Holding Summer in Your Hands

One of my fondest memories as a girl was home-made ice cream. I can remember standing in line with my cousins awaiting my turn at the hand-crank ice cream maker. Can you imagine? Kid power – and we made the ice cream outdoors.

Dad had a rule, if you didn’t take your turn at the crank, you didn’t get any ice cream. Many a summer day we’d load up the family station wagon, head out to a park. We’d play games, cook up hot dogs and burgers, and finish a perfect day with a bowl of ice cream. Croquet was a popular game since boys and girls were equally unskilled. Besides, Croquet was portable. All you needed was enough open grass. Those were the days!

The beauty of no-churn ice cream is that you don’t need a hand-crank ice cream maker and a line of willing children or an electric crank or even those fancy cordless contraptions to relive a fond memory. Just an electric mixer and a couple of bread pans will do the trick. Clear out a little room in the freezer and there you go. Make memories with your family today as we celebrate National Peach Ice Cream Day.

No-Churn Peach Pie Ice Cream
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 (20 oz) can Peach Pie Filling
Waffle Cone Bowls for serving

Place a large metal bowl and electric whisk attachment in the freezer for 30 minutes. While the bowl chills, place a metal bread pan freezer. Make sure the heavy cream is held in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer beat heavy cream with whisk attachment until thick.

In a separate bowl, stir sweetened condensed milk with vanilla. Gently for about a cup of the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk. Mix together until smooth. Set aside.

Empty peach pie filling into a bowl. With a knife or pastry cutter, chop sliced peaches into smaller pieces and mix well with the pie filling sauce. Set aside.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk-whipped cream mixture back into the bowl with the rest of whipped cream. Gently fold together until smooth and creamy.

Remove bread pan from freezer. If using a large pan, pour half of the ice cream mixture into the pan. If using two smaller pans, pour about a quarter into each pan.

Add half of the peach pie filling to the large pan or a quarter into each smaller pan. With a spoon or butter knife, swirl the ice cream mixture and peaches together without overmixing. (Think marbling).

Top with remaining ice cream mixture, then remaining peach filling. Gently swirl again. Cover with plastic warp, gently pressing wrap onto the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming.

Freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight. To serve, remove pan from the freezer and let sit on the counter for about 6 minutes. Scoop peach ice cream into waffle cone bowls, serve and enjoy.

So creamy. So rich. A new summer-time favorite!