- V
- GF
- NS
- DF
- View Recipe Key
Fresh Peach Gelato
Fresh Peach Gelato
This rich and creamy peach gelato highlights one of summer’s juiciest fruits to perfection: fresh peach puree is both mixed into the gelato and rippled through it for a double dose of stone fruit sweetness.
This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure is at the bottom of the article.
What’s your favorite dessert to make with fresh peaches? Crisps and cakes are always at the top of my list, but I also like to use them to make special occasion desserts such as cream puffs. This year though, my new favorite peach treat is a rich and beautifully fruity gelato.
This Fresh Peach Gelato combines my go-to super creamy Sicilian Gelato Base with fresh peach puree, which is both mixed into the base and then swirled into the frozen gelato, and diced peach too. The result is a wonderfully peach-forward frozen treat, perfect for celebrating summer’s most aromatic stone fruit.
Ripe peaches will provide the purest, juiciest flavor to this fresh peach gelato. Here are tips to help you pick the best peaches to make this recipe.
Helpful Tips for Making Fresh Peach Gelato
How to Tell When a Peach Is Ripe
You can find out when a peach is ripe and ready to eat based on two factors: smell and touch. An underripe peach doesn’t give off any significant aroma, whereas a ripe peach smells like peach pie or peach jam. Smelling a ripe peach should make your mouth water.
A ripe peach should also feel soft to your very gentle touch. You can easily bruise a ripe peach by pressing it firmly with a finger. If peaches bruise simply by sitting on the counter or against one another, it means they’re probably overripe. Overripe peaches might be too soft for some uses, but they provide amazing flavor to this fresh peach gelato.
How to Make Peaches Ripen Off the Tree
Unless you live close to where peaches are grown, fresh peaches you’ll buy at the store will likely be underripe. Peaches are shipped underripe to ensure they won’t be turned to mush during transportation.
To ripen peaches at home, set peaches on a side layer over a large plate and let them rest on your kitchen countertop, checking on them twice a day. If there’s a window nearby, placing peaches in the warmth of the sun to help. Underripe peaches can take up to three days to ripen. (See tips to speed up this process below.)
Once peaches are ripe, they can turn to mush pretty quickly, so either eat or use them right away, or refrigerate them to stop the ripening process (make sure to use ripe refrigerated peaches within two days).
How to Make Peaches Ripen More Quickly
To speed up the ripening process, place fresh, underripe peaches in a paper bag along with a ripe banana or an apple. Fold the bag shut and leave it on your kitchen countertop. The peaches are likely to ripen in a single day, so make sure to check on them regularly to stop the process as soon as they are ready. Once the peaches are ripe, either eat or use them right away, or refrigerate them to stop the ripening process.
How to Easily Peel Peaches
This recipe requires you to peel peaches before you use them to make a fresh peach puree. Most peach-peeling techniques advise you to dunk peaches in boiling water for a few seconds, then transfer them to ice cold water. While this technique works, I’ve always found it to take way too much time—not to mention it requires you to dirty way too many additional dishes.
To quickly and easily peel peaches, running a knife around the pit, then twisting each side in opposite directions. Remove the pit, then use a vegetable peeler to quickly and easily remove the skin from both peach halves. Slice the peach halves, then use in the recipe as indicated.
Plan Ahead
Gelato custard should be cold from the fridge when you pour it into your ice cream maker. Churning a very cold gelato custard produces the creamiest result. While you can fast-forward the cooling process over an ice bath, it’s best to simply prep the base a day ahead. That way you can cool it overnight and simply churn and freeze this fresh peach gelato the morning after.
Additional Ressource: A Guide to Making Italian Ice Cream at Home
If you’ve never made gelato before, don’t miss my detailed guide to making Italian ice cream at home. The guide contains ALL the information and tips I’ve gathered through 20 years of gelato-making. You’ll learn what sets gelato apart from American-style ice cream, the difference between a classic gelato base and a Sicilian-style gelato base, why you do need an ice cream maker to make the best Italian ice cream, and get access to all of my colorful gelato recipes in a single spot. Happy churning!
