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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Wordless and "Wow" Wednesday

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Tigger, our 15-year old grey tabby, is a very happy old boy . . . he lays on his back daily to sleep & relax!  He was a stray that wandered into our lives and never fails to make us laugh!
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Happy 2nd Blogoversary: Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

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Happy 2nd Blogoversary to my 'la bella vita' blog.  It's been a great two years getting to know so many wonderful people and from all the way around the globe!!!  But sadly this is the busiest day of my teaching schedule, so I just couldn't find the time to prepare and photo a new recipe for this occasion.  Instead I'm just going to post an encore recipe that I baked last year (in September no less!) that is super-chocolatey and delicious:  Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake.  This monster of a cake is worthy of a second post and I hope that you enjoy it!

This month for The Cake Slice Bakers, the selected cake for September is this Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake. Wow, what a doozie this cake is. Rich, dense, and hefty, small pieces are all that is needed before you surrender to its power.

It is always so much fun to make chocolate cakes, the aroma of the kithen is just blissful! The beauty of shimmering, creamy melted chocolate is a visual delight!

The cake did have its challenges, I must admit. The white chocolate mousse filling wasn't as thick as I would have liked, so you can barely see it in the "slice" photo below. It sure is tasty though, so if you know of a way to thicken a mousse without ruining it, that's what I'd recommend. The frosting was a wee bit too bitter for our taste preferences, so I'd add sugar to take out some of the bittersweetness.

But besides those two issues, it's a tremendous and IMPRESSIVE cake! Plus it was just so much fun to bake and chat back and forth with Monica over at "Lick The Bowl Good". She's much more of a master baker/decorator than I am, and so my learning curve is rising as I chat with her and the other bakers.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

(from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

Here's what you need for the cake:

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup milk
1 ¼ cups hot, strongly brewed coffee
2 eggs
1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat or fat free)
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups sugar

White chocolate mousse (below)
Sour cream chocolate icing (below)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the mocha liquid cool slightly.

In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.

White Chocolate Mousse

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg white
1 tbsp sugar

Melt the white chocolate with ¼ cup cream in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and let the white chocolate cream cool to room temperature.

When it has cooled, beat the remaining ¾ cup cream until soft peaks form. In a clean bowl whip the egg white with the sugar until fairly stiff peaks form.

Fold the beaten egg white into the white chocolate cream, then fold in the whipped cream until blended. Be sure not to over mix.

Sour Cream Chocolate Icing

12 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
¼ cup half-and-half at room temperature
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

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Melt the chocolate with the butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over barly simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in the half-and-half and sour cream. Use while still soft.

How to assemble the cake:

Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half the white chocolate mousse, leaving a ¼ inch margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the remaining mousse. Set the third layer on top and pour half the sour cream chocolate icing over the filled cake. Spread all over the sides and top. Don’t worry if some of the cake shows through. This first frosting is to seal in the crumbs, and is known as a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

After this time cover the cake with the rest of the icing, smoothing it down the sides. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting around the cake.

Makes a 9 inch triple layer cake; serves 12 to 16

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