Peach ice cream...But first let me tell you...

If you love the gorgeous combination of hazelnuts and chocolate then you'll love the sublime Gianduja gelato in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop 2011. The beautiful smooth texture and rich hazelnut flavour really do it for me! That's why I'm really excited about this book. Lebovitz's attention to detail is meticulous. I love the way the book is written in his slightly self-deprecating style - "Maybe I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer". Each recipe is provided with a short summary of background history or explanation (I can't wait to try the tiramisu  ice cream or the Lavender honey ice cream).

I've also made the Maple walnut ice cream with wet walnuts (page 48) and that's another delectable flavour. So, trying to be seasonal I've plumped to do the Peach ice cream (page 89), well Tesco's did have them on offer!

I should also add I do have a special fondness for ice cream and saved up last year to buy my super-duper freeze-on-the-job maker and can say I have no regrets! Just got to keep those thighs in check!

Now down to business with the recipe; I found it generally straightforward and it's particularly good for children if you worry about partially cooked or uncooked eggs as it doesn't have any in it! Not that my children are interested in a flavour like this..."Mummy where's the chocolate?"

Here is a brief  summary of the recipe (copyright 2011 David Lebovitz) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Scoop-Sorbets-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/1906417547/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342109734&sr=1-1

• 600g peaches
• 125ml water
• 150g sugar (all his ice cream recipes use granulated sugar)
• 120g soured cream
• 250ml double cream
• few drops of vanilla extract
• few drops lemon juice

Peel peaches and cook in the water. Remove from heat, stir in sugar,  leave to room temperature, puree peaches and liquid with all the other ingredients until almost smooth. Chill in the fridge and then churn.

What I did find was that Lebovitz specified leaving the puree slightly chunky so it literally meant about one shortish pulse in the blender otherwise you'd get no peachy texture!

One of my favourite books of the moment

Gently simmering in water

Sliced and peeled peaches

Puree fruit

Slightly chunky fruit (or is that lumpy?!)

Some raspberry coulis would complete this

Churning 

So after a few hours chilling in the fridge I got it nicely churned and after about 50 minutes hey presto home made ice cream! Husband loved it - he would, anything with cream and sugar! I found it sweet and refreshing and an ideal summer desert; I then started thinking what I could serve it with and thought it would go really well with a fruit crumble such as raspberry or strawberry. Anyway if serving on its own I'd serve it with fresh peaches and make up some raspberry coulis