Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Creamy Homemade Peach Ice Cream made with caramelized brown sugar peaches, heavy cream, and vanilla bean. Super creamy peach ice cream made in an ice cream maker and packed with fresh peach chunks for the perfect summer treat.

This recipe is my interpretation of my childhood summer memories eating old fashioned peach ice cream, but made even better with brown sugar sautéed peaches, rich heavy cream, and vanilla bean.

🌿 Ingredients You Need & Why

1. Fresh Yellow Peaches
   • Use fully ripe yellow peaches for the best peach flavor. Underripe peaches may taste dull and have a mealy texture when frozen.
   • Yellow peaches are my go-to for ice cream with a slightly more acidic profile than white peaches, which balances well with the richness of the custard.
   • White peaches can be used, but give a more delicate flavor and won't give this ice cream it' signature peachy flavor.
2. Unsalted Butter
   • Adds flavor and buttery richness to the cooked peaches, making the ice cream taste like homemade peach cobbler without the dough.
3. Heavy Cream (32–35% fat)
   • The higher the fat, the richer and more scoopable the ice cream. This gives you that ultra-luxurious texture of nostalgic ice cream.
4. Whole Milk (at least 3.6% fat)
   • Balances the richness of the cream while keeping the custard smooth and scoopable.
5. Granulated Sugar
   • Sugar sweetens the custard base and provide structure to the final texture of the churned ice cream, for a creamy consistency.
6. Light or Dark Brown Sugar
   • Brown sugar plays a key role in deepening the peach flavor while sautéing. It caramelizes slightly as it cooks with butter and peaches, giving taste notes of toffee and molasses similar to peach cobbler.
7. Vanilla Bean Paste or Extract
   • Just a touch adds warmth and complements the caramelized notes from the brown sugar and buttered peaches.
   • Adding vanilla after cooking the custard, ensures the aromatic compounds aren’t lost to heat, preserving its flavor.
8. Large Egg Yolks
   • Yolks make the French custard base rich, velvety, and classic.

Equipment Needed

• Ice Cream Maker: I use a simple 2-quart Cuisinart ice cream maker that comes with a freezable tub. This is so much easier than the old retro style machine, that uses rock salt, like the one my Mom brought out every summer.
• Freezer-safe containers: A metal bread pan will work perfectly for storing a batch of ice cream, or you can pick up a container made specifically for ice cream found at most kitchen supply shops.

Ice Cream Tips

1. If your peaches are super ripe, you can skip peeling them for a more rustic texture. Or briefly blanch them on hot water for easier removal of the skin.
2. Melt butter in large saucepan, then add brown sugar and sprinkle cinnamon, place peeled peach halves face down.
3. Cook peaches until edges are brown and they are soft enough to cut with a spoon.
4. Let the peaches cool completely. Divide them in half.
5. Mash half of the peaches with a fork so they'll blend easier into the cream.
6. Take the other half and cut into chunks. (Place in an air tight container in the fridge.)
7. Once you've made your cream mixture, stirred in yolks, and strained; add in your mashed peaches and stir together with a spoon. You can add a tablespoon or two of the brown sugar sauce from the pan too!
8. This ice cream recipe requires churning your base in a machine, my favorite to use is this Cuisinart Electric Ice Cream Maker.
9. Some of the peach mash may get stuck to the plastic agitator as it mixes, but don't worry you can stir again before pouring into the final container.
10. When the ice cream has thickened, remove and fold in your peach chunks you've been keeping in the fridge.

frequently asked questions

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