pie! Blueberry, peach or even buttermilk!
Tace–I made chocolate sorbet a couple of weeks ago, and did the same thing–goes very well with coffee.
Kmays–Nice–I love old recipes that stay in families. Hold onto it!
Lydia–Yep, it’s quick and easy, just the way I like it.
Ginny–Why thank you! And I had no idea you could make cobbler in a toaster oven–I may have to buy one of those!
Lisa–Having a yard is one of the things I miss the most about living in NYC–there’s nothing like fresh fruit plucked from the tree.
ChickenFriedGourmet–You bet!
Jeff–Eat a bowl or two for those of us who can’t.
CDees39–If you do holiday baking, your Kitchen Aid mixer will be truly appreciated.
Shel–Seems like there’s a lot of us missing peaches!
Chel–Thank you! I’m so glad y’all enjoyed the King Ranch casserole–it’s one of my favorites, too!
Brilynn–I bet they’ll be in season there soon–maybe even by early next week.
Paula–I know–nothing says summer has arrived than that first juicy bite of a peach.
Rosa–Thank you!
The Obergs–That’s a shame. Do they not have peaches there or do they just taste bad?
Greg–I love to do that too! I posted a peach/habanero salsa last August, and that was my favorite thing to pair with it.
Msrb–I highly recommend getting an ice-cream maker.
DivaDog–I don’t know if Texans are the most nostalgic, but what’s cool is that it seems that we share a bunch of memories. What a lovely story–you’ve just transported me from my beige urban office to a lazy East Texas summer.
S for Kitchen Confit–Yep, I couldn’t find any. Sigh.
Tracy–I’m glad you had a peach to keep you company as you read the post!
wow, that brings back memories of going to Kerrville for fresh Peach (apple in the “fall”!)ice cream and fruit sold by the roadside. mmm
Unfortunately I’ve got a “kitchenette” in my studio and can’t use my ice cream maker for lack of freezer. ::sigh:: Maybe next year.