Peach ice cream

Would you like to throw a stone at me?

Here, take all that’s left of my peach.

First of all, I hope you don’t. Want to throw peach stones at me, that is - and if for some reason you do, there’s not a single stone left from my peaches, I’ve used them all in a much better way than ammunition.

My kids will probably disagree here, they seem to think throwing is the best possible use of, well anything really. But I am assuming we’re all gluttonous adults here who’d rather eat than throw pies, and use peach stones for their complex amaretto-ey bitter almond flavour.

However much I love eating fresh peaches, a little warmth does something truly magical to stone fruits like peaches, plums or apricots.

For this ice cream recipe, I have roasted the peaches to reduce the water content and concentrate the peach flavour that gets dulled by the butterfat in the milk and cream.

I served my peach ice cream with macerated woodland strawberries (But it is just as good with regular strawberries, blueberries, crushed raspberries or stewed blackberries!) and a few drops of plum kernel oil. Leave out the plum kernel oil or simply swap it for an almond oil or basil infused olive oil.

Roasted peach ice cream

6 ripe peaches

300g whole milk
100g heavy cream
100g sugar
50g powdered glucose (or 60g liquid glucose)
60g skimmed milk powder
5g ice cream stabiliser*(see note) OR 3 egg yolks
3g citric acid

Preheat oven to 175C fan.

Cut peaches in half, remove the pits and crack them open. Place in the bottom of a large, shallow dish and place the peaches snuggly cut side up in a single layer in the dish. Roast for 30-35 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Let the peaches cool slightly before removing the pits and blending the peaches to a fine purée in a blender. Pass through a fine meshed sieve, weigh off 400g of purée and chill in the refrigerator.

If using stabiliser:

Add milk, cream, 80g of the sugar, glucose and skimmed milk powder to a heavy bottom pot and heat to 40C. Mix together stabiliser with remaining 20g of sugar and dissolve in the hot milk mixture. Heat to 85C while stirring continuously to prevent the milk from scorching. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl set in an ice bath and cool the base down to 5C while stirring occasionally. Add the chilled peach purée, citric acid and salt to taste and emulsify with an immersion blender. Cover and refrigerate the ice cream mixture overnight to improve the texture and develop the flavour. Churn in an ice cream maker according to instructions.

If using egg yolks:

Add milk, cream, glucose and skimmed milk powder to a heavy bottom pot and heat to 82C. Whisk together sugar and egg yolks until pale and airy before slowly pouring in 1/3 of the milk mixture while whisking before pouring in the remaining milk. Return to the pot and heat to 85C while stirring continuously to prevent the yolks from curdling. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl set in an ice bath and cool the base down to 5C while stirring occasionally. Add the chilled peach purée, citric acid and salt to taste and emulsify with an immersion blender. Cover and refrigerate the ice cream mixture overnight to improve the texture and develop the flavour. Churn in an ice cream maker according to instructions.

*Ice cream stabilisers:

The simplest stabilising agent is 2g locust bean gum. LBG reduces large ice crystals (icy texture) and improves viscosity in the ice cream.
Another option is a blend of 2g locust bean gum and 1g guar gum, the guar gum acting as a thickener and adding body to the ice cream.
Personally, I use 4g of cremodan cold line 500, a commercial ice cream stabiliser.

Macerated woodland strawberries

250g woodland strawberries
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
Tiny pinch of salt

Place strawberries in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice, toss gently to coat and leave to macerate for an hour.