Pêchesà l’Impératrice

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Four 6-tablespoon round-bottomed cups or a medium ice cream scoop
• •Two heavy-bottomed saucepans
• •Candy thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small offset spatula and pastry brush
• •Parchment-lined trays
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Two forks and two wooden spoons for spinning sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Freeze the vanilla ice

   Line four small round-bottomed cups, each holding about 6 tablespoons, with pieces of food-safe wrap. Pack the vanilla ice cream firmly into them, pressing out air pockets and leveling each surface so it will sit against a peach half. Freeze for at least 3 hours, until the domes are hard through their centers. Clear a level freezer shelf now; once assembly begins, that space becomes part of your equipment.

   A medium ice cream scoop can replace the cups. Shape four tight hemispheres on a parchment-lined tray, flatten their undersides, and freeze them just as firmly.
2. 2

   Praline the almonds

   Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Toast the slivered almonds on a tray for 6 to 8 minutes, until pale gold and fragrant. Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar for the Pralined almonds with its water in a wide saucepan and boil without stirring to 240°F (116°C). Add the warm almonds and stir off the heat until the sugar turns white and sandy around them. Return the pan to low heat and keep turning until that sugar melts again in patches, coating the splinters with pale amber caramel. Spread them on parchment and separate them with two forks. If they set in a single mass, let it cool and chop it back into rough splinters. Ça se rattrape.

   Keep the caramel pale enough to taste of almond and toasted sugar. A very dark caramel overwhelms the peach and turns bitter when cold.
3. 3

   Poach the peaches

   Combine the poaching water, sugar, vanilla seeds, and pod in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then lower the heat until the syrup barely trembles. Add the fresh peach halves cut-side down, cover them with a parchment cartouche, and poach gently for 5 to 8 minutes, turning once, until a knife enters with slight resistance. Slip off the skins while the fruit is warm, then return the halves to the syrup and let them cool completely. If using canned halves, simmer them in the vanilla syrup for only 2 minutes before cooling; they need perfume, not further cooking.

4. 4

   Set the fruit glazes

   Put the sieved apricot preserves in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon of the vanilla poaching syrup. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to hold a furrow from the spoon. Transfer it to a bowl and cool it completely. Warm the raspberry preserves separately just until fluid, then sieve them if any seeds remain. If the cold apricot sauce runs, reduce it again and recool it; if it sets too stiffly, beat in vanilla syrup a teaspoon at a time. The sauce must cling to cold fruit without sliding.

5. 5

   Build the foundation

   Set the dry pâte sucrée disc on a chilled serving platter and brush it with a thin layer of raspberry glaze. Center the Pâte à Génoise Fine (No. 2376) upon it. Mix the Kirsch and Maraschino liqueur, then brush the mixture gradually over the Génoise, giving it time to absorb between additions. It should be saturated and fragrant but still able to carry the peaches. Brush the top and exposed sides with the remaining raspberry glaze, then chill the foundation while you rebuild the fruit.

6. 6

   Rebuild the peaches

   Drain the peach halves on a rack for 10 minutes and dry them meticulously with a clean towel. Water makes the apricot coating slide and loosens the bond with the ice. Working with one portion at a time, unmold a hard vanilla ice dome and press its flat face against the cut face of a peach half. Smooth the seam quickly with the back of a chilled teaspoon so the two hemispheres read as one round fruit, then return it to the freezer. If the ice begins to shine, slump, or stick to your fingers, stop. Freeze it hard again before continuing; ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Coat and arrange

   Hold each rebuilt peach by its frozen vanilla half. Brush the exposed peach half generously with the cold, stiff apricot sauce, then roll only that side in the Pralined almond splinters, pressing lightly so they adhere. Set the peaches upon the glazed Génoise with their almond-coated peach halves downward and their white vanilla domes uppermost, arranging all four closely enough to read as one generous dessert. Return the platter to the freezer for 15 minutes while you prepare the sugar.

8. 8

   Spin the sugar

   Set two lightly oiled wooden spoon handles across a large bowl and protect the nearby work surface with parchment. Combine the spun-sugar sugar and water in a clean saucepan. Cover and boil for 2 minutes so condensation washes the pan sides, then uncover and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches a light amber, about 340°F (170°C). Remove it from the heat and wait until a fork lifted from the caramel draws a fine thread. Dip two forks back to back and flick fine strands across the spoon handles, gathering the cooled wisps into a loose veil. If the syrup crystallizes before coloring, add 2 tablespoons of water and dissolve it again over low heat. Molten caramel burns fiercely, so keep fingers away until every strand is cool. Lift the dessert from the freezer, drape it lightly with the spun sugar, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose peaches that smell ripe but still resist a thumb. Soft fruit collapses in syrup. Outside peach season, large canned halves packed in juice are the classical pantry's honest answer; warm them briefly in the vanilla syrup and no longer.
• •Use a dense vanilla ice cream made with real cream, not an airy frozen dessert. Air collapses quickly during assembly, while a firm, close-textured ice keeps the rebuilt peach round.
• •Kirsch and Maraschino are not interchangeable. Kirsch is a dry cherry eau-de-vie, while Maraschino brings sweetness and the perfume of marasca cherries; the Génoise needs both voices.
• •Spun sugar fears humidity and refrigeration. Make it at the last possible moment, keep it away from condensation, and expect the veil to remain crisp for minutes rather than hours. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this final flourish earns its place.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the Pâte à Génoise Fine (No. 2376) and pâte sucrée disc one day ahead. Wrap the Génoise once cool, but keep the pastry base in an airtight tin so it remains dry and crisp.
• •Poach the peaches and prepare both fruit glazes one day ahead. Refrigerate the fruit in its syrup, then drain and dry it only when assembly begins.
• •The vanilla ice domes can be molded and frozen up to three days ahead. Wrap them once firm so they do not take on freezer aromas.
• •Prepare the Pralined almonds one day ahead and keep them airtight at room temperature. Do not make the spun sugar in advance; humidity softens it almost immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 490g)