I have been so busy and stressed out with work over the last 5 months, I have hardly the time or the mood to make anything fun in the kitchen. I try to put together fuss-free meals during the weekends for sustenance. Apart from that, I am reluctant to do anything else in the kitchen which requires quite a lot of washing and cleaning up. You should see the dirty pots and plates stacked up in my sink. I am not proud of it…
I bought a box of peaches from the supermarket last weekend and they are languishing in the refrigerator. I decided use them to whip up some peach ice cream this weekend, using a recipe from Williams-Sonoma. I need to do something fun!
xoxoxo
Ingredients:
250g (2 cups) peeled and pureed peaches (about 2 large peaches) tossed with some lemon juice.
125g (1/2 cup)
250ml (1 cup) whole milk
250ml (1 cup) heavy double cream
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence (or 1 vanilla bean)
Method:
1. Place the milk, 3/4 cup of heavy double cream and sugar in a saucepan.
2. Whisk the egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of heavy double cream in a small glass bowl for 1 minute, until they are blended.
3. Place the saucepan over a medium fire and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, for 4 – 5 minutes. Until bubbles form around the edges, the liquid just begins to ripple in the centre, and the sugar is dissolved. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Slowly pour 1/4 of the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking the mixture at the same time.
5. When 1/4 of the hot milk mixture has been blended into the yolks, start pouring the warmed yolk mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly until well-blended. Place the saucepan with the milk-and-yolk mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 4 – 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. The custard should come to a bare simmer, with steam rising from teh surface and the surface rippling, but it should actually bubble or come to a boil.
6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the pureed peaches and vanilla essence. Pour the hot custard through a sieve, leaving any grainy solids in the sieve.
7. Fill a large mixing bowl halfway with ice cubes and cold water. Place the bowl with the custard into the larger bowl, nestling the bowl into the ice cubes. Let the custard cool until it reaches room temperature.
8. Once cooled, remove the bowl and cover with a piece of cling wrap. Refrigerate the custard for at least 3 hours, then churn the custard until it reaches the consistency of whipped cream. Remove from ice cream maker and freeze ice cream for at least 3 hours, until firm.
9. I added some crushed ginger snap biscuits as garnish!
