Making custard-based ice cream requires a little planning. First, you’ll make and chill your fruit purée, and then you’ll make your custard base on the stovetop. Making the base isn’t hard; it just requires paying close attention for a short amount of time. Once your custard base cools, you’ll combine it with the fruit purée and chill for at least four hours, but preferably overnight. Fresh out of the ice cream maker, the ice cream will be very fluffy but still somewhat soft – a bit like soft serve. If you want the ice cream to be firmer, pack it into a freezer-safe container to freeze solid.
For this peach ice cream, I chop the peeled and sliced fresh peaches in a food processor. I take the chopping pretty far – not quite a full purée, but to the point where the peach pieces are very small and there is lots of juicy liquid to flavor the custard. I think big chunks of fruit in any fruit-based ice cream can be somewhat cumbersome and potentially icy in the finished ice cream, so I like this approach. I also add a bit of vanilla to the custard base, and it’s a great flavor match with the peaches.
If you have a two-quart-capacity ice cream maker, you can freeze this whole recipe in one batch. If you’re using something smaller, freeze the custard in two batches.
Makes about 4 cups ice cream base, or 2 1/2 pints of ice cream
- 1 to 1¼ pounds ripe peaches, peeled and pitted to yield 13 to 14 ounces of fruit, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup sugar for the fruit purée, plus 1/2 cup sugar for the custard
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Table salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. In a food processor, chop the peaches until they are very finely chopped, but just short of a full purée.
2. Transfer the purée to a 2-cup glass (liquid) measuring cup and stir in the 1/3 cup sugar. (You should have about 11/2 cups purée, or a little more.)
3. Refrigerate the purée for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
4. Fill a large, wide bowl halfway with ice and water. Put a smaller heat-proof bowl (a stainless-steel mixing bowl of at least 6-cup volume works well) in the ice bath. Have a strainer ready too.
5. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl and set aside. (Tip: put a damp paper towel or dish towel under the bowl. It will help stabilize it when you go to whisk in the cream.)
6. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the cream and a pinch of salt. Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is just starting to bubble around the edges of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Gently pour half of the cream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, where the other half of the cream is, reduce the heat to low (or medium-low if your stove is electric), and stir constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan with a heatproof spoon, until the custard thickens slightly to a more viscous consistency and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Don’t let the custard overheat or boil or it will curdle.
8. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl nestled in the ice bath. Stir the custard frequently over the ice bath until an instant-read thermometer registers 70 degrees. Add the vanilla extract and stir. Add all of the peach purée and mix well.
9. Chill the peach custard in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. (I put mine in a 4-quart liquid glass measure and cover tightly with plastic.) You can also divide the base in half at this point.
10. If you have the capacity, freeze all of the custard in one batch in your ice cream maker’s canister according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If using a smaller ice cream maker, freeze a half batch and keep the remaining half refrigerated for up to 24 more hours.
11. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and lay a piece of plastic on the surface of the ice cream before freezing it, covered, for up to several days.
12. If making a second batch, wash and re-chill your ice cream canister. When chilled, freeze the second half of the ice cream base, transfer it to an airtight container, and freeze.
