For 11 months a year, we are forced to buy fresh peaches that are anything but. They are likely imports from Mexico or South America that were picked months in advance and stored in cold lockers. These alien peaches are as hard as rocks and tasteless. But now, fellow peach aficionados, our time has come. The white peaches are in season and many local and regional orchards are bringing them to market.
It’s hard to beat a fresh peach of any kind, but I prefer white to yellow peaches when offered a choice. Some say that yellow peaches taste “peachier” but I enjoy the lighter, more delicate taste of a white peach, which is lower in acids.
The knock against white peaches is that they are more easily bruised, and for that reason are not as profitable for the grocery stores. I don’t mind a bump or a bruise here and there if I can savor that delicate sweetness inherent in a white peach.
When cooked, white peaches are more fragile than their yellow cousins and tend to fall apart more readily, but who wants to cook a peach when you can pick it up and eat it just like it is? Well, maybe a peach pie isn’t so bad, as long as you don’t cook the peaches into oblivion.
There is also another advantage to a white peach. It makes about the best homemade ice cream in the whole wide world.
In fact, I think maybe I’ll go home tonight and crank out a batch. Here’s how I will make it.
Homemade White Peach Ice Cream
(For a one-gallon freezer)
2 ½ pounds white peaches sliced into bite sizes
½ cup sugar
1 pint half & half
1 twelve-ounce can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
Mix a couple hours before hand and store in the fridge to allow the peach flavor to blend with the mixture. Then crank, freeze and enjoy!