Thursday Recipe - Cinnamon Peach Coconut Ice Cream

I have a pile of fresh peaches. And I want peach ice cream. I can't find any at the store. So I'll just have to make my own. And since I'm going to the effort of making it from scratch, I may as well make some that my daughter can enjoy too.

So here's to dairy-free, fresh peach ice cream!

Cinnamon Peach Coconut Ice Cream

1 16-oz can coconut milk (not the lite stuff or the drinking stuff)
1 c. almond milk (go ahead and use the drinking stuff)
1/2 c. honey
4 egg yolks
1 stick cinnamon
1 c. fresh peaches, peeled and chopped

Whisk the egg yolks and honey together in a large metal mixing bowl OR the top of a double boiler. Beat for at least one minute - you want them well combined. Set aside.

Fill a saucepan or the bottom of the double boiler with hot water and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.

Stir the coconut milk and almond milk together in a small saucepan. Add the cinnamon stick. Cook over medium heat just until it comes to a boil. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard.

Stir a little of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Beat well. Add the hot milk a little at a time until all of it has been stirred into the egg yolks. Place the bowl or double boiler over the simmering water. Cook and stir just until it thickens and coats a spoon, about 185°F or about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Pour into a covered container and refrigerate at least three hours.

Process the custard in your ice cream maker according to directions. When it starts to freeze up, add in the peaches. Let it finish processing.

Enjoy as soft serve, or freeze for later.

Thursday Recipe - Mango Banana Almond Sorbet

Ever wonder what the difference is between ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, and sorbet? Yeah, neither did I until I had kids with allergies who needed special diets.

Ice Cream - Made from milk and cream. The best homemade ones are made from a stirred custard base. At least in my opinion.

Ice Milk - Still made with milk and cream but with a lower fat content. Cheaper commercial ice creams will use the lower fat milk instead of cream then use food gums to simulate the texture of higher fat ice creams.

Sherbet - Uses less milk, but still has milk in it. Usually fruit flavored. My favorites are grapefruit, guava, and passionfruit, but they're impossible to find. I need to experiment this summer and find some good recipes. Time to buy Kern's guava nectar. (Any excuse will do!)

Sorbet - Usually dairy-free, but not always. I found some really delicious sounding sorbets at Costco - pineapple, coconut, and mango flavors - but they all contained milk and cream. How can they still be sorbet?!?!

I have kids allergic to dairy. Popsicles are nice, but they aren't ice cream. Commercial sorbets are delicious, especially the black cherry and the raspberry flavors, but they can be hard and crystallized. And they are expensive. (With brand names like Haagen-Daaz or Ben & Jerry's, yeah, you pay for it.) I've found some great coconut frozen desserts lately that are very tasty, but even more expensive than sorbet.

I'm just going to have to make my own sorbets. This one turned out deliciously smooth and creamy.

Mango Banana Almond Sorbet

2 c. frozen mango chunks (or use the tropical fruit mix from Costco - mango, pineapple, strawberries)
2 ripe bananas, the kind with plenty of brown spots but not quite enough for banana bread
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 - 3 c. almond milk

Place fruit, sugar, and vanilla in a blender. Add 1 1/2 c. almond milk. Process until smooth. Add more almond milk as needed to keep it moving. You want a thick smoothie texture. (I ended up using about 2 1/2 c. almond milk.) Get out your trusty ice cream maker (I adore my lovely little Cuisinart model with the frozen bowl.) Pour in the mixture. (You may have 1 c. leftover, but you can drink it as a smoothie while you wait. Don't overfill the ice cream maker.) Run the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Mine, you just turn on and let it do it's thing for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy as soft serve straight away, or pack it into the bowl, cover, and let it harden for 30 minutes if you like a firmer sorbet.