Video Masterclass
If you enjoy watching cooking classes, don’t miss my free gelato video masterclass! In it, you’ll find out what makes gelato different from ice cream, how to make a versatile gelato base you can turn into various flavors, and all my secrets and tips to churn and serve outstanding gelato. You’ll even learn how to make dairy-free, vegan gelato! In short, it’s a comprehensive, colorful class that will quickly turn you into a gelato master. Watch Now!
Fresh Peach Gelato
Ingredients
For the Gelato Base
- 1 batch Sicilian-Style Gelato Base (preferred) or Classic Gelato Base (omit the vanilla bean)
For the Fresh Peach Puree
- 1 lb peeled, fresh peach slices
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
To Assemble
- 1 peach, pitted, cut into small dice (optional)
Instructions
- For the gelato base: Make the gelato base of your choice, then strain it into an airtight container. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. The gelato base must be very cold before churning: this will produce the smoothest, silkiest texture.
- For the fresh peach puree: In a saucepan, combine the peach slices, sugar, water, and vanilla extract and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the peach slices are very soft and breaking down. Use a stand blender, a stick blender, or a food processor to puree to a very smooth consistency. Strain into an airtight container and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Measure out 2 cups (500 ml) of the fresh peach puree. (Save the remaining puree, if any, to spoon over the churned gelato. You can also serve it over crepes or a cake, or use it in a smoothie.)
- Whisk 1 cup (250 ml) of the fresh peach puree into the cool, strained gelato base. Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Stop the machine when the gelato is icy but still soft.
- To assemble the gelato: Transfer half of the churned fresh peach gelato to a large (4 cup/1L) airtight container. Drizzle half of the remaining fresh peach puree, then sprinkle with half of the diced peach. Top with the remaining gelato, then drizzle the remaining fresh peach puree over. If desired, use a skewer or a knife to create swirl patterns in the fresh peach puree, then sprinkle the top of the gelato with the remaining diced peach.
- STORAGE: Close the container or cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about two hours.Fresh peach gelato is at its creamiest and best if enjoyed within 2 weeks. Past that, some ice crystals will inevitably start forming (especially if the gelato is kept in the freezer section of a regular fridge, as opposed to a chest freezer) and the texture won't be quite as smooth. The gelato will still be perfectly edible for up to 2 months, but my advice is: enjoy it as quickly as possible after churning.
- SERVING: Always take fresh peach gelato out to room temperature 20 minutes before serving to make it easier to scoop. This will also allow you to enjoy the treat at its ideal temperature and texture.
- MAKE IT VEGAN: Get my recipe and instructions for making vegan gelato.
Did you make this?
Tell me how you liked it! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag it with @foodnouveau on Instagram.
More Gelato Recipes
Browse through all my gelato recipes for inspiration! You’re sure to find a new favorite.
- Dark Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut
- Pistachio
- Orange Almond
- Coffee
- Lemon
- Maple
- Blueberry
- Raspberry Rose
- Cherry
- White Chocolate and Strawberry with Basil
- Mango and Passion Fruit
- Rhubarb
- Sweet Corn
This site participates in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. If you click on an affiliate link, I may earn advertising or referral fees if you purchase through such links at no extra cost to you. This helps me create new content for the blog–so thank you! Learn more about advertising on this site by reading my Disclosure Policy.
Author: Marie Asselin
Hi and thanks for the excellent website and videos! I am planning to make the peach gelato and already made the Sicilian custard but want to check my understanding. The recipe talks about ‘assembly’ and then how to store it. Are you saying that you make gelato with 1 cup of puree, swirl in the other cup and also chopped peaches before freezing? If so, does the puree not come out rock hard after freezing? And do the pieces of peach not go brown and mushy upon defrosting? Maybe I am misunderstanding the recipe, hence asking. Finally, if I just want gelato without puree swirls, how much puree should I mix in to the custard? Many thanks, I look forward to trying it.
