Penny Pennington of Livermore heard about a request for small-batch ice cream recipes and she gladly turned in a simple one she had for peach ice cream. The recipes were meant to be used in smaller electric ice-cream machines and hers turned out to be the unanimous favorite of all the testers.

I learned that most beat up, overripe fruits help make the best tasting ice cream and sorbet. They end up getting mashed and pureed so their appearance doesn’t really make for much of a difference anyway.

I was always curious as to how homemade ice cream could be made. Penny Pennington’s recipe sounds simple enough for a novice in the kitchen like me. Her recipe yields about eight servings and takes 10 minutes to make.

She uses fresh peak-season peaches and blanched them in boiling water for about a minute to loosen up the peels. Click here for the recipe.

The summer heat has been turning up as of late and no time is better than now for a scoop of some of your favorite ice cream. Penny Pennington proves that you don’t have to drive to your local Cold Stone Creamery or try to get a hold of the neighborhood ice cream truck before it drives away. All you need are some overripe fruits, a few kitchen appliances and other common ingredients and you’re pretty much set!

- Joseph Natividad