Peachy Bourbon Ice Cream

So I've got a fun birthday, February 29th.  It's more fun as I've gotten older (kinda), but as a little kid, it was down right devastating.  Explain to a small kid why they don't have an actual day to celebrate their birthday, be line leader, take in cupcakes, and wear the birthday crown.  As I've gotten older, it's gotten a bit cooler, until I hit those major milestone birthday.  Turning 30 last year was a bit rough, especially when one minute (11:59pm) you're 29 and the next minute (12:00am) you're 30 without so much as an entire day to adjust to this new age.  
   Normally my birthdays are pretty low key; celebrate with family and friends by a nice dinner followed by cake and ice cream.  In previous years I've even made my own cake, searching for the perfect white chocolate raspberry cake.  Recently, I've found that Giant Eagle in Ohio makes a divine White Chocolate Raspberry cake that might actually beat mine.  (That was tough to admit, but it is divine!)  So this year I decided that my addition to my birthday would be ice cream.  Now I'm not a huge ice cream fan; rarely will you ever catch me eating a bowl of ice cream watching tv.  However, I decided that maybe I just wasn't eating the right flavor of ice cream, so I went searching.  I love peaches, I love bourbon, I love brown sugar, therefore Peachy Bourbon Ice Cream was calling my name.  Warning #1: You DO need an ICE CREAM maker for this recipe.  Sorry folks!   I had received one for Christmas this past year that fit my KitchenAid Stand Mixer and I love it! So if you've got an ice cream maker, please try this recipe.  The ice cream is cool, smooth, sweet, spicy, bourbony and peachy; the absolutely perfect combinations.  Needless to say, I finished this ice cream (mostly on my own, with a bit of sharing, but not much).  I really didn't vary the recipe much, except for what type of peaches I used  (frozen since they weren't in season) and how I cooked the peaches.  The original recipe is from Emeril.  Warning #2: vanilla beans are pricey, so plan ahead.

Ingredients:
4 cups half-and-half
1/2 vanilla bean, cut and seeds scraped
Pinch salt
3/4 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped, plus slices for garnish (or frozen)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup bourbon

For the Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup whole milk

Directions: 


Combine the half-and-half, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt in a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat. Bring the half-and-half to the boiling point and scald it.  Scalding the half-and-half means that you heat the half-and-half until it just barely bubbles around the edges of the pan.  Once it begins to bubble around the edges, remove from the heat.

In the meantime, beat the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl. Add the half-and-half mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, to the beaten eggs and sugar, whisking in between each addition, until all is used. Do this slowly so that you do not make scrambled eggs.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine mesh sieve and cool completely (allow the custard to cool under refrigeration for at least 2 hours).  Straining makes sure that if you did accidentally cook any of the egg, it doesn't make it into your ice cream.

While the half and half/egg mixture is cooling, prepare the peaches. In a saute pan set over medium heat, add the butter. Once melted, add the ginger to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the peaches and sugar to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until most of the sugar has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high and once the pan is hot, remove from the heat and add the bourbon. Quickly return the pan to the heat and ignite the bourbon*. Once the flames die out, turn the heat off and allow the peaches to cool. When cooled, fold the peaches into the ice cream custard.

After completely cooled, pour the custard into the ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions for churning time. Place ice cream in a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

* So igniting the bourbon seems like a really scary process.  It isn't.  I live in an apartment with a sensitive smoke detector and I was concerned about this step.  All I did was turn on my stove fan and light the pan on fire with a lighter.  It didn't flare up real high, but it did burn steady with a blue flame for about 4 minutes.

Serve in ice creams cups with the caramel sauce and garnished with fresh sliced peaches and fresh mint leaves.

For the Caramel Sauce:
Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Add the cream, whisk to combine, and remove from the heat. Add the milk, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature before serving. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.)

Yield: generous 3/4 cup

Serve this ice cream with the caramel sauce and you will be in HEAVEN!  It's the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, boozy, and delicious!