Fresh Peach Topping for Ice Cream

By
John Mitzewich
John Mitzewich
John Mitzewich is a food writer, recipe video producer, and culinary school instructor with more than 20 years of experience in the food industry.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 09/28/21
Fresh Peach Topping for Ice Cream

madlyinlovewithlife/Getty Images

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 6 servings

The bounty of summer offers so many cooking delights it is hard to squeeze them all in. One of the best is fresh homegrown peaches, with their sloppy juiciness and indescribably sweet flavor. They show up in a fresh peach pie, peach and blueberry pie, peach cobbler, peach crisp, peach pancakes, peach smoothies, peach butter, peach-raspberry preserves, and homemade peach ice cream. They turn your breakfast cereal into a feast, make a simple dessert when they are sliced and sugared, and provide a healthy snack when eaten in all their raw messiness.

In many of the ways fresh peaches are eaten, they are combined with vanilla ice cream, with the ice cream being the topping. Turn that around and make a fresh peach topping for vanilla ice cream and you'll have an interesting dessert worthy of a celebration.

This super easy ice cream topping recipe takes a bit of time in the fridge for the sweet, fresh peaches to give up their delicious juices, but your patience will be rewarded with a rare treat.

Ingredients

  • 3 large peaches, peeled, stone removed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 pinch ground cinnamon

  • 1 pinch salt

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Combine the peaches, both sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and mix until the sugars are dissolved.

  3. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Mix and serve over vanilla ice cream.

Tips

  • Always buy homegrown peaches. They are picked when they're ripe, not green, and that makes a big difference in taste. Farmer's markets or locally sourced produce at your grocer are your best bets.
  • The peach should smell wonderful and be creamy gold or yellow; some will have a characteristic blush, depending on the variety. Check for firmness; the peach softens up as it ripens. How firm you want the peaches to be when you buy them depends on when you plan to use them. A good idea is to buy them in several levels of firmness so they can be eaten over a period of time. The riper a peach is, the sweeter and juicier it is. But don't buy a peach if it is at all mushy.
  • The best way to keep peaches is on the kitchen counter for just a few days before you use them at the peak of ripeness. You can refrigerate them for up to a week after they are ripe, but they might lose some flavor. If they get mushy and wrinkled, they are past their use-by date. 
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
71 Calories
0g Fat
18g Carbs
1g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 71
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 24mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 7%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 17g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 6mg 29%
Calcium 12mg 1%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 177mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags: