Ingredients

4 ripe cling peaches
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ pint water
½ vanilla pod
1 pint vanilla cream ice
3-4 fl oz Chantilly cream

For Melba sauce:

8 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
4-5 tablespoons sifted icing sugar

4 coupe glasses

 

Method

Prepare a syrup with the sugar, water and vanilla pod. Peel and halve the peaches, remove stones and put the peaches, rounded side down, in the syrup to poach. (This will take at least 10 minutes.)

 

Allow the peaches to cool in the syrup, then drain. Prepare the Melba sauce by rubbing the raspberries through a nylon strainer and beating the icing sugar into this puree a little at a time until the mixture thickens. Chill.

 

Just before serving, place a scoop of vanilla cream ice in each coupe glass, arrange two peach halves over it, coat with a tablespoon of Melba sauce and decorate with a rosette of Chantilly cream.

 

Watchpoint: The peaches must be ripe. To test if a yellow clingstone peach is ripe, rub the skin gently with the blade of a table knife; if the fruit is ripe, the skin will peel off very easily. If it doesn’t, do not scald the peaches, but simply cut them in half and poach with the skin on. When the fruit is cooked the skin will be easy to peel off.