Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Peachy Keen

It's peach season!  They're finally coming in to the farmer's market, and what better way to celebrate a hot summer day than with some nice ice cream?  I wanted to create something with a general peachy flavor in addition to just peach chunks which lead to the filling of peach pie as a base for the recipe.  By cooking down the peaches for a long time in butter and brown sugar they create a nice gooey consistency.  At the last minute I decided to add a little Amaretto, because why not?  So here's what I used:

Custard Base
125 g sugar
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half & half

Peach sauce and chunks
2 medium peaches
2 tablespoons turbinado (brown sugar would work well too)
2 tablespoons butter (probably added a few more as they cooked)
1/2 tablespoon tapicoa flour (any flour should work to thicken here)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Peach Ingredients Part One
Peach Ingredients Part Two

Peel the peaches and pull out the pits, then cut in to thin wedges (~ 1/4" thick).  Melt the butter over a medium-high heat, toss the peaches in and stir for about 5 minutes to cook them down and caramelize them slightly.  Then add the turbinado (or brown sugar), cinnamon and flour and reduce heat to medium and cook down for about 20-30 minutes until it becomes mostly a thick saucy consistency with your desired peach chunk density remaining.  Allow to cool for about 20-30 minutes.
Caramelizing Peaches

 Simmer the cream and half and half for about 10 minutes, then allow to cool.  Beat the heck out of the yolks until they stiffen, whisk in the sugar.  Temper in the cream mixture and whisk until smooth.  Then return to a low heat, mix in the peach sauce, and slowly heat to 175 F.  Once there allow to cool to room temperature (stirring regularly to keep a skin from forming on the surface and curdling at the bottom of the pan).  Stir in two tablespoons amaretto, allow to refrigerate for a few hours and then toss it in the ice cream maker.

My day was peachy keen after this.

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