The Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Like a bowl full of summer, the Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream will blow your mind with flavor. This easy homemade ice cream recipe can also use frozen or canned peaches, giving you that summer flavor year round.
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I do my best to eat locally and seasonally for a multitude of reasons. Soft, ripe peaches in the summer are a gift straight from heaven. They’re like a little orb that has been injected with sunshine. And they make the best homemade ice cream!
If you are looking for a dairy-free/vegan ice cream option, check out this Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream Recipe.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN HOMEMADE Peach ICE CREAM?
- Peaches. No surprise there!
- Heavy cream
- Whole Milk
- Egg yolks <—-this is happening. Deal with it
- Vanilla extract (related: Homemade Vanilla Extract)
- Kosher salt
- Sugar
You can use canned peaches if you don’t have fresh peaches (related: Canning Peaches). If you use sugar in the syrup when you can peaches, reduce the sugar in the homemade peach ice cream to 1/4 cup.
And yes, you can use frozen peaches! Check out this post on Freezing Peaches if you want to learn how to freeze peaches in your own kitchen.
If you have leftover peaches to use up (lucky you!), try them in a Ginger Beer Mocktail, Peach Syrup, or add a few slices to a Homemade Blackberry Crisp. Peaches and blackberries are such an amazing pairing!
Here’s how to make Homemade Peach Ice Cream
*Detailed and printable directions are available in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Cut your peaches in half (related: how to cut a peach) and place in a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peaches and put them in a bowl of ice water.
After a minute, snag a peach and peel the skin back. If your peaches are ripe, it should peel super easily. Set aside about 1/3 cup of peaches diced into small chunks. Cut the rest of the peaches into slices.
Blend the peaches (minus the 1/3 cup peach chunks) using an immersion blender or food processor to create a peach puree.
Combine cream, milk, salt, sugar, and the extract in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat once the sugar has dissolved.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and whisk well with a fork. Add the hot milk/cream mixture 1/3 cup at a time (x3 – 1 cup total) to the eggs, whisking while you combine. This is called tempering and it allows the eggs to heat up without scrambling them.
Ever made scrambled eggs ice cream? I have. I don’t recommend it.
Whisk the egg mixture into the rest of the milk, and return the pan to the stove. Cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from heat, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl fitted with a sieve/fine mesh strainer. Add peach puree to the bowl and transfer to the fridge for at 12 hours (preferably) or until completely cooled.
Pro tip: if you need to speed up this process, put the bowl in the freezer and stir every 30 minutes.
Add the cooled ice cream base to your ice cream maker of choice, churning until it has reached your preferred level of “doneness”. Remove the paddle/dasher, and gently stir in the ¼ cup of diced peaches.
Transfer to an air-tighter container, pressing a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream, ensuring it makes contact with the ice cream. Freeze for a few hours.
Supplies I used in this recipe:
Ice cream maker
Kitchen Aid mixer
Immersion blender
Metal sieve
Can I Make Peach Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker?
No ice cream machine? Freeze and stir the base every hour until frozen and creamy. For more details, check out this post from David Lebovitz on how to make ice cream without a machine.
PRO TIPS/RECIPE NOTES:
- Want to use frozen peaches? Defrost fully and set aside the liquid that is produced. Add sparkling water to it and have a refreshing summer spritzer.
- Using peaches that may not be as juicy as you’d like? Add 1/3 cup of peach freezer jam to punch up the flavor
- The ice cream will be a soft-serve texture when you’re initially done churning it. Eat it right then if you can’t wait (who can?), or freeze for a few hours until solid.
- Having plastic wrap or waxed paper make contact with the surface of the ice cream and then covering with a lid is one of my favorite tips for keeping homemade ice cream from getting icy.
OTHER Homemade ICE CREAM RECIPES
- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- No-Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Fresh Blueberry Ice Cream
The Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 egg yolks Let the eggs sit at room temp for 30-60 minutes before cracking
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 6 peaches skin removed, and sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar
Instructions
- The fastest way to remove the skin from peaches is to make a little “x” in the skin and then place it in a pan of boiling water for about a minute. Remove and transfer to a bowl of ice water. The skin should peel back easily. Cut the peach into slices or large chunks.Set aside about 1/3 cup of peaches diced into small chunks.
- Using an immersion blender or food processor, combine the peaches and puree until smooth. Transfer to the fridge.
- In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the heavy cream, milk, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and sugar. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat.
- Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and whisk well with a fork. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, add some of the hot milk/cream mixture to the egg yolks, and whisk while you combine. Add another 1/3 cup - mix. Then a final 1/3 cup - mix. Whisk the egg mixture into the rest of the milk, and return the pan to the stove. Cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl fitted with a sieve/fine mesh strainer. Add peach puree and transfer to the fridge for at 12 hours (preferably) or until completely cooled.
- Add the ice cream base to your ice cream maker of choice, churning until it has reached your preferred level of "doneness". Remove the paddle/dasher, and gently stir in the ¼ cup of diced peaches. Transfer to an air-tighter container, pressing a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream, ensuring it makes contact with the ice cream.
Notes
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Making this after patiently waiting for several days until I had time to enjoy the process🙂. Two things:
I made my own plumped vanilla beans by placing the bottoms in bourbon. Hoping it won’t be a problem to use. Second, I was concerned that the blanched-ish peach chunks may brown prior to being added to the ice cream maker tomorrow. Have you ever added lemon juice or cut lemons to boiling water??? Would that work or should I add to actual chucks. Or just wait and prepare just prior to adding?
Love your ‘just good friends talking food in the kitchen’ tone! Fingers crossed….cause life without ice cream would be a sad existence indeed!
Hi Becki, I haven’t added citrus to the water because the blanching and sugar acts as the “preserving” agent.
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you! The vanilla beans sound tasty.
I had an abundance of ripe peaches and made several batches of this ice cream. It is absolutely delicious as soon as it comes out of the ice cream maker. However, after it’s spent a few hours in the freezer it becomes rock hard and darn near impossible to scoop—even after allowing it to thaw for half an hour.
Hi Dana, sadly, homemade ice cream doesn’t have the stabilizers to keep it soft like storebought.
But it should not be rock solid even after being out of the freezer for 30 minutes. A few things to check: did you use heavy cream and whole milk, or something with a lower fat content? The fat helps keep things a bit softer. Did you adjust the sugar? Heavy cream percentages can vary from country to country. Look for something with the highest milkfat possible.
The family loved this peach ice cream recipe!!
So happy to hear that Samantha! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