Peaches and Cream Ice Cream
Peaches and Cream Ice Cream is an uncommon but amazing ice cream flavor that everyone will fall in love with.
An exciting summertime favorite, but easily made any time of year, this French custard style ice cream is rich, creamy, sweet and packed with juicy peach flavor.
This creamy and brightly flavored peach ice cream is naturally gluten-free and nut-free.
Peaches and Cream Ice Cream is like summertime in a bowl! Use fresh, frozen, or canned peaches to make this easy ice cream recipe, you can enjoy it any time of the year.
You won’t often see peaches and cream ice cream on your supermarket shelves, but I’m not sure why. This homemade ice cream recipe is one of my personal favorites, and my whole family loves it too.
If you like this creamy, fruity ice cream recipe, you should also try making fresh Black Raspberry Ice Cream, or sweet and tart Lemon Custard Ice Cream next.
Why You’re Going to Love this Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Recipe
Peaches and Cream! This is one of my favorite dessert flavor combinations. Vanilla and cream complement the sweetness and slight tartness of peaches so well, and they are combined perfectly in this easy recipe.
Versatile Recipe: You can use fresh peaches to make this ice cream – and I’d recommend it if they’re in season. Off-season, feel free to use frozen peaches or even canned ones.
No Unnatural Ingredients: This homemade ice cream recipe is made with fresh milk and cream, a handful of other simple ingredients, and doesn’t contain any preservatives, chemicals, or artificial colors.
Simple Step-by-Step Instructions: French-style ice cream can seem intimidating, but I promise it’s not difficult. I’ll guide you through each step so that you are successful at making a delicious homemade peach ice cream, egg yolks included.
Looking for peaches and cream flavor but in a hurry? Make a Peaches and Cream Milkshake instead!
Ingredients in Homemade Peaches and Cream Ice Cream
Peaches – You’ll need about 2 cups of peeled and chopped peaches for this recipe. We will be sweetening them and blending them to create a peach puree to add to the creamy vanilla ice cream base. You can use fresh, frozen, or canned peaches, depending on what you have available.
Granulated Sugar – For sweetness and amazing ice cream texture, plain, white, granulated sugar is the perfect choice.
Lemon Juice – When making ice cream with fruit like peaches, a bit of lemon juice amplifies the flavor in the best way.
Egg Yolks – These create the base for our ice cream custard. We’ll gently heat the egg yolks to pasteurize them, but you can also purchase pasteurized eggs if you prefer.
Whole Milk – Milk is cooked with the egg yolks and sugar to create our custard base.
Kosher Salt – Just a bit of salt balances the sweetness and makes everything taste a bit brighter.
Heavy Cream – Making peach ice cream with both heavy cream and whole milk is what gives us the perfect creamy texture.
Vanilla Extract – Vanilla is a must for almost all of our ice cream recipes. It elevates the simple flavors of milk, sugar, and cream.
If you have any questions about making Peaches and Cream Ice Cream, leave a comment below and I will get back to you.
How to Make Peaches and Cream Ice Cream from Scratch
When making ice cream with an electric ice cream maker, you’ll need to put the bowl of the machine in the freezer the day before. It will need at least 24 hours to freeze solid. Once that’s ready, start mixing up the ice cream base:
- Place the peaches, lemon juice, and ¼ cup of granulated sugar in a bowl. Mix together. Let sit for 30 minutes, until the peaches have released their juices. Add the peach mixture to a food processor. Blend until smooth, and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining ½ cup of granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Be sure not to boil. Add about ½ cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
- Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Add in the peach puree and stir until incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until cold.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 20 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.
How to Store Peaches and Cream Ice Cream
Store this homemade Peaches and Cream ice cream in the freezer in an airtight container (I love this set!) with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper pressed on top for up to one month.
Tips for Making This Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Recipe
Use quality ingredients – When making homemade ice cream, you’ll want to make sure you are using high-quality ingredients for the best outcome.
Chill out – If possible, always start with chilled ingredients. This is important for homemade no-churn ice cream recipes and ice cream maker recipes.
Don’t skimp on the fat – High-fat milk and cream are essential when making homemade peaches and cream ice cream. Opting for a low-fat option often leads to icy ice creams and inconsistency in the texture.
Don’t go crazy with the add-ins – If you’re adding in additional ingredients, pick one or two and make sure they are chopped into pieces no larger than a blueberry or pea.
