Peach ice cream is a frozen dessert made from cream, sugar, and flavoring additives. Some peach ice cream is made with natural peach, while other peach ice creams can be made from artificial flavoring, or a combination of artificial and natural peach flavor. It can be found in a tub of ice cream that is served scooped in a bowl or on a cone, or it can come in single servings as packaged ice cream cups, pops, or bars. Peach ice cream can also be made from scratch with a home ice cream maker.
Cream, the main component of ice cream, is the fatty part of milk that floats on the top if the milk is not homogenized so the fat is distributed evenly through the milk. The peach fruit comes from the peach tree, which originally came from China. Most peaches have a skin that feels fuzzy like velvet, but a peach cousin, the nectarine, has smooth skin. The fruit skin is usually red-orange, and the flesh inside the peach is usually either white, yellow, or light orange. When a peach is eaten fresh, it is generally eaten with the skin on, with the seed, known as the stone or pit, left behind.
A popular flavor with both adults and kids who like ice cream, peach ice cream can come in many forms. Store-bought peach ice cream can have natural or artificial peach flavoring. It may be made with or without actual fruit in it. The peach flavor in the ice cream made be spread all the way through the ice cream, or it may be swirled through the ice cream. Usually, peach ice cream is also flavored with vanilla.
Some peach ice creams are made with artificial sweetener to lower the sugar content of the ice cream. These types of ice creams are particularly popular for people who are diabetic or have poor sugar tolerance, and they are also commonly used as a diet food. Many ice creams made with artificial sweetener advertise the product as being as "low sugar" or "no sugar added."
Peach ice cream is sometimes made at home using fresh or canned peaches. The ice cream is made using an ice cream machine designed for the home. Home ice cream machines are much smaller than industrial ice cream machines, but work similarly to make ice cream light and creamy. The process used by ice cream machines is important to achieving the familiar texture people expect from ice cream. The ice cream machine also evenly distributes the peach element of peach ice cream as it stirs to create the ice cream.