Homemade Peach Ice Cream!
With heat indices/indexes reaching over 100 degrees, it’s too hot to bake cakes for all the July and August birthdays our family celebrates together. So, after we consume grilled ribs, potato salad, baked beans with all the trimmings, we will enjoy cool, refreshing dishes of this family recipe for dessert: Wilson Peach Ice Cream! My father, W. W. Wilson, was well known for his delicious peach ice cream at the annual church Ice Cream Socials, which I believe he started many years ago. Church folks liked it so much that there was almost a riot when he made chocolate one year instead!
Summer is fresh peach time, so there’s no better time to try out this recipe than now! All you need are everyday ingredients, rock salt, and an ice cream churn of some sort. Do you remember the days of taking turns cranking the handle on that wooden ice cream churn? Well, I do! I recall the more hands, the lighter the work, but now we resort to using an electronic machine. While some of the nostalgia is lost, the fabulous flavor and memories remain! In a time when most kids think ice cream comes from the machine at a buffet restaurant, they might thrill at the novelty of making their own right at home. Go ahead, give it a try! Make a new family tradition, along with new memories–I dare you! So in honor of my father, I share his recipe with you.
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Wilson Peach Ice Cream
Beautiful and refreshing summer dessert
- 6 eggs (beaten)
- 2 cans evaporated milk
- 1.5 cups sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 Tablespoons vanilla
- 2 cups ripe peaches (peeled, cut up, and sweetened with 1/2 cup sugar)
- Whole milk – enough to the "fill line" on the canister
- 2 small bags of ice
- 1 small bag or box of rock salt
- 4 quart ice cream freezer
- Put the ice cream canister in the freezer to get it good and cold.
- Put the cans of milk and prepared peaches in the refrigerator.
- All ingredients need to be as cold as possible to promote freezing of the cream.
- Pour the ingredients (except ice and rock salt, of course) into the cold canister in order listed, stirring to mix well.
- Follow ice cream maker directions, layering ice and salt.
- When motor starts to labor and slow down, unplug immediately.
- Carefully remove motor and then the canister.
- Drain saltwater out of bucket, reserving ice.
- Carefully open the canister, remove the dasher, replace the cover, put the cork in if it came with one or cover with plastic and rubber band.
- Replace canister in bucket and layer once more with ice and rock salt.
- Insulate the whole thing with towels and let harden for a couple of hours.
This ice cream is so delicious, especially if you use fresh peaches, locally grown (if you live in a southern state). If not, choose ripe peaches that are not bruised or mealy. Your family will love it!
This recipe is for a 4-quart electric freezer, so follow the directions that come with your freezer. When you put the milk in, do not go past the fill line, as the ice cream will swell as it freezes.
Once you get the canister positioned in the bucket, the motor on top, plug it in and begin to layer 2 inches of ice, sprinkle with rock salt, 2 inches of ice, sprinkle with rock salt and continue until you’ve reached the rim of the canister. Do not cover the lid with rock salt, as it might leech into the cream.
When motor starts to labor and slow down, unplug immediately. Carefully remove motor and then the canister. Drain saltwater out of bucket, reserving ice. Carefully open the canister, remove the dasher, replace the cover, put the cork in if it came with one or cover with plastic and rubber band. Replace canister in bucket and layer once more with ice and rock salt. Then insulate the whole thing with towels and let the ice cream “set up” for a couple more hours – IF YOU CAN WAIT!!!
As always, please share your memories and comments below; and especially be sure and let us know if you made the ice cream and how your gang enjoyed it. If you have other tweaks to this tried-and-true recipe, feel free to share those also.
Happy Brain Freeze!!!
BW
I’m an old fashion kind of girl, and just needed an old fashioned “Drawing” to get back in the game! (Termite, your Jerky is on the way) LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love it!!
Both the drawing and the way that ice cream looks. Oh it brings back memories. But, mom had to used canned peaches or I would look like a red striped zebra! But, after all the hand cranking, ice chopping (we used block ice at home & at nannies since she had a “real” ice box) and counting the minutes, it would be ready to dig into.
Steffi, is that homemade jerky? Termite, I have a huge dehydrator that I use to make lots and lots of jerky for my family. Want to become a member? ^+^
Naw, Cammy it will have to be “store bought”. LOL!
I do have a dehydrator, but don’t a have decent recipe. All the recipes I’ve tried end up tasting too much like soy sauce. Soy is great on Oriental food, but I want a spicy, smokey kind of recipe for Jerky.
In the 50’s our neighbors used to gather on Saturday Nights for bonfires, weenie roasts, flaming marshmallows, go cart races, weird stuff like that.
Old Merle had a 1950 Merc he was pretty proud of in the garage and a 6 quart ice cream freezer that would wear your whole neighborhood out of being neighborly if you hand cranked it. Enter the washing machine pulley and an old rim for the Merc. I think the wooden tub was screwed to the plank the jack sat on. Load up the freezer, hook the belt up, and pop the clutch and idle your way to frozen custard. I remember the brain freezes and leftover ice down your shirt . No flavors past Watkin’s vanilla but cones were available for kids.
Mmmmm! I may have to make this a tradition around here, too! I’m due to receive a flat of peaches from Ruston, the peach capital of Louisiana, in the near future.
Yum, that looks good! I will have to try it. I bought that exact ice cream maker from Target a few months ago.
I will be the first to tell you all, it WAS absolutely amazing. Just as good as what PaPa used to make, and even better because I haven’t enjoyed this peachy treat since I was around 12 years old! (That’s almost 15 years!) My husband loved it, much to my delight! I was afraid he wouldn’t, since he’s a pretty in-the-box type of guy and peach ice cream isn’t something one has every day. Job well done, Mommer! Let’s have this again very soon… Like this weekend! I can buy more peaches if you want — I’ll even peel and sugar them for you!
I remember the ice cream “Sundays” at my paw paw’s house. There were plenty of grandkids (35) to sit on the hand cranked ice cream freezer and plenty of adults to take turns cranking. Pineapple is the flavor I remember the most, although we experienced plenty of other flavors. As an adult the ice cream experience has been attempted many times, trying to repeat those childhood memories. But alas, it can’t be done; it just doesn’t taste the same. Memories are way more powerful than my taste buds. Sitting on the porch or in the back yard, getting fussed at for getting off the rotating machine because you butt was cold. Man, it just don’t get any better than that.
But you can always create new memories. One that I remember was eating (actuallly chewing) sugar cane. Daddy would peel the cane and cut in in small pieces. Then he’d pass it out and try to keep up with us 8 kids; he couldn’t do it. So when my kids were young I got some sugar cane and tried it with them and viola, they have new memories that even has passed on the the grand kids. Memories are the most precious things we have! Thanks for rekindling some for me!!!
My daddy used to cut sugar cane for us too!
I don’t like ice cream. But that looks really good! I think I just can’t get past the whole raw egg thing so many recipes have going. I have an aunt who makes pineapple walnut ice cream that I will knock people down for but other than that I will pass.
Now that’s what the world needs, fresh peach ice-cream…a treat like that passed world wide would surely bring about world peace!!!! That last pic is still making me drool. We had an old hand-cranked wooden bucket ice cream maker, the three older kids took turns at cranking, my job was to sit on the top of layers of newspapers covering the top, & yes, it got COLD! They never let me take a turn at cranking until the very end…when it was too hard to turn the handle…I didn’t figure that one out for a long time lol. Blu, I still swear by Watkins Pure Vanilla…wont use anything else!! Ms. Coach, There are many old time “cooked custard” recipes for icecream out there…which are my favorites, but I will be trying this recipe this summer, can’t wait. Thanks BW for sharing your dad’s recipe, You don’t get “treasures” like this anymore.
Deb in TX….a very tired Deb….lol
Well, I got the canned peaches and I have a brand new ice cream maker sitting in the store room. I even have some rock salt. Guess I had better gather up the rest of the ingredients and maybe Monday while the grandkids are here, we can whip up some ice cream.
If you’re feeling frisky, add 50ml of Gran Marnier to the list of ingredients… it’s dangerously good !
Hi Bev and welcome to the bayou! I wish I had known this before I went to town and bought ingredients for tomorrow’s batch of homemade peach ice cream! I just might have to try it! Is it intoxicating?
BW, growing up we had no electric power. Yeah, we were country folks. But every now and then someone would bring a block of ice from town. The best treat was having iced tea, or making ice cream. Every kid got a small sliver of ice wrap in news paper. That was another treat. Dang I miss those days we were sure happy.
Thanks so much for the story and recipe. bill
Bill, sounds like the way I was raised. We did have electricity but, not running water and only 1 deerborne heater for the whole house. I love homemade ice cream and especially peach flavored. They have had some decent peaches at our local grocer this season too. I can’t eat them fresh still but, I get them for hubby to carry to work. They don’t get brought back like the bananas do frequently. By the way BW, homemade banana ice cream is delicious too. Especially it you top it with softened peanut butter!!!
I remember peach ice cream at your Dad’s, Nannie and Grandmother’s house. Always looked forward to it. Made my summer better for having it. Mommie and Papa always made it for us the few summers we couldn’t make it to Bossier. I used make it the old way, in the old ice cream crank tank. My son knows how to work an old fashioned ice cream maker. I still have ice cream salt in my pantry and the old horse in the garage. Maybe I’ll take the old horse out for a trot!
By the way, I won first place in my church social ice cream contest one year with maple, black walnut and raisin ice cream!
Thanks for the memories, sweet Cuz.
I wasn’t paying one lick of attention, and when I say blufloyd’s comment up there, I nearly died. Well, I’ve got it figured out now. 🙂
I’ve got a pile of peaches sitting on the table behind me, but no ice cream freezer. Still, I copied down the recipe, and if a freezer ever enters my life, I’ll give it a try. The peaches are tree-ripened from near Mt. Alba, TX, so I’m going to freeze what I have tonight, get some more this coming weekend, and do a cobbler or two. Well, and just eat some, of course!
Wendy, I have been trying to locate the recipe you called “Redneck Gumbo”. I looked thru the recipe section with no luck. Where can I find it please.
I’m so sorry I didn’t see this. I hope you used the search bar to find what you were looking for!!!
I’m so sorry I didn’t see this. I hope you used the search bar to find what you were looking for!!!
I found the recipe. Never fails, ask for assistance and then find it. 🙂