Your New Summer Staple: Bourbon-Peach Ice Cream

There’s one thing every good southerner knows… know matter how you take your bourbon, it’s going to be so good.

Some people like it in a pecan pie, others on the rocks… my friend Shelton introduced me to a Bourbon and Ginger cocktail a few years ago and something about that combination is dynamite. In fact, it’s my winter go-to cocktail. But then, there’s this other summertime combination that really knocks my socks off… bourbon and peaches. The sweet juiciness of the peaches is just complimented so beautifully by smooth, warm bourbon and this is definitely true when they come together in a silky, simple custard-based ice cream .

Every May I break out my ice cream maker and try a couple of new recipes… this year I tried double chocolate chocolate (Boone’s new favorite), sweet corn (recipe to follow soon!), and today’s gem… bourbon-peach. A couple of years ago I tried a bourbon peach popsicle… it was good (and healthy), but in my opinion the bourbon flavor was just a little too strong and kind of overpowered everything else and burned your throat a little bit. I learned my lesson and dialed this down a bit so it’s there, but only really in service of the sweet, ripe, fresh peach flavor.

Just FYI…When I made some for my mama and aunt they sat with the entire tub and nearly ate it all in one sitting. It’s that good. Don’t make this if you’re watching your weight, or hoping to have some leftover for guests, or any other reason you might have for not wanting to eat ALL OF IT at once. 😉

Also, PLAN AHEAD. The peaches need to steep in the bourbon for at the VERY least an hour and then the custard takes awhile to cool… so don’t go thinking you can whip this up right before your guest arrive. You need to give yourself (at the very least 2.5-3 hours) and really, to play it safe I start the night before.

Bourbon-Peach Ice Cream
Makes probably one to two quarts (I eat it too quickly to really know)

What You Need:
4 ripe large-ish peaches, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
2 cup white sugar (divided)
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup bourbon (I personally prefer buillet)

What To Do:

As I said above, you’ve got to start steeping your chopped peaches in the bourbon and 1 of the cups of sugar. I kept mine in the fridge overnight the first time (but only because I realized that I’d stupidly forgotten to freeze the ice cream maker bowl. stupid, stupid, stupid.) Although it was an accident, the peaches’ sweetness really turned out great and the juice created by the sugar, peaches, and whiskey probably benefited from the extra time… so I did this again the second time I made it. and the third time I think I waited maybe 3 hours? Once you feel like it’s steeped to your liking, strain the peach/bourbon juice into another container and keep it.

Once your peaches are ready to go, you can start with your pretty classic vanilla ice cream custard. Truly, this is the key to the richness of the ice cream.

People do this all kinds of different ways, but I found this way to work the best for me…

I start by separating my eggs into a small to medium bowl and mixing in the sugar to the yolks. Then I warm the milk and cream in a saucepan until it steams but IS NOT boiling, stirring it pretty regularly.

Then, I take a few quarter cups of the steaming milk and pour it slowly into the bowl with the sugar and eggs. This warms the egg yolks up slowly so they don’t scramble (gross). I probably stir in at least 1 cup of milk/cream into the sugar/yolk mixture and then pour the sugar/yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Some people use cheesecloth or some other way to strain any egg that might have cooked in this process, but I’ve found if you go slowly enough,  you don’t really run into this problem, so I leave out that step. But, just in case, you can use a fine strainer or cheesecloth if you’re worried about cooked egg in your ice cream.

Once you’ve combined the egg, sugar, cream, and milk, add in the vanilla and then return the saucepan to the heat. You’ll want to bring the temperature back up to almost boiling here (you don’t want to curdle the milk but you DO want to cook the egg) stirring the whole time until it has thickened enough so it will coat the back of a spoon. At this point, pour in your bourbon/peach juice that you reserved after straining it. (it’ll be hard, but try not to drink it beforehand)

Now  you’ve got a gorgeous warm peach-flavored custard. Your job now is to cool it so that it doesn’t unfreeze your ice cream maker bowl (which would be a mess). I’ve found that the method from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream cookbook works pretty well. To do it, I take a bowl and put a gallon sized plastic bag into it and then pour the custard into the bag, seal it, and lay it in an ice bath for 30 mins to an hour. (I use a roasting pan and LOTS of ice water as my ice bath.)

Once the custard has cooled down and feels about the same temp as the ice bath, you can go ahead and pour it into your ice cream maker and follow whatever directors you’ve got for that. At the very end…. right before the ice cream gets firm, I pour in the chopped peaches and let that mix in. Let freeze a little longer until firm, and then serve.

Y’all, it’s so, so good. I know the custard is a little involved and sometimes it’s all you can do to wait overnight to make a delicious ice cream that you want to EAT RIGHT NOW, but really, once you try it you’ll understand. truly. bourbon and peaches… a combination for the ages.

What’s your favorite way to have your bourbon?