Market Meals is a collaboration between Boulder Reporting Lab and the Boulder County Farmers Markets, featuring weekly seasonal recipes built around ingredients from local growers, ranchers and food producers. Find it in Nibbles every Tuesday and on Boulder Reporting Lab. Sign up to get Nibbles in your inbox.
Believe it or not, peach season is here (albeit quite early this year). There’s nothing like eating a juicy peach straight from the bag, but with the July 4 holiday weekend approaching, we’re sharing a recipe for one of summer’s true delights: Colorado Peach Gingersnap ice cream with a hint of fresh ginger.
Now is the perfect time to break out your ice cream maker and impress your family and friends at your annual barbecue. If you prefer, every ice cream recipe can be converted to a no-churn version with a few tweaks. You’ll find plenty of no-churn recipes online.
Colorado Peach Gingersnap Ice Cream
- 3 to 4 peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- Crushed gingersnap cookies, to taste
Place chopped peaches in a bowl with ¼ cup sugar. Stir, cover, and let sit for at least 1 hour. Transfer peaches and their juices to a food processor. Pulse three or four times until coarsely chopped.
In a saucepan, heat cream, milk, ¾ cup sugar, and salt over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth and lighter in color.
Slowly whisk ½ cup of the warm cream mixture into the yolks, then return the egg mixture to the saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until slightly thickened and it coats the back of a spoon. Stir in grated ginger just before removing from heat, using more or less depending on how strong you want the ginger flavor.
Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir in vanilla and the peaches with their juices. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Churn in an ice cream maker for 20-25 minutes, adding crushed gingersnap cookies in the last few minutes. Transfer to a container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving. For a no-waste treat, save the peach skins and pits to make a peach simple syrup for coffee, cocktails or breakfast dishes.
What’s fresh this week? Farmers are bringing the season’s first peaches to market. Apricots, cucumbers, kohlrabi, kale, chard, herbs, broccoli, sugar snap peas and more will be available this week at the Boulder Farmers Market and the Longmont Farmers Market.
Visiting the Markets
- 13th Street between Arapahoe Ave. and Canyon Blvd.
- 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21; 3:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesdays, May 6-Oct. 7
- More information
- Boulder County Fairgrounds
- 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21
- More information
Have a tip or suggestion? Send your comments, questions and ideas to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
