The Joy of Eating a Peach (flickr: savannahgrandfather)
Today is the second week of Slightly Indulgent Mondays—“a blog carnival dedicated to fabulous food made a little bit healthier.” Amy of Simply Sugar & Gluten Free (where something good is always cooking) is the sweet creator and host of this carnival. It’s open to everyone. You just have to put a bit of a healthy twist on a recipe. There’s also a giveaway, which you are automatically entered in by participating—no blog required to submit a recipe either. You can read more here. I really do love the blog carnivals. They are always a fun way to share recipes and build camaraderie.
In response to my recent post on my gluten-free, dairy-free Snickerdoodle ice cream, helpful reader Sandy, shared a recipe for peach ice cream. I was very excited because making peach ice cream had been on my mind for a while. Plus, I had some peaches on the counter right then. So I prepared and put those in the freezer, but I only had about 2 cups, which was quite a bit less than what was required. So I purchased some more peaches and when they ripened, I prepared those and added them to the freezer container. I liked that the recipe called for frozen peaches and you could just make the ice cream when you had stockpiled enough peaches (that’s a concept I use for my Everything Soup and sometimes pot pie or chili).
The recipe only had four ingredients, so it went together in no time. Note that there is some waiting involved before you churn the ingredients, as you can see below. Also, I had to adjust the amounts as the original recipe was too much for my Cuisinart ice cream maker. (Remember that when filling an ice cream maker.) I didn’t realize that until about halfway through the churning process when the mix started flowing over the sides. Yikes. As a result, my new ice cream maker is now truly broken in, and hopefully not broken, as peach “liquid” was even coming out of the vents in the bottom. (At that point, the churning was done and I thought what the heck, so I unplugged it and flushed out the center part until the water coming out of the bottom vents was clear. I won’t use the ice cream maker again until it’s all dried out. Keep your fingers crossed … my friend’s lemon basil ice cream is next on my list.) Despite the little technical glitch, the results were very good. But, I think a better description of this frozen recipe is sorbet, not ice cream. It’s light and refreshing and contains no dairy. I have to admit that I’m not always a huge peach fan, but I have really enjoyed this sorbet. It’s Slightly Indulgent, but not overly indulgent. (When you want a more indulgent flavor, try the Snickerdoodle ice cream—it’s luscious.) I really like this peach sorbet, and I think you will, too. A week later and there’s still half of it left in the freezer … in fact, I’m getting ready to enjoy a bowl.
Peach Sorbet (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Refined Sugar-free)
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups frozen, diced peaches; partially defrosted (or fresh, unfrozen peaches; see notes)
- one 14-oz can full fat coconut milk, chilled
- ½ cup honey (may use 1/3 cup of honey if you like less sweet; or substitute ½ cup agave nectar for vegan option)
- 1/4 tsp or so of vanilla bean scrapings or 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend; then place the full blender pitcher in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Pour chilled mixture into ice cream maker and churn for 20 – 30 minutes.
- You can eat at this point, but the sorbet will still be somewhat soft. I froze mine for another half hour or so before eating.
Notes
If using fresh, unfrozen peaches, you will have to chill your sorbet for a longer time after churning.
Not into peach? Or, have other ideas? Or, other fruit (or vegetables!) on hand, consider these recipes:
Melissa’s Rhubarb Blueberry Sherbet or her Beet Ice Cream,
Ali’s Watermelon Sorbet or Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream,
Diane’s Blueberry Ice Cream,
Elana’s Roasted Banana Coconut Ice Cream, or
Amy’s Lemon Meringue Frozen (Greek) Yogurt or Orange-Infused Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Toasted Walnuts.
It seems that every time I talk about ice cream, sherbet, or sorbet, I always say the same thing … so many possibilities! Enjoy, and be sure to check out all the recipes over at this week’s Slightly Indulgent Mondays roundup at Amy’s.
This post is linked to Friday Foodie Fix–Coconut Milk, Friday Foodie Fix–Peaches, Friday Foodie Fix–Honey, Wellness Weekend, and Raw Foods Thursday.
Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!
Pam says
Looks so good and so easy!
Shirley says
Hey there, Pam–Thanks! It’s all gone now. 😉
Shirley
Amy Green - Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free says
This looks so good – the pinnacle of simplicity and freshness. Don’t you find that ice creams freeze so much better with agave or honey verses regular sugar?? Mine don’t get hard in the freezer. They’re automatically scoopable. Love it.
Thanks so much for participating in Slightly Indulgent Mondays! What a peachy recipe to share!
Shirley says
Amy–Hello, dear. 🙂 Personally, I haven’t tried agave in my ice cream/sorbet making yet … I will soon though. But, I was surprised at the honey in this particular recipe on many levels. For one thing, honey usually has a very distinctive flavor. However, this dish tasted just like a sugar-sweetened recipe and the texture was great. I do have to let this soften a tad before eating it after being in my freezer, but my refrigerator/freezer is finnicky at best. (Usually things in my freezer are way colder than they should be, but that’s preferable by far to the alternative.)
