Peach Blueberry Cobbler Ice Cream (and a Thank You)

Peach ice cream with a blueberry swirl that has hints of brown sugar and cinnamon. It's all the flavors of a blueberry peach cobbler but much more suitable for eating from a cone than an actual cobbler

 

Even though the Cuisinart ice cream maker giveaway is over my brain is still on ice cream mode. Every dessert I make or drink I see becomes a potential ice cream flavor. So when I was working on a peach blueberry cobbler recipe for the Globe and Mail I automatically wanted to turn the left over ingredients into an ice cream.

Recipe for the actual cobbler here

 

The actual cobbler recipe leaves the peach peels on because they bake up soft enough that you don't need to mess around with blanching and peeling. However, for the ice cream you can't have little bits of peel in there because it takes away from the texture.

The act of peeling peaches has never appealed to me but luckily I had two very lovely ladies - Sam and Rachele - at my house helping me out and Rachele volunteered to blanch and peel the peaches. She assured us that it isn't hard. You simply cut a little 'x' on the bottom of each peach and then place them in a pot of boiling water for one minute.

Then you transfer them to a bowl of very cold water and the peels just sort of slide off. She made it look a lot easier than I had imagined. Rachele has a blog called Jolie Home where she shares her crafty posts that take place both in and out of the kitchen. If you have a moment then check it out, it's a pretty little piece of the internet. 

Once the peaches were peeled we cooked them with some brown sugar until soft and then set put them in the fridge to chill so that they'd be ready to churn with the ice cream.

For the blueberry part of the ice cream I had toyed with the idea of just cooking the blueberries with the peaches but Rachele suggested making a blueberry syrup instead (teamwork!). So we cooked some blueberries with a bit of water,sugar, and cinnamon until it was thick and then strained it. It made a very pretty dark purple syrup that would also taste amazing on waffles or pancakes.

 

We were working off a David Lebovitz peach ice cream recipe and although we had subbed brown sugar in for the regular white sugar we kept his combination of sour cream and whipping cream for the base because it seemed like it would work perfectly with the peaches and blueberries.

This ice cream doesn't use a cooked custard as it's base, the pureed fruit and sugar and creams are just stirred together and then churned in the ice cream maker.

To make the blueberry swirl we just smoothed half of the churned ice cream in a Tupperware container then poured enough syrup to almost cover it. That was topped with another layer of ice cream and put it in the freezer to firm up.

When the ice cream is scooped the layer of syrup makes a swirl and I was extremely happy that neither the blueberries nor the peaches overpower each other. You can taste both of them very distinctly along with a little hint of cinnamon. Because the ice cream is made without a custard base it's not as rich but that means that the peach flavor stands out more clearly.

 

mm peaches and blueberries in my ice cream maker.

I also have to add some Thank You's to the end of this post because a lot of people have been indispensable to me in the last few weeks. I broke my collarbone on the left side (and I'm left handed) so I was unable to get most of the things I needed to get done - including normal stuff like doing my hair.

Unfortunately, deadlines and chores and hair don't just disappear when you find yourself unable to do them. I was lucky enough to have lots of people take a bit of the burden off of me and everything was done on time. So a huge thanks to:

• My sister who did my hair into french braids, washed all my dishes, stirred all my pots, took all my pans out of the oven, acted as my photo assistant, and worked all the office equipment for me
• My parents for taking time off work to drive me around to x-rays and appointments and anything else when I wasn't able to drive. And for just generally fussing over me and making sure that I was comfortable
• My boyfriend for driving me here and there, carrying anything that needed to be carried, and for attempting to put my hair into a ponytail on many an occasion. 
• Rachele and Sam for the best Get Well basket in the history of ever and for helping out in the kitchen (and just generally being awesome).

I'm on the mend now and able to get all my work done by myself but anything that was completed in the previous weeks was definitely a team effort. I think in the future I'm going to avoid breaking such an inconvenient bone.

 

Peach Blueberry Cobbler Ice Cream

(adapted from David Lebovitz peach ice cream)

Peach Ice cream

 1 1/3 pounds whole peaches

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

squeeze of lemon

 Blueberry cobbler syrup

2 cups of blueberries

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Steps

Peel the peaches: Cut a small 'x' on the bottom of each peach. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and place the peaches in it for one minute. Then transfer them to  bowl of ice water. Slip the peels off of the peaches.