Hey Phil, thanks for stopping by! If you take your peach gelato out to room temp 15 minutes before serving, the fruit puree won’t be rock hard. Also, the diced peach might be a bit softer compared to fresh peaches, but this just means the fruit will melt along with the rest of this delicious, creamy gelato. If you want to forego the “swirling” effet, you can simply mix the full 2 cups of peach puree into your Sicilian-style gelato base and churn as instructed. You can also omit mixing in fresh, diced peaches, and serve it over the frozen gelato instead! Hope these tips will help.
Hello! I started to make the vegan peach gelato but found the recipe confusing. Specifically, the lack of organization in the Ingredients list. There is no sugar listed in the Peach Puree section under Ingredients, yet the instructions for it say cook peach slices with sugar, water etc. The Peach Puree section of the Ingredients also lists the prepared gelato base. Further, the Gelato Base section lists 1/4 cup sugar. Does this mean the base should be prepared with only 1/4 cup sugar? I doubt it. With extra 1/4 cup sugar? Also doubt it.
I am guessing the Ingredients list can be unscrambled as follows:
Peach slices + 1/4 c sugar + 1/4 c water + vanilla for the peach puree
Gelato Base made without vanilla
1 diced peach
Forging ahead with these assumptions, fingers crossed.
Even with all 2 cups of peach puree mixed in, my partner and I could mostly taste coconut and hardly any peach. These were ripe summer peaches. So I grilled 2 peaches, removed skin and pureed those and mixed in about 1/4 cup of peach butter. With these changes I now have a peach gelato with decent flavor. I suspect stronger flavored fruit like blueberries, strawberries or raspberries would probably work at the given ratio. For peach, the amount of base definitely needs to be dialed down and amount of peach puree dialed up.
Hello Nivedita! I’m so sorry for the issue you spotted, and I’m grateful you took a minute to leave a comment about it! It looks like the gelato base and sugar elements in the ingredients list got mixed up in the tool I use to format recipes so they’re search engine-friendly. The item “1 batch gelato base” should have been under “For the gelato” and the item “1/4 cup sugar” should have been under the peach puree recipe! I’m not sure how this happened but I just fixed it, so thank you for reporting the issue!
In other words, you make the gelato base if your choice (Sicilian-style or regular), then make the peach puree as indicated.
The vegan gelato base made with coconut milk has a stronger flavor than either of my dairy gelato bases. The peach puree has a pretty smooth, softer flavor, so I do agree that coconut milk can overpower it. I really appreciate you sharing the tweaks you came up with, they’ll surely benefit others who wish to make a vegan version of this delicious gelato!
Can you just use the two cups of peach puree and mix all of it with the gelato base instead of using some of it to layer the gelato?
Thank you!
You absolutely can! I love the ripple effect when you layer the gelato mixture and peach puree and the variation in flavor is lovely as you eat it, too, but you can quite simply mix all of the fruit puree into the gelato base and churn as is. The result will be just as delicious!
Love the Gelato recipe. I am confused when making the peach Gelato. I follow the recipe for the Silcian base. I then go to the peach recipe. In the ingredient list you have 1/4 cup sugar for the base. But the base is in the first recipe. Then in the instructions for the fresh peach puree you have to add peach, sugar, water. But there is NO sugar listed in the ingredients for the puree. What is the amount needed for the puree? Also, the 1/4 cup sugar listed for the base does not match the 3/4 cup sugar that is listed in the base recipe. Can you clarify? Thanks
Hello Marie! Another reader reported the issue with the ingredients list in this recipe. I’m so sorry and I’m grateful you took a minute to leave a comment about it! It looks like the gelato base and sugar elements in the ingredients list got mixed up in the tool I use to format recipes so they’re search engine-friendly. The item “1 batch gelato base” should have been under “For the gelato” and the item “1/4 cup sugar” should have been under the peach puree recipe! I’m not sure how this happened but I just fixed it, so thank you for reporting the issue!
Can you use frozen peaches that have been thawed instead of fresh peaches?
Yes, thawed frozen peaches absolutely work here. In fact, it’s probably better to use frozen peaches when you can’t find perfectly ripe, fresh ones, because frozen peaches have been picked, frozen, and bagged at their best and most flavorful. This means you can enjoy this delicious gelato year-round, too 😍