Martha Stewart's Favorite Childhood Ice Cream Uses Up This Overripe Fruit

Martha Stewart is a domestic doyen, with refined advice for everything from staking your tomato plants in the garden to using glass jars for home decluttering. She would be aghast at the thought of serving up dessert that was not homemade, and that includes ice cream. On a vintage segment from one of her television programs posted on YouTube, Stewart says that peach ice cream was her favorite growing up and that she had a peach tree in her backyard. Before sharing her recipe for peach ice cream, she informs the audience that using overripe peaches in ice cream is a terrific use for them — much better than just tossing them out.

Overripe peaches are ideal in ice cream because they are naturally sweeter, owing to the fact that the acid levels diminish as they mature. While the amount of sugar in a peach stays the same over time, the fruit tastes sweeter as the acid abates. This means you might not have to use as much sugar in your ice cream, thanks to the peaches' natural sweetness.

There is also the overripe peaches' texture, which features softer, juicier flesh. Stewart's recipe for homemade peach ice cream includes a step called macerating, which is necessary to soften the peaches and let "the natural juices ooze out of" them, she says. Steward recommends letting the peaches macerate for a couple of hours, but you can likely get away with less macerating time since overripe peaches are already quite soft and juicy. Ultimately, that means you'd be able to enjoy her favorite childhood ice cream more quickly.

Maybe cool treats like Martha Stewart's homemade peach ice cream aren't your thing. If that's the case, you'll be happy to know that overripe peaches work in a variety of dishes. You could, for example, bake them up in a cozy peach crisp that really combines the best of summer with the best of fall. The great thing about this dessert (or breakfast, we don't judge) is that you don't even have to macerate the peaches. Just combine them with sugar and a few other ingredients, and load them into the baking pan before sprinkling on the crisp.

If you like flavored coffees, iced teas, or alcoholic beverages, overripe peaches are also prime candidates for turning into peach syrup. At its most basic, it only requires three ingredients — peaches, water, and sugar — but you can also dress it up with spices or herbs, like cinnamon, whole cloves, or woody rosemary. Finally, overripe peaches are also perfect for making peach jam, since they get simmered down into a spreadable consistency. Jams are notorious for using a lot of sugar, but as mentioned, peaches that are past their prime are naturally sweeter, so you don't have to use quite as much — unless you want to, of course.