As part of his efforts to woo me, Keith took me to Hermosa Beach in California for our first Valentine's Day together. While out there we visited one of his college buddies, who told us how he and his wife received an ice cream maker for a wedding gift. They envisioned making ice cream with their family and building all these wonderful memories, when in fact they've made ice cream once and stashed the ice cream maker away in the back cupboard.
So when Keith and I were registering for our own wedding, he was pretty opposed to an ice cream maker given his buddy's experience. Imagine how funny I found it when the first wedding gift received was the ice cream maker! I've now promised to make ice cream at least six times a year to justify keeping it in our tiny kitchen.
Since I had such a great experience at the Hill's Kitchen pasta class, that I jumped at the chance to enroll in their ice cream class. I had made ice cream before, but it just wasn't as creamy as I had hoped. I should have known it's all about the quality of ingredients. We sampled strawberry ice cream made with farm fresh milk and cream and farmer's market strawberries. One word AMAZING! Lesson learned go with farm fresh dairy.
This past weekend I was determined to make ice cream. I acquired farm fresh whole milk and cream from Trickling Springs with plans of simply making vanilla. Thankfully, the genius idea hit me to add fresh peaches and bourbon. Now we're talking, right? Again, it was AMAZING. This was one indulgent treat worth the work.
Homemade Bourbon Peach Ice Cream
3 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c. sugar, divided into 1/3 cup and 2/3 cup
1 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract
3 T. bourbon
1. Macerate the peaches by combining the peaches with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Create an ice bath in a large mixing bowl. Place a smaller bowl, preferably a metal bowl, in the ice bath. Whisk together the remaining sugar and milk until the sugar is dissolved in the bowl over the ice bath. Add the cream, vanilla, and juices from the peaches whisking until well combined.
3. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions, adding the bourbon and peaches during the last five minutes of freezing.
4. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe storage container with a lid and harden in the freezer for several hours. Note: it will not become solid frozen as the bourbon will prevent that.
5. Enjoy!
