Recipe: Peaches Melba

Steps 1 to 4 should be done half a day before serving.

1 Blanch the peaches quickly (30 seconds), refresh them in ice water, then drain them lightly by hand. Then cut them in half, peel them, remove the pit and place your peaches flat in your sauté pan on the flat side.

2 Prepare a light syrup with 2.8 oz (80 g) of sugar and mineral water just enough to cover the peach halves during poaching (plus possibly a little natural vanilla if the ice cream doesn't seem well flavored enough). Cook this syrup for three minutes, remove from heat and let it cool slightly.

3 Pour the kirsch into the syrup, then gently place the peach halves in it and poach gently for 7 to 8 minutes (depending on how ripe the fruit is). Remove the peach halves and let them cool by draining them on a pastry rack, flat side down.

4 Crush the raspberries with a fork, pour them into a small pan, then add 1.1 oz (30 g) of caster sugar. Add a little heat (just enough to liquefy the raspberries, before boiling) and let cool. You can optionally strain the raspberry purée to remove the seeds, but press well to extract the pulp.

5 Store in the fridge the peach halves, the raspberry purée and the empty serving dishes.

6 Just before the meal, lightly brown the almonds in a pan, gently and dry (don't take your eyes off them, stir constantly, remove and let cool to room temperature in a small bowl).

7 At the moment of serving (not before), assemble the Peaches Melba: in each dish, first place a ball of well creamy ice cream (take it out a little in advance), then position two peach halves on either side of the ice cream, coat with a little raspberry purée using a spoon and sprinkle with a few sliced almonds. Serve immediately.