This, again, is essence of summer, but you do need to use ripe, luscious, fleshy and sunny-scented fruit. Even so, I find that you get the best, most intense, flavour, from roasting the peaches first. If you’re bowled over by the sheer, unimprovable peachiness of the fruit to hand you can ignore this step, but frankly, although it adds to the length of the whole procedure, sticking the fruit into the oven isn’t exactly a difficult task, so I wouldn’t make an issue out of it.
I am madly in love with crème de pêche (which is so much more peachy than, say, crème de cassis is redcurranty), and keep a bottle to hand to add to this ice cream, or to a glass of prosecco when the mood arises, but it’s not an essential component.
10 ripe yellow-fleshed peaches
6 tablespoons vanilla sugar or ordinary caster
juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons crème de pêche (optional)
1 x 284ml tub single cream
4 egg yolks
1 x 284ml tub double cream
Preheat the oven to 210°C/gas mark 7.
Halve the peaches, remove the stones, and sit them in a roasting tray, cut side up. Sprinkle half the sugar into the cavities, and then squeeze over the lime and roast for 20–30 minutes until softened and intensified in the heat.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before slipping the peaches out of their skins and into a food processor (a bit of skin left behind doesn’t matter, however), making sure you catch every last bit of juice which you pour into the bowl of the processor, too, before blitzing to a purée. Transfer to a bowl, adding the crème de peche if you’re using it, and leave to cool entirely while you get on with the custard.
So: in the usual way, heat the single cream in a pan, beat the yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl and, while whisking, pour over the warmed cream. Make the custard in the normal way, and when it’s completely cold, stir in the peach purée and then whip the double cream until thick and fold this in, too.
Freeze following all the usual instructions.