Cook the peaches: Cut the peaches into chunks and place in a pot or saucepan with the 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook over medium heat until they are soft and cooked completely. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the brown sugar and the white sugar. Use a stick blender or a regular blender to puree the fruit until it's semi smooth. Stick the mixture in your fridge or freezer to chill so that it can come to room temp before making the ice cream

Make the syrup: Combine the blueberries, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a simmer. While the blueberries are cooking use a fork or potato masher to squish them against the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the syrup starts to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and pour through a strainer to remove the larger lumps. Place the syrup in the fridge or freezer to cool while you churn the ice cream.

Make the ice cream: Add the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon juice to the peaches and stir until thoroughly combined. Chill the mixture in your fridge until cool to the touch and then churn in your ice cream maker. 

Making the swirl: Take half of the churned ice cream (it will be in soft-serve state) and spread on the bottom of a Tupperware container. Then pour the chilled blueberry syrup over top until it almost covers it all. We had syrup left over (yay for pancakes and waffles!). Then carefully spread the rest of the ice cream on top. Place in your freeze immediately to firm up. Once firm (it usually takes overnight) you can scoop and serve your delicious ice cream!

Note: because this ice cream does not use a custard base and isn't as rich, it's easier to scoop if you get it out of the freezer about 10-15 minutes before you plan on serving it.

Comments

[Tawcan]

Too many ice cream recipes, too little time to make them all. D'oh!

[Chloe]

Oh man, I totally feel your pain. I almost cut my finger off about 12 weeks ago, and my husband trying to put my hair in a ponytail cracked me up every time.

Peach blueberry cobbler is my go-to summer dessert, and by far one of my favorites, so I'll definitely be making this soon!!

[Renee]

You've been driving me crazy all summer with such luscious ice cream recipes! Crazy! And this is no exception. Nicely done. Happy to hear you are on the mend - I once cut my middle finger right hand (I'm right handed) so badly it needed 8 stitches and a huge gauzy wrappy thing (day before brother's wedding no less) and it left me feeling helpless, so I can't imagine what a broken bone would do to me. I'll try to avoid that in the future as well.

[TasteHongKong]

What a team! And you've nicely teamed up the peaches and blueberries here.
Take care!

[Rachele]

Awww I love this so much! That was such a fun day.

I also can't stop laughing at the 'mmm fruit in my ice cream maker' caption! Hehehehe

[Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite]

SO glad you are on the mend - I missed that you injured yourself in my "on again off again" online prescence these past few weeks. And this ice-cream? Divine. But it's the cobbler I am waiting to see tomorrow! #impatient

[RavieNomNoms]

Oh my word! This is gorgeous!! Looks so very tasty!

[Paula]

I'm sorry to hear about your broken collar bone and hope that you are healing well. I'm sure that injury really put a damper on your summer but I'm glad that you had so much help to get you through it.
This cobbler ice cream recipe sounds divine. Good idea on blanching and peeling peaches and that blueberry syrup, mmm mmm!

[A Canadian Foodie]

How did you ever break it? I have had a broken collarbone - years ago. I was run over by a car... many other bones broken, too - but that one was very debilitating. I understand. I thought I had broken my back, at first as I could not move my arm at all. It was my right one, and I am right handed. They must break according to handedness. :)
GORGEOUS recipe.
:)
V

[Rigel_p]

Divine as always!

So sorry to hear about your poor collarbone. I can't even imagine..but I hope you're not in too much pain (and that they're giving you some sweet drugs)
The bright side is that everybody gets to show you how much they care :)

[Heidi @ Food Doodles]

Wow, this looks fantastic. I love cobblers, but in ice cream form? That sounds awesome! Hope your collarbone is feeling better!

[noobcook]

Everything looks so pretty and delectable!

[Monet]

Beautiful. There is nothing like seasonal fruit to make icecream even better. I'm sorry about your collarbone though. I broke my elbow last year, so I know the pain!

[erin @ yummy supper]

Stephanie, I'm so sorry to hear about your collarbone - poor thing. Though I am impressed by your helpers and your ability to turn out such yummy ice cream even while wounded:)
Sending you well wishes,
Erin

[Lisa @ The Gonzo Gourmet]

I'm so sorry to hear you broke your collar bone - yikes! Glad you're feeling better and thanks for sharing this ice cream, it looks divine.

[Darina]

Wow! Amazing. Gotta luv David Lebovitz.
Sorry about your collarbone. That must be awful. Get better.

[kale]

I had a dream last night that I ordered a gigantic triple-scoop ice cream cone and it had lovely berries in it. I woke up sad, because I did not have my ice cream. This looks like what I want!

[A Canadian Foodie]

What a gorgeous, detailed, creative and quietly artistic post. Soothing and inspiring all at once! Brilliant idea! YUM!
:)
V