Peachy Almond Ginger Ice Cream

There is something about summer and peach ice cream. It brings back memories of a simpler time. Freedom from school. Sun tanning in the back yard. Staying up late. Long, hot, summer afternoons chatting with my best friend. We would spend hours sitting on the grass, Tiger Beat magazine in our laps, peach ice cream dripping down our chins, giggling over which teen heart throb we were certain to marry when we grew up!

Of course, our ice-cream back then, didn’t look this. It was more the ice-cream man, wrapped-in-plastic, covered in chocolate, in a cone or on a stick variety. My little pre-teen self didn’t end up married to Shawn Cassidy, Greg Evigan, Willie Aames or Scott Baio either. (I just dated myself, didn’t I?) But during the summer, I still love sitting on the grass, chatting with my friends and eating peach ice-cream!

Now that I’ve grown up just a little, (Ok, maybe a lot. Those were 70’s teen heart throbs after all) my tastes have grown up too. Using my favorite peach cobbler as inspiration, this perfect, all-grown-up, peachy almond ginger ice cream was born. It has cups of fresh, juicy, diced peaches, chopped toasted almonds and little bits of crystalized ginger. Sounds delicious, right? Another plus? It’s easy to put together. You don’t need to cook anything and your girlfriends will love it! A grown-up frosty treat for those hot summer days!

Make this ice cream the next time you are having a girl’s day get-together. Add a chilled glass of white wine, toast to simpler days and your own teenage heart throbs!

Peach Almond Ginger Ice Cream

 

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups sliced peaches, separated

3 TBLS fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 cups whole milk

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup, plus 2 TBLS sugar

1 whole vanilla bean, sliced in half and scraped

1/8 tsp almond extract

2 TBLS diced candied ginger

1/4 cup chopped almonds

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine 4 cups peaches, lemon juice and 2 TBLS sugar.

Stir gently and allow the peaches to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Strain the peaches, reserving the juices.

In a blender or food processor, puree the drained peaches until almost smooth.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk and remaining sugars.

Mix with a hand blender until sugars are dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Stir in heavy cream, reserved peach juice, peach puree, vanilla bean scrapings, and almond extract.

Place mixture in your ice cream maker and churn according to your manufacturers directions for ice cream.

Five minutes before the ice cream is finished, dice the remaining 1/2 cup peaches and add them to your mixture, along with the candied ginger.

Allow machine to fold them in completely.

Add chopped almonds in the last minute of churning.

The ice cream at this point will be soft-serve consistency.

For a firmer ice cream, put ice-cream in a freezer safe container and freeze for at least two hours.

Ice cream will keep in your freezer for about a week.