Mary Mack's Fresh Peach Ice Cream

At some point in every summer of my childhood, my mother would pull out our old wooden ice cream maker, a box of big rock salt and a bag of fresh peaches from the farmers market and set about making her famous peach ice cream. My sister and I loved helping her thicken the custard that formed the base of the ice cream and watching the electric churn work its magic, turning liquid custard into frozen deliciousness.

I'm grateful that ice cream makers have come a long way since the mid-70s, but I'll be following Mama's recipe to a tee.

Recipe for Mary Mack's Peach Ice Cream

5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk
2 cups fresh peaches, peeled, sliced, pureed
vanilla extract to taste

Directions

-Set up a 3-quart electric ice cream machine. (Remember, the bowl of the machine must be frozen for several hours in advance of making your ice cream).

-Peel and pit peaches and purée in a blender or food processor. Set aside.

-Mix egg yolks and sugar in a heavy saucepan. When well combined, add milks. Whisk of medium-low heat until mixture is thickened to a custard-like consistency.

-add peach purée and mix well.

-Cool the mixture to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

-Pour the peach custard into the frozen bowl of ice cream maker and freeze according to machine directions (every machine has different freeze times, but you can see the ice cream form if you don't know exactly what they are).

-Remove components of machine and freeze ice cream for up to four hours before serving.