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bourbon peach ice cream

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Nik Sharma

Hey Friends, I’m a multi-award-winning and best-selling cookbook author and photographer.

Bourbon and peach ice cream
It’s the end of summer and the start of fall and I am absolutely, in no way mentally prepared for its arrival. This is also that part of the year when we squeeze in some quick last minute trips to enjoy what’s left of the sunshine and warm weather. Last weekend we took a quick trip to the farm where we spent a wonderful weekend relaxing and simply enjoying some quiet time. Here are some photographs from my trips to Virginia. As always, I have so much fun on these trips to the Mouth of Wilson, the scenery is beautiful and the farms every bit idyllic. If you follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram, you will have seen some of the photographs that I posted of the farms that we passed and visited.
Young Billy Goats
These young billy goats were pretty curious about my camera, they would come up close with their inquisitive eyes and then run back the minute I moved. On the other hand the guineas ran away from me as soon as I approached. Differing levels of animal curiosity! 
Squash flower
Sugarcane Fields
Guinea fowl
My friend Tyler really likes the ice cream, I had him taste test it a couple of weeks ago along with the champagne peach sorbet when he brought me that huge bag of peaches from South Carolina. Tyler prefers ice creams to sorbets and this time when he brought me a second bag of delicious ripe peaches, he insisted that I share the recipe for this ice cream.
Melting Bourbon and peach ice cream
This bourbon peach ice cream is the perfect way to symbolize the end of summer and the start of fall and is probably going to mark the end of my summery fruit recipes for this year. Summery peaches and warm bourbon flavors are all rolled into a scoop of frozen ice cream making it ideal at this juncture of the seasons. 
Since peaches have a high water content, I cooked them down a little to get rid of some of the moisture content. As the peaches cook, their flavor intensifies and you will end up with a rich sauce with a delicious fruit butter-like consistency.  

The base of the ice cream recipe is adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice creams. 

Last summer peach
By the way, I love ice creams and photographing ice creams is even better because the clean up is always tasty! 
Bourbon peach ice cream

bourbon peach ice cream

yields: 6-8 servings

ingredients

4 cups peaches, fresh ripe, peeled and diced
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces whole fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon madagascar vanilla extract

1. In a thick bottomed saucepan, heat the peaches and sugar on a medium-high flame. Bring the contents to a boil and then immediately reduce to a medium-low flame and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan and blend the hot sauce carefully in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Transfer the peach sauce back to the same saucepan and bring it to a boil on a medium-high flame, reduce the flame and stir continuously to prevent burning. Cook for another 7-8 minutes. The sauce should be thick, stir in two tablespoons of the bourbon. Chill the sauce completely in the refrigerator before folding it into the ice cream (the sauce should be at least 40F before use, I prefer to cool the sauce in a sealed ziploc bag placed in an ice-water bath)
2. Take two tablespoons of the milk and mix it with the cornstarch in a small bowl to form a slurry. Keep aside.
3. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a large glass mixing bowl and keep aside.
4. Bring the rest of the milk, heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil on a medium-high flame in a thick bottom saucepan. Reduce the flame to a gentle simmer stir constantly with a silicone spatula and cook for 4 minutes. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the hot milk and bring the milk back to a boil over medium-heat. Cook the milk until it begins to thicken slightly and covers the end of the spatula, about 1-1 1/2 minutes. Remove the milk from heat. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of bourbon and vanilla.
5. Carefully whisk the hot milk into the glass mixing bowl containing the cream cheese until smooth. Pass the hot milk through a sieve to remove any lumps. Transfer the milk into a gallon ziplock freezer bag and chill the sealed bag in an ice-water bath for 30 minutes, adding more ice if necessary. 
6. After chilling, pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker. Churn until the ice cream no longer sticks to the sides of the canister and it does not freeze anymore, this should take about 30 minutes (Alternatively, follow the instructions on your ice cream maker).
7. Layer the frozen ice cream into a freezer-safe storage container with an airtight lid and alternate with layers of the peach sauce. Do not mix the ice cream and sauce. Cover the surface with a sheet of parchment paper and press firmly against the surface to remove any trapped air bubbles.  Place the lid on the container and freeze until firm or at least 4 hours before serving.

82 Responses

  1. Beautiful, again. I love the photos of your trip around Virginia. We lived there many years ago and the pictures bring back great memories. As for the ice cream, I feel like I can taste it through the photos. YUM. Thank you.

