Peach Melba with vanilla ice-cream

Peach is one of my favourite fruits. It is a riot of colours and flavours. Yellows and reds, sweet and tangy, it is an all-rounder. In spite of its inherent flavours, it is a fruit that allows for a lot of pairing and experimenting. Peach Melba is one such example-poached peaches paired with vanilla ice-cream and raspberry sauce (traditionally). Here, I have replaced it with blueberry sauce since I couldn’t get hold of raspberries. And I topped them with colourful sprinkles (tutti-frutti my sister gave me). A perfect melange. Each one complemented the other and yet left a distinct taste of its own lingering in my mouth. My husband left his tea halfway through (he is a tea fanatic) to bite into the Peachy magic. Now that doesn’t happen very often :)

This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe. And I love it.

Ingredients:

4 peaches (ripe)

1+1/2 cup water

1+3/4 cup castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

4-5 tbsp blueberry sauce / crush

Poaching the peaches in the syrup

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients except peaches and blueberry sauce in a large saucepan. Gently heat the mixture till the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it bubble for 5-7 minutes. Now put it on fast simmer. 

2.  Cut the peaches  four pieces and de-stone them. Poach them in the syrup for 5 minutes on each side and check with a knife if they have softened. Remove them and switch off the gas. 

3.  Let the peaches and the syrup cool down a bit. Peel the peaches and mix them with the syrup. 

4.  Now take a dessert bowl and arrange 2-3 peach pieces with some syrup. Add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Pour 1 tbsp blueberry sauce on it and add your choice of toppings. You can add almond shavings or crushed butterscotch  also. 

Peach Melba with vanilla ice-cream and blueberry sauce, topped with sprinkles.