Stopping at local roadside produce stands in the summertime is so much fun!  Everyone seems to have their favorite little places where our cars automatically turn on their own into crowded parking lots.  When July arrives my husband and I know that it’s time to drive to the roadside stands to fill up the back of our Jeep with several bushels of ‘free-stone’ or ‘cling-free’ peaches.  I love this variety simply because they are so easy to remove the pit than the earlier varieties that are available in June.  ‘Free-stone’ peaches seem to have a more tender texture too.

 

But from what everyone is saying, both the June and July peaches have been super sweet this year.  And that’s such a good thing!

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.More peaches are grown in South Carolina than any other state in the U.S., and a healthy, but competitive rivalry exists between Georgia and South Carolina despite Georgia’s infamous nick-name of ‘the peach state’.  I guess that everyone has their own preference, and yea, I’m slightly biased about S.C.’s super sweet, tender, and juicy peaches.  My husband (not a S.C. native) found out that the reason for the extra sweetness of S.C. peaches is that more of this state’s peaches are grown closer to the mountains, in the foothills where the temps are slightly cooler, especially at night, which peach trees thrive on.

I’ve read and even prepared several recipes for fresh home-made peach ice cream, but thus far, my husband and I believe that the hands-down best recipe out there is from David Lebovitz that he shares in his bible on ice cream, “The Perfect Scoop”.   This time I decided to add a fresh raspberry puree to top off the ice cream simply because we love the flavor combo of  the classic ‘peach melba’.  Mmmm, can’t go wrong with this pair!

 
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Peaches and Cream Ice Cream with Fresh Raspberry Coulis

Peaches and Cream Ice Cream with Fresh Raspberry Coulis

Ingredients

  • 6 large fresh peaches (or frozen, we freeze peaches ever summer)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Fresh Raspberry Coulis

  • 2 baskets of fresh raspberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 Tbsp. raspberry jam/preserves

Prepare the Peach Ice Cream

  • Place a large bowl or metal container in the freezer to chill before you begin.
  • This container is what you'll put the finished ice cream in and so it will be already be pre-chilled.
  • Peel, slice and pit the fresh peaches.
  • Add the sugar to the peaches.
  • With an immersion blender or hand-held electric beater, blend peaches and sugar with sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
  • Blend only until peaches are nice and chunky, not pureed.
  • Pour the peach mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
  • Freeze for several hours or overnight until your desired level of firmness is achieved.

Instructions

Prepare the Raspberry Coulis

  1. In a medium bowl, puree the raspberries with an immersion blender.
  2. Pour the pureed raspberries into a medium sauce pan.
  3. Using a sieve, pour the mixture through and press lightly to separate the juices of the berries from the skin and seeds into a bowl.
  4. Discard the seeds and flesh (put them in your composite pile if you have one).
  5. Add sugar to the juice that has the seeds and skin/flesh removed.
  6. Return to the pan on a medium to high temperature burner on the stove.
  7. Add raspberry jam/preserves.
  8. Bring to a boil and stir for about 3 minutes.
  9. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  10. Serve with your favorite flavor of ice cream or pound cake.

 

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 add sour cream to the sweetened peaches

 add heavy cream
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 add vanilla
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 with immersion blender, give it all a whirl and keep the peaches fairly chunky, not pureed
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Have some fun and take a trip to your favorite roadside produce stand this summer!
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Enjoy this Wonderful Peaches and Cream Ice Cream!

 

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