This week’s Slightly Indulgent Mondays roundup was very nice. I’m enjoying it and will be looking forward to what everyone comes up with each week. Thanks so much for hosting it! I love the spotlight of the week feature (bravo to Lauren! her memory buns last week and surprise corn muffins this week are winners for sure) and the giveaway, too. 🙂
Thanks!
Shirley
Lauren says
This looks absolutely delicious =D. I love peaches, and ice cream, so this looks like a perfect combination!
Shirley says
Hi Lauren–Thanks so much! With those loves, I think you’d really enjoy this peach sorbet for sure. 🙂
As I was just saying to Amy, bravo on being in the spotlight of the week at her SS &GF blog. Everyone needs to check out your latest entry there, the Surprise Corn Muffins.
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
I’m so behind in my blog snooping! Wow, you have some good posts here. I just ate my lunch over my computer. Now I want that peach sorbet for dessert! I do have some peaches — hmmm? Maybe I’ll try this later this afternoon. We’re all on the same track with this ice cream making thing! Lemon basil sounds awesome. I made sweet corn ice cream recently. I’ll do a post on it, but I’m not necessarily recommending it.
🙂
Hope all is well with you!
Melissa
xo
Shirley says
Thanks, Melissa! I’ll be interested in finding out if you made some peach sorbet this afternoon. 🙂 That sweet corn flavor really intrigues me even if you don’t necessarily recommend it. Hey, maybe you should have gone for a buttered popcorn flavor like Jelly Belly has for its jelly beans. 😉 I have no doubt you could concoct such a recipe.
All is well here, except I admit I’m not doing a good job on keeping up with my blog snooping either. It troubles me …
Hugsss,
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
Shirley,
Hmmm, you’ve got me thinking? Caramel corn topping on the sweet corn ice cream.
I’ll keep you posted.
Melissa
xo
Shirley says
Melissa–Since I’m a caramel corn/kettle corn kind of gal (don’t often eat them, but thorougly enjoy them when I do!), I’ll be very much looking forward to what you come up with! 🙂
Hugs,
Shirley
Ali says
Sounds aMazing Shirley!! I just bought a few white nectarines to perfect an ice cream recipe Tom created last year…I think I have it figured out now! Are you using the honey from your bees?
-Ali 🙂
Shirley says
Hey there, Ali–Thanks so much! Yes, we are using our honey. It’s always either honey from our bees (one bee hive at our home) or honey from MIL’s bees in her many bee hives (on her farm) that we always use. Always amazing honey. No need to buy any at a farmer’s market (and certainly not the pasteurized stuff from the grocery store). 😉
I remember you mentioning that batch of white nectarine ice cream that Tom had made. Thank you for doing all the experimenting to get the recipe just right for us—can’t wait to see the post soon! I have to say making ice cream and sorbet is addictive. I’ve already got plans for another recipe in my head … maybe I’ll try it later today. 🙂
Shirley
Amy Green - Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free says
Hey Shirley – This post was listed in a BlogHer sidebar ad as a gluten-free recipe!! Whoo-hoo for you!!
Shirley says
Hi, Amy–I saw it!! I’ve actually seen a couple of mine pop up in the sidebar ad now and it’s so exciting! 🙂 I’ve seen some of yours and Diane’s, too. Love that the word is getting out on simple, yet wonderful tasting gf recipes—all in the gfe tradition!
You’re a sweetheart to stop by and mention that … thanks so very much!
Shirley
Linda says
This sounds so delicious I’m wanting some right now!
Shirley says
Linda–I didn’t have any left in the freezer, so I had to make a new flavor. 😉 They both have their pluses … the current one is my new favorite. LOL
Shirley
Chaya says
You have a beautiful blog. It is organized so nicely. I like it. The food is great also. I need an ice cream maker.
Shirley says
Chaya–You’re always so kind–thank you! Can you imagine all the great recipes we’d have if all of the gf bloggers (and others … because most recipes would be gf) had ice cream makers? Next summer we should have an ice cream extravaganza!
Shirley
Christi S says
Even though it is probably one of our coldest nights of the year I heard the frozen peaches calling from the freezer to make this tonight. It was wonderful. The peach and the coconut go so very well together. Yum.
Is it possible to make ice cream with almond milk? It seems like it would but I have only seen recipes using soy, hemp or coconut.
Shirley says
Hi Christi–Oh, I’m so glad you had success with your peach sorbet! I love making ice cream with coconut milk. It ensures the right richness, texture, etc. So, I haven’t experimented with other milks at all. I say go ahead and give your almond milk a try. Because it’s thinner, I’d just use slightly less of it and/or maybe add another ingredient to give the right thickness, texture … say some banana–frozen bananas can add great creaminess to ice cream. If you use a small amount of banana, you won’t even necessarily notice any banana flavor (if you want to avoid that, depending on your ingredients). Experiment. As I always ask, what’s the worse that could happen? You might end up with more of a milkshake consistency than ice cream, but that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? You might want to make something like this toasted marshmallow shake I saw over at Cathy’s Noble Pig blog the other day. Again, that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? LOL Then you could try another variation next time. 🙂
BTW, I just created a fan page on Facebook. I’ll pose the question there about making ice cream with almond milk since this is a much older post and folks are unlikely to respond here. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Best of luck with all your ice cream experimentation!
Shirley