No-Churn Peach Cobbler Ice Cream

It is hot. Properly, stupefyingly hot. I lived in California for ten years, so I thought I knew what heat felt like, but an English heatwave is a grubbier affair. The heat gets trapped indoors, the air turns thick, and everything begins to feel faintly damp. Sure, you can try fanning yourself furiously with a newspaper, a menu or whatever happens to be at hand, but all you achieve is the added warmth of your own exertion.

A few days ago, on another exceptionally hot afternoon, we held my grandma’s funeral. She was almost 98 and had lived a long, full life. As we began planning the service, we realized we wanted it to feel less like a formal event and more like a wonderfully informal celebration of her life. It was a joyful occasion, shaped by her autobiographical notes, many wonderful tributes, her favorite flowers, hymns and dance music, followed, naturally, by plenty to eat and drink.

For dessert, guests enjoyed an enormous profiterole filled with ice cream - perfect for a sweltering day. Grandma would almost certainly have asked for seconds.

Today’s recipe is something else she would have really loved: peach cobbler ice cream. It has soft, buttery peaches cooked until their juices turn to bourbon-scented caramel, generous rubble-like pieces of sweet and salty pecan crumble and a vanilla ice cream base that requires no custard, no machine and no unnecessary fiddling.

Side note: I love silver dessert cups in any form and for anyone interested, the dessert cups in the photos below are from here. I have also fallen in love with the Louise Roe silver champagne coupes - definitely a special purchase.

• The bourbon is optional, but very good. It does not make the ice cream taste especially boozy. Instead, it gives the peaches a warm, smoky depth, as though they have spent a little time sitting near a fire.