Peach Ice Cream

When I first made this ice cream, I wasn't that impressed. At the time of making it, I had many exciting flavors of ice cream to choose from in my freezer.** After the other flavors were gone, I was left with peach ice cream. And it tasted good. It's a lighter, less dense, fresh tasting ice cream. And while I love sugar, lately I've been impressed with treats that aren't too sweet. To me, this ice cream was that - sweet enough, but not like candy.

**My good friend bought a package of pint-sized containers for ice cream, like the one below. She made several batches of ice cream and shared them with me. She also gave me some containers which I filled with ice cream as well. Her flavors (some of which I will make myself and share the recipes): rich chocolate, salted butter caramel, cinnamon with cookie dough, and vanilla with peanut butter cups.

Peach Ice Cream
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 1/3 pounds ripe peaches (about 4 large peaches)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
a few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice

Peel the peaches, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar, then cool to room temperature.

Puree the cooked peaches and any liquid in a blender or food processor with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon juice until almost smooth but slightly chunky.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.