Before the summer ends and we resort to slow-cooked stews, soups and rice pudding – all of which I love – lets indulge in some ice-cream. There are so many fantastic-quality ice-creams available that I only make my own when I have something special in mind and want to create it.
For a while now I've been reminiscing about the peach Melba that I made at Ballymaloe Cookery School. It's a recipe on the curriculum of the three-month cookery course and proof that a simple dish made well with quality ingredients can be outstanding.
I remember making it on a hot May day, the entire kitchen slowing down as I ate it standing at the countertop looking out at the Jersey cows in the fields.
It was pure perfection. There’s something special about a smooth raspberry coulis over creamy vanilla ice-cream with just the right amount of juicy peach. It’s an old-fashioned classic.
Our raspberry bushes are heavy with berries now, and although we eat most of them in the garden, some make it into the kitchen.
I had planned on making raspberry ripple ice-cream but found some perfectly ripe peaches, so I decided it was time to experiment.
I’ve created this peach Melba semifreddo with a slightly exotic twist by adding a pinch of saffron to the peach puree and a dash of rose water to the raspberry. It creates a depth of flavour that is very subtle but tastes incredible with the vanilla ice-cream that it’s swirled through.
Semifreddo means semi-frozen in Italian. It’s a no-churn ice-cream that you pour into a loaf tin and freeze. Leave at room temperature for 10 minutes, then slice like a cake. A semifreddo is one of the simplest ice-creams you can create at home and it makes a spectacular dessert.
PEACH MELBA SEMIFREDDO: SERVES 6-8
Ingredients
250g raspberries
30g caster sugar
½tsp rose water
1 large peach or nectarine
Juice of ½ lemon
30g caster sugar
1 pinch saffron threads
400ml cream
150g caster sugar
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
1tsp vanilla extract
Method
I use a stainless steel mixer bowl to make this, first filling the bowl with boiling water and placing the whisk attachment into the water. Leave it to heat up somewhere safe, out of reach of children.
Blitz the raspberries, sugar and rose water until smooth, with a stick blender or in a Nutribullet. Pour the puree through a sieve and discard the seeds. Set this coulis aside.
Halve the peach and remove the stone. I leave the skin on, especially if it’s organic. Blitz the peach with the lemon juice, sugar and saffron threads until completely smooth. Set aside.
Once the stainless steel bowl is warm, dry it well and whisk the eggs, yolk and sugar until pale, frothy and voluminous. Set aside to cool.
Whip the cream and vanilla extract until soft peaks form, then gently fold the cream into the egg mousse. Line a 2lb loaf tin with clingfilm. Dot a few tablespoons of the two fruit purees into the tin, then top with some of the cream mousse. Swirl a little, then repeat, alternating the layers between fruit and cream. Once the tin is full, tap it on the counter firmly to remove any air bubbles, then cover well and freeze overnight or for eight hours, until set.
Remove from the freezer for 10 minutes before dividing into thick slices. Serve with more raspberries or sandwich between wafers.
