Recipe: Peaches & Cherries & Cream ice cream

Living on the Palouse prairie in North Idaho,  getting a really truly perfect peach is only
possible a few weeks out of the year, when farmers from warmer climates bring them to our local market.

When I have a bowl of ripe peaches, the only thing I really want to do is eat them fresh. But, on occasion, I can be convinced to transform a few into pie or jam. Or ice cream.

When I decided to part with a few fruits for a whirl in the ice-cream maker, though, I hesitated on making a peach-infused base. I was so afraid I’d mess it all up and waste my precious peaches!

The compromise: A simple twist on a Jeni’s recipe, hereby dubbed Peaches & Cherries & Cream.

I started with Jeni’s cream-cheese base (my new go-to — so creamy, a

nd without the trouble of eggs!). Inspired by Jeni’s Sweet Corn and Black Raspberries recipe, I turned just a bit of my fresh fruit into a mix-in. I opted to keep it less jammy than Jeni’s blackberries, with less sugar and less cooking time.

I suppose you could let it cook longer and blend it up so it’s more of a swirl effect, but I liked the look of the colorful fruit bits.

I wasn’t initially satisfied with the result — the peaches and cherries seemed too subtle in the first scoops. But after a few days in the freezer, the base mellowed out (which I’ve noticed is a pattern with this base recipe) and the little bright chunks of fruit shone through.

Peaches & Cherries & Cream Ice Cream

• 1 batch Jeni’s ice cream base, with a splash of vodka to keep it soft
• 3/4 cup chopped (relatively small chunks) peaches
• 3/4 cup chopped (about 8 chunks per cherry) sweet dark cherries
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Make your base and toss it in the ice-cream maker to churn.
2. Cook the fruits and sugar over medium-high heat until thickened but not totally broken down.
3. When the base it done, take it out of the machine and mix in the fruit. Put in the freezer.
4. Periodically while the base is solidifying, give it a stir to keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom.
5. Scoop and eat!