Peach and tarragon ice cream

Method

1. Quarter the peaches, discarding the stones, then put them in a saucepan with the sugar, 250ml water and all but 2 sprigs of the tarragon. Bring to a simmer, cook for about 10 minutes until the peaches are very soft, then strain, reserving the liquid and discarding the tarragon. Put the peaches in a blender or food processor, whizz until smooth, then return to the pan with the reserved liquid. Continue cooking over a low heat until you have around 100ml syrupy peach purée. Leave to cool.
2. Put the milk, cream and a pinch of fine sea salt in a medium pan, heat gently until steaming hot, then remove the pan from the heat. In a separate bowl, use a balloon whisk to whisk the egg yolks for 1 minute until thoroughly combined.
3. Half-fill the sink with cold water. Gradually whisk the hot cream into the yolk mixture, whisking continuously to form a custard. Return the custard to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring all the time, until it reaches 82°C on a sugar thermometer (or becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon). Don’t let the custard boil or it will scramble. As soon as it reaches the right temperature or thickens enough, plunge the base of the pan into the sink of water to cool. Speed up the cooling process by stirring the mixture every so often.
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4. Once the custard is at room temperature, stir in the syrupy peach purée. Finely chop the leaves from the remaining tarragon sprigs and stir them in too. Pour the mixture into a lidded container, cover the surface with baking paper, add the lid and chill overnight.
5. The next day, pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn for 25-45 minutes (depending on your machine) until it reaches the texture of thick whipped cream. Transfer to a lidded container, seal and freeze for at least 4 hours until ready to serve. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Soften for 5-10 minutes out of the freezer before serving (see serving tip).