  2. Gorgeous pictures! I really love those cute and inquisitive goats.

    Your ice cream is extremely tempting. A fabulous flavor combination!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  3. Absolutely loved this post…the farm pics are stunning and I really like your concept for photographing icecreams…yummy clean up eh!! 🙂 Even i'm not at all eager to welcome fall so soon.

  4. Wow – What a great recipe to wrap up summer. Those pics look awesome ofcourse, but I love the combination – so symbolic – the warm Bourbon and the cool Peach icecream. I've yet to venture into icecream making – but I committed to it by buying an icecream maker 2 summers ago! I hope I can make it half as nice as yours.

  5. I prefer ice cream to sorbet too. Makes me want to order an ice cream maker online now and then I d get up early morning to the market to hunt down some peaches. Gorgeous picture Nik!

  6. The goats look so cute, what were they thinking…who know right..
    That's a great combination for icecream.

  7. Love the picture of the goats! And love this ice cream – it looks incredibly good. Peaches and bourbon pair so well together. Really good stuff – thanks.

  8. Beautiful photos, Nik! The young billy goats are just stinkin' cute. What a lovely way to say farewell to summer. Really love the flavor combo and those ripples in your ice cream, too…so pretty!

  9. Such beautiful photos! Don't you just love goats? Such strange little creatures. Although I am a Kentuckian, I have to admit that I don't much like bourbon. But I think this ice cream might make me change my mind!

  10. I love ice cream and this looks delicious. Very nice photos. I imagine capturing ice cream is a challenge. Love the goats, very cute.

  11. How adorable are those billy goats! I have never been able to get decent photos of ice creams. Share Secrets?

  12. Your snap shot of the peach is my favorite. I too am not quite ready for the sun to leave. This is a great way to send it off with a flourish! Love your cool treats, Nik!

  13. Congrats on these gorgeous pictures!
    Love the Ice cream recipe, the combination of Bourbon and peaches sounds delicious.

  14. Those billy goats sure are beautiful! And I'm in love with this recipe and your pictures – pretty!

  15. Beautiful pictures Nik and what a lovely recipe to end the summer with. We are just at the beginning of spring so I will definitely be putting this on my list of things to try as summer rolls on 🙂

  16. Loved the mesmerizing use of warm, soft light in your photos 🙂 I'm in love with the complex simplicity of your images.

    And the ice cream pictures are simply irresistible 🙂 Lovely.

  17. I love love love the pictures of the goats, adorable. Am really not ready for fall! 🙁 the ice cream and the farm, such a nice relaxing post..loved reading it

  18. Woohoo! I'm so happy I found your blog. 🙂 I love your style of photography, it's so crisp and warm. Especially the picture of the goats.

    My favorite flavor of ice cream is actually fruit flavors. It seems to hard to make it without an ice cream maker but your recipe looks easy enough!

  19. Bourbon and peaches = such a wonderful combination! In the south, we're serious about bourbon as an ingredient, so I know this would be hugely popular here in Tennessee. I'll take two scoops, please!

  20. I would say the thing I'm going to miss most about summer is the ice cream, but I see no reason why that has to end! Especially if i make a batch of this now and hoard it into the fall. AKA for a week and a half because that's as long as my self control will allow!

  21. It sounds like you have had a lovely time visiting the farms. It is such a different lifestyle from the city. This ice cream looks wonderful with its streaks of fruit.

  22. Thank you Dena, Virginia's countryside is so breathtaking and picturesque, it's hard not to fall in love with the state's natural beauty.

  23. Thanks Archana, I waited too but it has been a wonderful experience and probably one of the most used gadgets at home. I hope you get one soon.

  24. Ahh, I am jealous Karen, I'm going to miss the warm weather though fall and winter do have their own special charms.

  25. I am so happy you stopped by Tara and glad you like what you see here. I like fruit flavors quite a bit too, they make desserts unique and tasty.

  26. I plan to make ice cream and sorbets all throughout the year. Haha, I am glad you like the ice cream and I do hope you get to make it.

  27. Nik, wanted you to know that I included your recipe in my Epic Summer Recipe Roundup (posted on Friday.) Cheers!

  28. Oh my gosh!! Just made this ice cream…I used Jack Daniels Honey instead of the bourbon, and I used frozen peaches, because I didn't want to wait for them to ripen. It is SO amazing!! Its now our favorite ice cream…no joke! Wish I could send you a pic…beautious. Lol Thanks for sharing this great recipe 🙂

  29. Yay, I'm so happy that you made it and liked the ice cream! Yum, on the Jack Daniels, it sounds so good. Next time send me a pic, I'd love to take see it. Enjoy the ice cream!

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