Pêches Alexandra

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 3-quart saucepan
• •Serrated soft-fruit peeler
• •Fine-mesh sieve and blender
• •2-quart glass timbale or deep serving bowl
• •Wider shallow bowl for crushed ice
• •Instant-read or sugar thermometer
• •Two dinner forks, rolling pin, parchment, and two heavy jars for spinning sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare peaches and syrup

   Combine the poaching water, poaching sugar, vanilla seeds, and pod in a wide saucepan. Warm gently, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then bring the syrup to a bare simmer. Meanwhile, peel the peaches thinly with a serrated fruit peeler, halve them along their seams, and remove the stones without bruising the flesh.

2. 2

   Poach the peaches gently

   Lower the peach halves into the vanilla syrup and cover them with a round of parchment so they remain submerged. Hold the syrup at the faintest tremble for 4 to 8 minutes, turning the fruit once, until a fine knife enters with slight resistance. They must be tender but still carry their own weight. If one half softens before the others, lift it out immediately. Ça se rattrape: chill that piece flat on a small tray and place it beneath the sounder halves when assembling.

3. 3

   Chill them completely

   Remove the pan from the heat and let the peaches cool in their syrup for 30 minutes. Transfer the fruit, syrup, vanilla pod, and parchment to a shallow covered container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. This is the step that decides the dessert. If the peaches are not thoroughly cold at their thickest point, wait; placing merely cool fruit over ice cream will melt the foundation before the bowl reaches the table.

   If time is tight, nest the covered container in a bowl of ice water for 20 minutes before refrigerating it. Keep the cooling ice outside the container so the vanilla syrup remains full-flavoured.
4. 4

   Make the strawberry purée

   Blend the strawberries until perfectly smooth, adding up to 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the cold vanilla poaching syrup only if the blades need help. Press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds, then cover and chill it. It should fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon, vivid and fresh, not run like juice.

5. 5

   Prepare the iced timbale

   Chill a 2-quart glass timbale or deep serving bowl. Let the vanilla ice cream soften only until spreadable, then form an even layer about 1 inch thick across the bottom of the bowl and return it to the freezer for 20 minutes. Just before assembly, nest the timbale in a wider shallow bowl filled with the crushed ice. This replaces the original pastry station's iced service vessel and keeps the dessert firm at the table.

6. 6

   Spin the sugar veil

   Lay parchment over the work surface and balance a parchment-covered rolling pin between two heavy jars. Put the spinning sugar and ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) of the spinning water in a small clean saucepan. Heat gently until clear, cover for 2 minutes so condensation washes the pan sides, then uncover and boil without stirring to 302 to 311°F (150 to 155°C), when the syrup is barely straw-coloured. Remove it from the heat and wait about 45 seconds. Dip two forks into the syrup and sweep quick, fine threads back and forth over the rolling pin, then gather them loosely into an airy veil. If the syrup crystallizes, add the reserved 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) water, dissolve it completely, and cook again. Ça se rattrape. If it hardens before you finish, warm it gently until it flows. Hot sugar burns fiercely, so use the forks, keep bare hands away, and let the threads set before lifting them.

7. 7

   Assemble and serve

   Lift the peach halves from their syrup, drain them thoroughly, and blot their undersides gently. Arrange them in the iced timbale over the vanilla ice cream, rounded sides uppermost. Masquez, coat completely, the peaches with the cold strawberry purée, then scatter the white and red rose petals over them. Lay the spun-sugar veil lightly across the whole bowl and carry it straight to the table. Break through the sugar with the serving spoon and give each guest peach, purée, vanilla ice, petals, and a few crisp sugar threads. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This dish truly needs fresh peaches that smell fragrant at the stem yet remain firm under a thumb. Canned fruit has already been cooked and collapses during the vanilla poach; frozen peaches surrender too much water. If the market has no worthy peaches, save Pêches Alexandra for its season and cook Poires Belle-Hélène as its French cousin.
• •Buy rose petals sold specifically for eating. Florist roses may carry sprays that washing cannot make suitable for the plate. Dry edible petals completely, because clinging water begins dissolving the spun sugar on contact.
• •Choose vanilla ice cream made with real cream and vanilla, with a clean flavour rather than a cupboard of additions. Making it from scratch is not the test here; holding the dessert cold and balancing peach, strawberry, rose, and sugar are.
• •Spun sugar dislikes humidity and refrigeration. Make it as close to serving as possible and keep it at dry room temperature until it meets the peaches. A demi-sec Champagne suits the fragrant fruit and the crisp caramel without bullying either.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach the peaches up to one day ahead and keep them covered in their vanilla syrup in the refrigerator. The longer rest gives the vanilla time to reach the centers.
• •Make and strain the strawberry purée up to one day ahead. Keep it tightly covered and cold so its colour and fresh perfume remain clear.
• •Spread the vanilla ice cream in the timbale up to several hours ahead and hold it in the freezer. Nest the bowl in crushed ice only when you are ready to assemble.
• •Do not refrigerate the spun sugar. Make it within 20 minutes of serving in a dry room, then place it over the fruit only after the purée and rose petals are in position.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)