Making Over Martha Month: Peach Sherbet

Just for fun, I've declared September 2008 to be Making Over Martha Month. That means instead of pulling recipes from a variety of sources as I usually do, I'll just be focusing on altering recipes from Martha Stewart's cookbooks, magazines, and Web pages.

To kick off the month in true summer style, I found a recipe for White Peach Sherbet on Martha's Web site. My agave-nectar-sweetened version is really peachy, rich, and creamy stuff. I noodled around with the recipe quite a bit to the point where it's not really the original at all. Therefore, I've provided my altered version below. Oh, and I didn't use white peaches. The local organic peaches here are yellow and quite delicious.

A note to my wonderful vegan and lactose-intolerant friends: You can easily make this a non-dairy recipe by using a soy creamer, cashew cream, or Mimicreme instead of the half and half.

Peach Sherbet (inspired by Martha Stewart's White Peach Sherbet version)

Ingredients:

5 to 6 large, very ripe peaches
1 large lemon, juiced thoroughly
scant 1/2 cup agave nectar
1 cup half and half

Directions:

1. Using a serrated knife or peeler, gently peel the skin from the peaches and pit them.
2. Put the peach flesh into a food processor and process just until there are no very big chunks left.
3. Pour the peaches into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Hand mix until well combined.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic or pour the mixture into a container with a matching top, then chill overnight in the refrigerator.
5. The next morning, use your ice cream maker (or in my case, your mixer attachment) to freeze the ice cream batter until it is at soft-serve consistency.
6. Serve and enjoy immediately or pack in a freezer-safe container until you can enjoy it later. Just take it out 5 minutes before you intend to serve it so it softens enough to serve easily.