Peach Crisp Almond Ice Cream

This peach crisp almond ice cream is my favorite way to use up bruised peaches. It’s a subtly spiced almond custard ice cream, rippled with sweet peach puree and bits of coconut sugar oat crisp. 

The almond custard is infused with cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla while it cooks, and then a small portion of the peach puree is whisked into the chilled custard, along with the almond extract. Once churned, the remaining peach puree is rippled through along with the oat crisp. It’s such a fun combo of flavors and textures!

As with all my ice cream recipes, this recipe can be made with dairy or non-dairy ingredients.

Peach Crisp Almond Ice Cream Ingredients 

Custard Base

• Large eggs: Standard large eggs yield ~18 g of yolk; however, if you’re using smaller eggs or eggs from the farmer’s market, the yield will vary. 
• Heavy cream and milk OR homemade nut milk: This recipe works with both dairy and non-dairy milk/cream. I’ve left two non-dairy options below. If you’re using regular dairy, you’ll need heavy cream and milk.
• Honey: Feel free to swap this out for equal parts (by volume) of granulated sugar. However, I strongly recommend going with a floral honey — it pairs so well with the other components in this ice cream. Additionally, using a liquid sweetener like honey (or maple syrup) helps prevent any crystallization when the ice cream is frozen.
• Cardamom pods
• Cinnamon stick
• Almond extract
• Ground vanilla, scraped vanilla bean, OR vanilla paste: I love the ground vanilla from Beyond Good. Alternatively, you can use vanilla paste; double the amount needed, as it’s less intense than ground vanilla.
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt: If you’re using Morton kosher salt, reduce the salt by half. Morton is much saltier and denser than Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

Peach Puree

• Yellow peaches: If you can, get peaches from the farmer’s market. The flavor and sweetness are unmatched.
• Honey or granulated sugar
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Coconut Sugar Oat Crisp

• All-purpose flour: If you’re gluten-free, you can swap in a GF flour blend.
• Rolled oats
• Coconut sugar or light brown sugar
• Salted butter

Dairy-Free Alternatives

Leaving two dairy-free swaps for this ice cream base — the homemade nut milk alternative is my favorite. 

• Make the homemade nut milk by blending 4 cups (910 g) of water with 1 1/2  cups (215 g) of raw, unsalted cashews and 1 cup (140 g) of raw, unsalted almonds on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds or until super creamy and smooth. It’ll yield 760g of milk, which is how much you’ll need to make this recipe. Strain in a nut milk bag and store in a glass jar. It’ll keep well for 5-6 days, so feel free to make this ahead of time.
• Alternatively, swap the heavy cream and milk for equal parts of a store-bought dairy-free heavy cream and milk. Califia heavy cream is my go-to non-dairy heavy cream. For milk, any creamy cashew milk or coconut milk works — such as Elmhurst’s cashew milk, Califia’s coconut milk, or even my homemade house blend milk. 

Method

As far as ice cream recipes go, this one is fairly straightforward. Make the custard base, peach puree, and oat crisp on day one. Day two, churn the ice cream, ripple in the peach puree and oat crisp, and freeze. 

Day One

Prep the peaches. Add the chopped peaches, honey, salt, and vanilla to a medium skillet or pot, toss, and set aside. I like to let the peaches macerate in the sugar and salt — it draws out the peaches’ juices and helps them cook down faster.

Custard Base

Prep the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside.

Infuse the cream. Add the milk and cream (or homemade nut milk) to a pot, along with the honey or sugar, cardamom, vanilla, and salt. Heat over medium heat until hot to the touch or 120°F. 

Temper the eggs and cook the custard. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture out, and, whisking constantly, stream it into the bowl of egg yolks. Repeat this twice more to temper the eggs. Then, whisking the milk mixture constantly, stream in the tempered eggs. Switch to a rubber spatula/large wooden spoon, and stir constantly (I typically stir the mixture every 10 seconds) until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon — temperature should be ~178°F. 

Strain and chill. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl or pitcher to catch any egg white bits. Then place the custard base in an ice bath, stirring constantly until cool. Cover the base with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Peach Puree

Cook down the peaches. Add the chopped peaches, honey (or cane sugar), vanilla, and kosher salt to a small sauté pan or pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and let the peaches cook down, stirring occasionally. They’ll release water during this process, and it’ll slowly evaporate, making a concentrated peach compote as it continues to cook down.

Blend the peaches into a puree. Blend the compote with an immersion blender (transfer it to a jar or something similar so it’s easy to blend), and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Finish the custard and refrigerate. Weigh the puree and whisk (or blend) half into the chilled custard, along with the almond extract. Cover the custard with plastic wrap and let it cure in the fridge overnight. Add the remaining peach puree to a jar and refrigerate.

Oat Crisp

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper. 

Make the oat crisp. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, and coconut sugar, then add in the melted butter and mix until a loose, crumbly dough forms. Spread the dough out onto the prepared sheet pan in a thin, even layer (it’s similar to baking granola). Bake for 7-8 minutes or until golden-brown. 

Cool and crumble the crisp. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool an additional 10-15 minutes, or until it’s firm. Break into tiny pieces and store in a container at room temperature (make sure the oat crisp is cool before storing it; otherwise, it’ll become soft).

Day Two 

Churn the base. Pour the chilled base into your ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Mine takes about 20-25 minutes to churn up.

Ripple and freeze. Layer the ice cream into the container, starting with the ice cream, a spoonful of the peach puree, and a generous sprinkle of the oat crisp; repeat this process. Swirl the ice cream with a small spoon or knife. Place a parchment round on top (this helps prevent crystallization), and freeze for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

Notes

• The peach puree recipe yields a good amount of puree: half is whisked into the custard itself, and the other half I reserve for rippling through the churned ice cream. However, you don’t need to ripple the entire remaining half into the ice cream. Feel free to save some aside for spooning over the ice cream when you serve it. 
• The same point above goes for the oat crisp: I ripple half the crisp into the ice cream and save the remaining portion for topping the ice cream when served. 

If you want more insight into custard-based ice cream, linking my base recipe with more detail here.

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