Peaches-And-Cream Ice Cream: Have CHU Entered This Month's Giveaway?

I'm amazed at how many silly kitchen gadgets there are.  I had no idea.  This weekend I had the time of my life ordering enough to give away one each month for our CHU winners, along with an autographed paperback of the winner's choice–if available.  This month's winner gets the Joie Mashy Egg Masher, a hit on Amazon.  If you like guacamole, apparently it's just the thing to mash avocados, too.  Can you resist a chance to win?

August's giveaway closes tomorrow at midnight.  Here are the rules, in case you've forgotten.  In a nutshell–eggshell in honor of Mashy–you must make a recipe from a cookbook you haven't used in a year.  Either a new one you haven't tried before, or an old one that's been sitting in a shelf, or worse, in a box.  You don't have to send the recipe, just comment here with the name of the recipe and cookbook, what you did or didn't like about either or both and anything fun you think we'd like to hear.  One entry per comment.  We'll be doing this for the next several months at least, so you still have time to win.

August is a great month for ice cream.  Here in Western New York it's also a fabulous month for fresh peaches.  Years ago I bought an ice cream freezer, not the easy to use countertop variety, but the one that requires rock salt and crushed ice.  Luckily I didn't go further and buy the kind that requires kid power.  There are no kids in residence this month.  So ours requires electricity.  Still, this is surprisingly simple to do, and such fun.  It's also, like many of my cookbooks, in need of more frequent usage.  In honor of CHU I used an old edition of Cooking Light, which I told you about before,  and chose Peaches-and-Cream Ice Cream, which made enough for approximately one million people.  Luckily this is a cottage community and there are always people sitting on front porches ready to eat any dessert a neighbor offers.

The recipe was yummy and surprisingly healthy except for the four egg yolks.  My only problem?  Peaches-and-Cream Ice Cream calls for almond extract, which enhances the peach flavor.  Did you know that extracts now come in plastic bottles?  I didn't.  When I went to measure out the almond extract–foolishly over the container of ice cream–I mistakenly squeezed.  We had VERY almondy peach ice cream.  It wasn't ruined, but it wasn't improved, either. 

Watch these new extract bottles and measure over an empty counter.

So, if it's still warm wherever you are, and you have ripe peaches and an ice cream freezer, this one's for you.

Peaches-and-Cream Ice Cream, adapted from Cooking Light Cookbook, 2000–out of print.

Preparation Time: 45 minutes.  Chill Time: 1 hour.  Freeze Time: 1 hour

5 cups of 1 percent low-fat milk, divided.  I used a combination of milk, non-fat half and half and a little heavy cream, because that's what I had.

4 large egg yolks

4 cups of mashed peeled ripe peaches (approximately 8 peaches)

2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (watch out!)

2 14 ounce cans of fat-free condensed milk (this provides the sweetness along with the peaches.)

Rock salt and ice for ice cream freezer, if you're doing this the traditional way.

Prepare mix:  Combine 2 1/2 cups of milk and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat.  If you have a thermometer, heat to about 180 degrees, if not, cook until it thickens, perhaps as long as 20 minutes.  Don't let it boil and don't stop whisking.  This is not the time to make a phone call.

Combine slightly cooled egg yolk mixture with remaining ingredients and chill.  You want this nice and cold and of course, you can make it early in the day and freeze it in your ice cream maker later in the afternoon.  Just be sure you allow enough time for an additional hour or so in your refrigerator's freezer, too.

Once chilled, pour into the freezer can of your ice-cream freezer and follow your manufacturer's directions.   You can eat it now, but it will be a soupy soft-serve consistency.  If you prefer a more traditional ice cream, spoon this into a freezer container and freeze in your refrigerator's freezer for about an hour.

This fed my neighborhood, or  more accurately, about 24 1/2 cup servings–a gallon plus.

This may be your final taste of summer.  Enjoy!