Don’t skimp on the sugar – Sugar not only adds sweetness to homemade ice creams, it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.
No Food Processor? A high-powered blender or a handheld blender will do the job of blending the peaches just as well.
How Do You Peel Peaches?
To make homemade peaches and cream ice cream with fresh peaches, you will want to remove the skin from the peaches first. It’s easy to do.
First cut a small “x” on the bottom of each peach. Then place the peaches in boiling water for about 1 minute. Remove and place in ice water to cool for one minute. The peels should slide right off!
How Can I Ripen Peaches Quickly?
Unripe peaches aren’t nearly as sweet and juicy as you want them to be for this ice cream recipe, so be sure that they are ripe when you’re ready to make this.
Ripe peaches will be soft when you squeeze them gently, and they will smell amazing.
If you need to ripen peaches fast, place them in a paper bag on the counter for a day or two.
Do I have to puree the peaches?
You have options when it comes to the texture of your homemade peaches and cream ice cream!
The way we’re making it here, you’ll see very small pieces of peach puree throughout the ice cream.
If you would prefer a super smooth texture, you can press the peach puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the pulp, but keep all of the flavorful peach juice.
If you’d like to see chunks of peaches in your ice cream, you can puree some of the fruit, and finely chop some of it into small pieces. It’s important that the pieces are small -no larger than the size of a green pea- so that you don’t end up with icy bites in your finished dessert.
No Churn Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Directions
Chill a shallow container or a loaf pan in the freezer while you mix the ice cream ingredients.
Pour the peach ice cream mixture into the prepared pan and freeze for 3-4 hours. Stir the ice cream every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours to help add air. This will help create a creamy, smooth texture.
Peach Ice Cream Add-Ins
I haven’t yet tried adding anything extra to this homemade peach ice cream, but I have some ideas. If you come up with some of your own, leave a comment and let me know!
Cookies like Golden Oreos, shortbread cookies, or gingersnaps would give taste and added texture to peaches and cream ice cream.
A drizzle of caramel sauce or white chocolate chunks would be delicious too!
Need more ideas? Check out this list of the best ice cream toppings, and choose some to try.
More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes
Don’t stop here! We have tons of Ice Cream Recipes for you to make at home.
- Bananas Foster Ice Cream
- Rosemary Ice Cream
- Sage Ice Cream
- Orange Ice Cream
- Pralines and Cream Ice Cream
Our Favorite Ice Cream Making Tools:
- Cuisinart 2QT Ice Cream Maker – Works with ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt.
- Ice Cream Scoop – Make sure you have a good ice cream scoop. This is one of our favorites.
- Ice Cream Containers – We love keeping a couple of ice cream containers on hand for when we make homemade ice cream.
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Did you make this Homemade Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Recipe? Leave a Comment Below letting us know what you thought and if you added any additional add-ins.
Peaches and Cream Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups peaches skin removed and chopped (approximately 8.5 oz./250g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl.
- Add the peaches, ¼ cup of the granulated sugar, and lemon juice to a medium bowl. Mix to combine.
- Let the peaches sit for 30 minutes to let their natural juices release. Add the peach mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining ½ cup of granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined.
- Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add in the peach puree and stir until incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until cold.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 20 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
- Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid. Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- For best results, start with chilled ingredients and tools.
- Don't make adjustments to the amounts of types of sugar or dairy products. The success of this creamy ice cream depends on lots of sugar and high-fat dairy.
- You can also use frozen peaches in this recipe. Let them thaw before macerating with sugar.
- If you prefer a smoother peach ice cream with no chunks, you can strain the peaches after blending them to remove any pieces.
- If you do not have a food processor, you can use an immersion blender or a high-speed blender to puree the peaches.
- Plan ahead by making sure that your ice cream maker bowl is in the freezer at least 24 hours before you're going to make ice cream.
- This ice cream can be stored in the freezer for up to one month. Keep it in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper pressed to the surface of the ice cream to keep ice crystals from developing.
- Homemade ice cream should be easy to scoop if you let it soften at room temperature for 5 minutes after removing it from the freezer.
Hi, would it be possible to adapt this recipe to make it Philadelphia like instead of French?
Hi Harmony,
Yes! Prepare the peaches and let them cool. Then add them to the end of the churning process of this recipe (minus the cherries). https://icecreamfromscratch.com/cherry-gelato-recipe/
The Ice Cream From Scratch Team