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Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Homemade peach ice cream made with a churned peach custard base and fresh peaches, blended for flavor with chunky pieces left intact. Pale golden, creamy, and scoopable with visible fruit throughout—perfect for a summer peach dessert.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing (rest time) 4 hours 4 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 34 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 330
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Peaches
  • 3 cup fresh peaches, peeled and diced About 4 peaches; reserve some chunky pieces after blending.
Sugar
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar, divided Use 1/4 cup for macerating; 1/2 cup for the custard.
Lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice Helps the peaches macerate and brightens flavor.
Heavy cream
  • 2 cup heavy cream
Whole milk
  • 1 cup whole milk
Egg yolks
  • 4 egg yolks Beat with sugar before tempering.
Vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp cinnamon

Equipment

  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Macerate and prep the peaches
  1. Toss the diced peaches with 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice, then let macerate for 30 minutes. The fruit should look glossy and slightly syrupy.
  2. Blend 2 cups of the macerated peach mixture smooth and leave the rest chunky. You should still see visible peach pieces for later.
Make the peach custard
  1. Heat the heavy cream and whole milk until steaming, then lower the heat to keep it from boiling. Look for small wisps of steam rising from the surface.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. The mixture should lighten slightly in color.
  3. Whisk the steaming dairy slowly into the egg yolks to temper them, in a steady stream. The custard should thicken slightly as it comes together.
  4. Return the mixture to heat and cook to 175F, stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon. It should look thick enough to leave a clear line when you swipe a finger through it.
  5. Strain the custard, then stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and the blended peach puree. The custard should turn pale golden and smell strongly of peaches.
Chill, churn, and freeze
  1. Cool the custard completely over an ice bath, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin. It should feel cool throughout with no warmth left.
  2. Refrigerate the custard at least 2 hours to chill thoroughly. It should be cold before churning.
  3. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the last 5 minutes, add the chunky peach pieces so they stay visible.
  4. Freeze the churned ice cream at least 2 hours until scoopable. The texture should hold its shape and look set but creamy.

Notes

For the smoothest peach custard, cook to 175F while stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon, then strain before chilling. Refrigerate churned ice cream in a covered container for up to 3 days; freeze for up to 2 months for best texture. The peaches are left visibly chunky by blending only 2 cups of the macerated fruit and adding the remaining pieces during the last 5 minutes of churning. For a lower-fat option, use half-and-half in place of the heavy cream, though the ice cream may churn slightly softer.