It’s going to be hot this weekend – and in preparation for the 90-90 weather, I’m making beer ice cream – a special concoction of fresh peaches, lightly cooked with a bit of sugar and peach lambic ale – the recipe is adapted from a beer dinner at the Phoenician hosted by Charles Finkel of Pike Brewing Co.  back in the time when he imported lambics under the Merchant du Vin line. My favorite fresh peaches grown in Michigan aren’t in the markets yet – but I found some wonderful Missouri-grown peaches that are really ripe and aromatic. It’s important to start with juicy, really ripe fruit for the best tasting frozen dessert.

Here’s a nice link from travel and beer writer Travis Poling’s site, Beer Across Texas that mentions my recipes as well his palate-tingling experiences with beer ice cream made by chef Gary Butler at Freetail Brewing Co.

Peach Lambic Ice Cream

2 cups peeled, pitted and diced peaches (about 4 large peaches)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
4 ounces peach lambic
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin softened in 3 tablespoons warm water
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup vanilla simple syrup
Ice cream machine
Fresh peach slices to garnish

Cook the peaches with brown sugar, cane sugar, and lambic ale, in a medium saucepan over low heat, until peaches are softened and sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Blend softened gelatin with fruit-lambic mixture in a large glass mixing bowl, and then fold in the heavy cream and vanilla syrup. Stir well, cover and chill. When cold, scrape into ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze ice cream overnight to ripen and smooth the texture. The lambic gives it an oozy soft-serve consistency. You could serve it with more peach lambic ice cream – or a favorite weissbier.