It’s interesting to me that some foods have their own variations in different parts of the country. Take barbecue, for example. Depending on where you go— Texas, Kansas City or the Carolinas— you might be presented with dry-rubbed beef brisket, saucy ribs or burnt ends, or slow-braised, pork shoulder with vinegar sauce. And for sure, natives of each area will proclaim theirs to be the “true” barbecue, the best or most authentic. It is, of course, a matter of opinion and upbringing. 

The same can be said for peach cobbler. Here in the South, most cobblers I’ve had at church potlucks, diners or restaurants resemble another popular dessert here, the dump cake. Everything gets slopped into a pan, usually with the batter on the bottom and the fruit on top, and somehow during the baking process, the dough finds its way to rise up through the peaches. It’s tasty, but a bit soupy and mostly a mushy texture— definitely not the peach cobbler of my childhood, and we all know that comfort food is what you remember from those early days. So I’m about to say something that irritates Southerners more than anything else, ever:

Let me explain how we do it up north. 😏

Sweet juicy peaches, tossed with sugar, corn starch and a touch of cinnamon, cooked until tender and saucy under a crown of tender biscuits that have just a touch of crunch on the edges. Crystals of sugar on top that add a little extra something with each bite. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That, to me, is a real deal peach cobbler. As the sun sets on National Ice Cream month this year, I’ve transformed that favorite summer dessert into a single, glorious scoop of peach cobbler ice cream.

This recipe is my own, developed out of my experience with several other past recipes, with and without peaches. To explain how I got here, it makes sense to share what I’ve learned from past efforts and mistakes.

What’s the best way to make ice cream with fruit? 

Too many fresh fruit bits can make the finished ice cream feel too icy. I learned this especially when I made a strawberry-mascarpone ice cream a few years ago. Fruit, especially fresh fruit, contains a great deal of moisture, and when you freeze it, ice crystals form inside, making for an unpleasant bite that hurts my teeth. One day, I will re-work that recipe to improve the texture. But to counter the icy effect in this peach cobbler ice cream, I cooked the peaches, borrowing a technique I learned recently when I made that heavenly, boozy strawberry daiquiri cake. Cooked fruit loses volume as the moisture evaporates, but all the flavor remains, so I peeled and pureed a couple of peaches, then cooked them down into a sticky, concentrated peach paste. I still embellished the ice cream with a few bits  of fresh peach for pops of color and flavor, but the ice cream gets most of its peachy keen flavor from the puree.

How do you incorporate other foods into an ice cream?

I’ve had to get a little creative with some ingredients, because adding the ingredient directly would have resulted in a weird texture. For my s’mores ice cream, I wanted every element of a s’more— the melty chocolate, toasty marshmallow, the sweet graham cracker— but can you imagine what would happen if I tried to swirl actual melted chocolate into an ice cream base? Yep, a big mess. Same with toasted marshmallows, which just get hard and sticky in the refrigerator, let alone the freezer. My solution for that ice cream was to use a dark chocolate syrup to play the role of the Hershey square, and a marshmallow fluff-cream cheese mixture to stand in for the toasted marshmallow element. It was delicious, but I’ve been hankering for a re-do on that one as well, so stay tuned! For this peach cobbler ice cream, I wanted the “biscuit” texture that I loved in my up-north cobblers, but a plain old biscuit would have been dry and crumbly. That’s when I remembered one of my baking class experiences at King Arthur earlier this month— we made scones!

What’s the difference between a biscuit and a scone?

Scones are similar to biscuits in that they use a chemical leavening— baking powder, in this instance— but different because the dough usually incorporates more sweetness and an egg for richness and texture. At the tail end of my Bread: Principles & Practice class, we whipped up a batch of scones as we waited for another bread recipe to do its thing. The scones were delightfully tender, like a biscuit, but sweeter, softer and almost cookie-like. That, I decided, would be a perfect solution for the “cobbler” element of my ice cream, and would you believe it? King Arthur Baking has a recipe for tender peach scones! I whipped up half a batch (exactly as written, if you can imagine), and crumbled two of them to layer in my ice cream. 

I hope I always find something new to learn in the kitchen. This is my blue ribbon-hopeful peach cobbler ice cream, my final bow for this year’s National Ice Cream Month. Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler Ice Cream

• Servings: About 8
• Prep Time: 1 hour, plus chilling and overnight freezing
• Difficulty: Average
• Print

A cooked puree of peaches adds a concentrated fruit flavor to the base of this ice cream, and tender peach scones provide the 'cobbler' element.

Ingredients

• 3 fresh, ripe peaches (you’ll puree two and dice the third)
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (divided between peaches above)
• 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (regular or fat free)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 Tablespoon vodka (optional, added at end for improved scooping texture)
• 1 cup crumbled peach scones (recipe linked in story), or substitute as noted below.

To mimic the texture and sweetness of cobbler batter, I baked a half batch of tender peach scones, found on King Arthur Baking website, and crumbled two of them to layer in this ice cream. Other great options would be buttery sweet drop biscuits, a yellow cupcake or even a few snickerdoodle cookies! If you want to skip the cobbler portion, the peach ice cream on its own will still be sweet and summery.

Directions

1. Peel two of the peaches and add to a blender or food processor bowl. Add one teaspoon of lemon juice. Puree for 20 seconds, keeping a few bits if you wish. Cook the puree and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until reduced to about 1/2 cup volume (about 20 minutes). Cool to room temperature, then press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto puree. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Peel and dice the third peach and toss bits with lemon juice to prevent browning. Cover with plastic wrap and keep chilled until ready to freeze.
2. In a large bowl or pitcher, combine condensed milk, milk and heavy cream until evenly blended. Stir in vanilla bean paste. Refrigerate at least 3 hours until thoroughly chilled.
3. Gently whisk cold peach puree into ice cream base. Freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. In the final two minutes of churning, spoon the reserved diced peaches into the machine and pour in vodka (if using). Churn until fully blended.
4. Transfer ice cream to an insulated freezer container, layered with scone crumbles. Cover and place container in freezer several hours or overnight for best texture.