Fresh Peaches and Cream Ice Cream!

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The peach season seems to be lingering a little bit later this summer, because there are still bushels and bushels of fresh peaches in the markets and stores right now.  We always buy our peaches from our favorite, special fruit stand on the SC/NC border (on the SC side where the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains are and where peach trees thrive).  If you have ever driven (south) across the northern border of SC on Interstate 26 or Highway 25, you immediately begin to see the "peaches for sale" signs and then just as quickly as they appeared, the signs vanish about 45 miles south of the border.
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So we decided to make some peach ice cream (again!). . . and I say 'again' because the first recipe that I found this past July was from the Neely's show on Food TV Network (the recipe was and still is posted on the web-site).  Well, let's just say that it was so sweet that we threw the entire batch away!  We rarely throw food away, and in fact, we are huge left-over fans.  But I tell you that not even my sweet-toothed husband could eat more than a half teaspoon of that stuff.  So down the drain it went, along with four cups of our precious fresh peaches.  I was not too happy at that moment seeing the waste . . . but at least living on an acreage with a (uh-hum) septic tank, I know that it is working its way back into the earth.

So my search for the perfect peach ice cream recipe carried on!  Ultimately, I turned to one of my favorite foodie bloggers, Monica, over at Lick The Bowl Good.  Recently, Monica had posted a recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (former pastry chef of Chez Pannise) which sounded divine!  It's so simple to make that hubby made it with the help of our ice cream machine while I taught an evening class last night.  As always, a few changes were made that are noted below.  That creamy peach ice cream was just waiting to say "hello" to me when I walked into the house (along with hubby)!

This peach ice cream recipe is simply perfect, luscious, and intensely peachy!  You can clearly taste the fresh peaches in this version, plus the two different kinds of cream make it silky and smooth, and there is just the right touch of sugar.  Mmmm!  I hope that you enjoy this comforting frozen treat of peaches and cream perfection.

Just look at the chunks of fresh peaches in this ice cream!

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Fresh Peach Ice Cream
(adapted from The Perfect Scoop)
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1-1/3 lbs (about 4 large peaches) fresh or frozen peaches (we freeze peaches every summer)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (original recipe calls for 1/4 tsp. but we like more vanilla flavor)
a few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice
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Place a large bowl or container in the freezer to chill it before you get started.  This container is what you'll put the finished ice cream in and it will already be pre-chilled nicely.

Peel and slice the peaches, remove the pits.
Cut the peaches into slices or chunks.
(original recipe calls for cooking the peaches in 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes; we skipped this step because we like our peaches more fresh and uncooked, except in crisps and pies).
Add the sugar to the peaches.
Blend the peaches and sugar with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla extract and the lemon juice with an immersion blender or hand-held electric beater.
Blend until slightly chunky.
Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions (we use a Cuisinart).
Freeze for several hours or overnight until desired level of firmness is achieved.

Garnish with fresh peaches!
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