My Version of Peach Melba

The peaches in my CSA box smelled temptingly floral, but one can never be sure of any summer fruit that one is going to turn into a dessert. Poaching seemed like a good way to hedge my bets.

Traditional Peach Melba is peaches with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. In my version, the peaches are poached in honey, lemon juice and pink peppercorns, and the poaching liquid itself becomes a granita, taking the place of the ice cream. Leaving the skins on while the peaches poach not only makes them much easier to peel afterward, but also turns the syrup a lovely pale pink, which makes an especially pretty granita.

I served this at the end of a very complicated dinner, when four of us really only needed a little pop of sweetness, and it was perfect. After a lighter summer meal, I would divide it between two people instead. Either way, it is simple, summery and delicious. You may even have some granita to savor by yourself in the middle of the night, and remainders can be blitzed in the blender with some rosé wine for a personalized take on this summer's ubiquitous frozé offering.

2 peaches

6 oz punnet of raspberries

3/4 cup honey

2 tsps whole pink peppercorns

Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus 2 tsps fresh lemon juice

Put 2 1/4 cups water, the honey, pink peppercorns, lightly crushed with the flat side of a knife, and 2 tsps lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.

Halve the peaches, leaving both the skins and pits in place. Add them to the simmering poaching liquid and poach gently for 20 to 25 minutes, until definitely tender when pierced. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the peaches to cool in the syrup for 30 minutes.

Lift out the peaches, then peel them; the skins should come away very easily. Remove the pits. Refrigerate the peach halves until needed.

Strain the poaching liquid. Reserve one tablespoon for your raspberry coulis. Pour the rest into a shallow metal pan and freeze for about 3 hours, scraping it thoroughly with a fork every 30 minutes or so to break up the ice crystals. It takes a while at the beginning before there is much to scrape, but once the syrup starts to freeze, keep a closer eye on it; things move considerably faster from there. Continue freezing and scraping until you have a light, crystalline granita.

Blend the raspberries with one tablespoon of the reserved peach poaching liquid and the juice of half a lemon. There is no need to strain the coulis.

When you are ready to serve, slice the chilled peaches. Spoon a pool of raspberry coulis into the bottom of each dish, arrange some of the peach slices over it, and finish with a generous spoonful of the pink peppercorn and peach granita. Serve immediately.