Duration : 0:4:30

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The combined flavor of homemade ice cream and peaches is one that is hard to top.  One of the fun things about making your own ice cream is to be able to blend different flavors right into the mixture as the ice cream is being churned.  Unlike buying flavored ice creams, when you make your own fruit flavored ice creams, you know for a fact that the fruit you mix in with the other ingredients is absolutely pure and absolutely fresh.  And since most homemade ice cream is eaten within a day after it is made, you get that taste of very fresh fruit mixed with your ice cream that no ice cream you buy at the store can possibly compete with.

There are times of the year when peaches are just ripening that you can go to a local orchard and harvest them right off the tree.  That is the time to make up your homemade ice cream using these peaches that could not be fresher.  The flavor of the peaches is so active at that time that they are almost unrecognizable from the flavor of peaches from the supermarket.  So if you get home from picking peaches and get busy putting together the standard ingredients for homemade ice cream to mix up in your ice cream machine, you can add peaches as the ice cream is being made so they freeze right into the mixture for a wonderful taste treat.

The two best ways to add the taste of fresh peaches to your ice cream is chunky and creamy.  The easy way is to just cut and clean the peaches and perhaps skin them.  Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces.  Then mix up the ice cream in your churn or ice cream machine.  During the process of mixing, add in the cut peaches and let them churn into the mix.  They will disperse throughout the mixture and some of the pieces will blend into the recipe to give all of the ice cream a wonderful peach flavor.  But when the homemade ice cream is done and you serve it, the frozen peaches will be part of the ice cream so each bite will bring an explosion of peach flavor with each chunk you enjoy.

You can achieve the same flavor but make the ice cream even more permeated with the flavor of peach by putting the skinned peaches into the food processor and blending them into a paste.  Add that to the ice cream that is being prepared for churning and close up the ice cream machine and let it do its work.  When you take out the finished ice cream, it will have a rich peach color and the aroma of peach will fill the room.  It will be hard to leave the soft ice cream alone to let it finish in the freezer.  But it will be worth it because your peach ice cream will have a flavor that can't be beat.

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The basic formula for making ice cream at home is not very complicated.  The way homemade ice cream takes on its unique personality comes from either how it is made or what is added to the basic formula.  For fun, you can actually turn the production of ice cream into a great game the kids can play at a birthday party.  And when they are done, they can open up the makeshift "churn" and eat the ice cream with their birthday cake. 

For starters you use the age old recipe for homemade ice cream that most people are familiar with which includes one pint of Half and Half, one and a half tsps of vanilla and a little over a third cup of sugar.  Now this ice cream formula makes a very basic vanilla ice cream.  You can add fruit, cookies, chocolate chips and all kinds of other items to produce the flavors you want.  This is the fun part of making ice cream at home, you get to experiment with new flavors and variations on the basic recipe.

Now we will turn the actual churning into a birthday party game.  Take a one-pound coffee can that you thoroughly washed and mix up the basic recipe we just described in it.  Then seal the top and tape it with duct tape so it will not come open or leak under any conditions.  Now put the small can inside a three-pound coffee can, also cleaned out thoroughly so you don't have the smell of coffee permeate your ice cream. 

Fill the larger can with ice so it surrounds the smaller can.  Now put the lid on the bigger can and seal it up just as tightly as you did with the smaller can.  Now you have your make shift churn and the children at the party are your raw labor.  Wrap the can in a towel and lay out a sheet on the floor just to be safe in case the cans open.  Now the children can get down on the floor and roll that big can all over the place just as vigorously as they can.  Cheer them on that they are making their own birthday ice cream treat.  They will giggle because the can will be quite cold.  But that is part of the fun.

After ten minutes, open both cans and take a look.  If the ice cream is not perfect, seal everything up and give it another ten minutes of playful rolling on the ground.  After you open it up again, the ice cream should be frozen to the sides of the can.  This is a good game to play early in the party so you can put the finished product in the freezer to finish the job.  But save up those coffee cans because you may want to get three or four cans going to have various flavors of ice cream to serve with the cake.  The kids will love the flavor and they will go home with a story to tell that they made their own ice cream.