Midsummer peach gelato with lavender and honey
The peach harvest this year was extraordinary. In previous years the spring rains came during flowering season, which knocked pollen off and led to slim pickings. But after eating a dozen peaches fresh off the tree this summer, and watching many more splat to the ground, we called it final and harvested the remaining two dozen large, floral scented peaches, so ripe that merely grabbing them to harvest dented their delicate skins. We ate more while sitting on the deck contemplating life and what to do with two dozen large peaches. Bug asked if she could have a third; Mom replied “maybe after some real dinner”, with peach juice dripping down her chin.
For us, this recipe came after the Midsummer Plum Gelato experiments, so gelato was on our mind. Trickier, though, was that our peaches were more watery and subtle than the flavor bombs of the plums. We were hoping to retain the fresh peach flavor, but decided that was not concentrated enough, so settled for stewing the peaches instead. The plum recipe also calls for straining the skins off, but in this case we leave them in, since peach skins are much softer and don’t have the tannins to create an overly bitter tang. Honey is a classic pairing with peach, so says a great compendium on our shelf called The Flavor Bible. We also wanted something floral or spicy to add a uniqueness rather than simply being sweet; a good combination with honey that also happened to be in our garden was lavender. Using sour cream & buttermilk this time instead of heavy cream was a choice to bring it closer to a frozen yogurt, with the tartness of cultured milk balancing the sweet honey; in the end this also made it much more creamy, possibly because the liquid content of sour cream is much lower than heavy cream.
As always, taste and adjust when it’s all ready to freeze. We found it needed the acidity of some lemon juice to brighten it up, since it was missing the tart tannins of the plum skins from the previous recipe. The lavender was mostly scented in the nose, and was very subtle in the finished gelato; you could likely double the amount of lavender without making it too much. If your audience wants a special treat, rub off the lavender flowers from their stems and leave them in the gelato to add some purple flecks, or sprinkle some fresh flowers on top as a garnish. But experiment! Use this as a template and not a gold standard. Have fun and just make yourself some fresh gelato as a fresh tribute to your summer harvest.
Ice creams and gelati take time to chill the mixes, blend in an ice cream maker, and then harden more in the freezer. Making this a day before eating is best, although we’ve previously rushed this at noon and had a very soft but still tasty gelato for dinner.
Gelato base
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup light honey, like wildflower
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Stir the xanthan gum into the sugar. Heat gently the water, then whisk in the honey and sugar mix. Being careful not to boil, heat and whisk frequently until the sugar is dissolved (perhaps 5 minutes). Pour into a pint-size mason jar and cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Peach puree
a bucket of ripe peaches
probably three quarters of a dozen peaches or so for one recipe
Chop peaches in half for pitting, then into chunks for blending. Blend the peaches and collected juices heartily in a drink blender. Set over medium heat and reduce the peach puree until thick and strongly flavored, perhaps half an hour. Let cool, then measure out two cups into a pint-size mason jar and refrigerate. Save the rest for more gelato or other puree uses.
Sour cream mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
5 fresh lavender flower sprigs, with little to no stem
Heat buttermilk gently without boiling. Whisk in the sour cream until smooth. Add lavender sprigs and steep over very low heat for a while, say 15 minutes. If the cream starts to boil, you can just turn off the heat and let coast. Pour into a half-size mason jar and cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Blending and freezing
zest of 2 lemons, preferably Meyer
juice of 1 or 2 lemons to taste
light corn syrup to taste
Once the mixtures are very cold, remove the lavender sprigs from the cream and add the lemon zest. Mix everything well somehow; we prefer pouring each container into half-gallon mason jar, closing the lid, and shaking. The mixture will be a bit goopy because of the xanthan gum. Adjust to your preference with lemon juice or corn syrup; we found a need for juice of one lemon, but no added corn syrup. Pour into your ice cream maker and let it run until the slurry looks like a frozen smoothie and isn’t changing much any more. Scoop quickly into a freezer container and shove in the freezer. Freeze until you’re ready to eat it, which could be an hour for a melty smoothie, or at least 6 hours for a firm gelato.
