Peach Ice Cream with Blueberry Syrup
The base for this ice cream is a recipe I lifted from a Daniel Boulud cookbook, though I'm not sure which one... It's extremely easy and very rich. The base is infinitely adaptable with other ingredients.
I have a non-commercial ice cream maker by Cuisinart, which makes small batches and freezes things pretty hard. I usually stop the machine before the mixture is completely frozen and let the ice cream continue to freeze in my icebox's freezer. This keeps the ice cream from forming too many ice crystals, which is really common with non-commercial machines. For the smoothest ice cream possible, it helps to pull the ice cream from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving to let it soften. If you like more ice cream (the insert only makes 1 quart at a time, and requires refreezing between batches) you can keep another insert on hand.
Vanilla Ice Cream Base
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
Slit open vanilla bean and scrape the beans out. Warm milk in a heavy-bottomed pan with the vanilla pod, beans and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, beat the yolks in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on high. When yolks are thick, add remaining sugar and continue beating until it becomes fairly stiff.
When sugar has melted into the simmering milk, scoop up a small amount of it and slowly pour it into the egg mixture. Mix till incorporated, then repeat until about half of the milk has been incorporated into the eggs. Pour egg mixture into remaining milk on the stove and turn heat down to low. Cook until mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a shallow container like a bowl or a baking dish. Cool mixture in refrigerator until completely chilled.
Preparing Peaches
3 peaches
water
Bring a pot of water to the boil and immerse peaches completely underwater. Remove after 1 minute with tongs and lay them out on a towel. When cool enough to handle, rub skins off with towel.
Pit and roughly chop peaches. Set them in refrigerator to cool.
Blueberry Syrup
1 pt. blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. water
Combine in a heavy bottomed pan and simmer on low, uncovered, until reduced by half. Strain through a sieve and set syrup in refrigerator to chill. Save mash for another use.
Begin freezing ice cream according to manufacturer's directions. Add chopped peaches and continue to freeze until just set. Turn ice cream out into a stainless steel bowl and freeze. Let ice cream "temper" for 20 minutes before serving. Serve blueberry sauce warm or cold over ice cream.
Serves 4.
