Pêches Rose-Pompon

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium snug-fitting saucepan and parchment round for poaching
• •Blender or food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Shallow metal freezing pan
• •Narrow paring knife and slim seafood pick
• •Food-dedicated narrow-tip pliers
• •1½ to 2-quart chilled stainless-steel timbale or deep bowl
• •Balloon whisk or electric hand mixer
• •Small heavy saucepan and candy thermometer
• •Two forks and two wooden spoon handles for spinning sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the raspberry ice

   Bring the water and sugar for the raspberry ice to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Boil for one minute, then cool completely. Purée the raspberries, press them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, and mix the purée with the cold syrup. Pour it into a shallow metal pan and freeze until firm around the edges, about two hours. Break it up, process it until fine and smooth, then return it to the freezer for another two hours. If it becomes a solid block, leave it at room temperature for eight minutes and process it again. Ça se rattrape.

   Frozen raspberries are no compromise here. They are picked ripe, give excellent color, and spare you from sacrificing perfect fresh berries to the freezer.
2. 2

   Scald and peel

   Prepare a bowl of ice water and bring a saucepan of plain water to a full boil. Lower in the peaches for 20 to 30 seconds, then transfer them directly to the ice water. Slip off the skins with your fingers, using the tip of a paring knife only where necessary. Do not score the peaches beforehand because the finished fruit must retain its unbroken form. If a skin refuses to move, return that peach to the boiling water for another ten seconds instead of scraping away its flesh.

3. 3

   Poach in vanilla

   Combine the poaching water and sugar in a snug saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, add the pod, and bring the syrup to a boil. Lower the heat, add the peeled peaches, and cover the surface with a round of parchment so the exposed fruit stays moist. Poach at the barest tremble, turning the peaches carefully, until a fine knife enters with slight resistance, about six to ten minutes. They must become supple without collapsing. Take the pan from the heat and cool the peaches completely in their syrup, then chill them for at least one hour.

4. 4

   Work out the stones

   Lift the cold peaches from the syrup and drain them stalk-side down. Working through the stalk cavity, slide a narrow paring knife around the stone while keeping its cutting edge turned inward. Pass a slim seafood pick or narrow spoon handle around the stone to release any clinging flesh, then grip the stone with food-dedicated narrow-tip pliers and twist as you pull. Never pry against the outside wall of the peach. If the flesh begins to split, stop, release the stone with another circuit of the knife, then press the tear gently closed and chill the peach seam-side down. The cream will cover the repair, and the fruit will still serve beautifully.

   Freestone peaches make this possible. A clingstone peach fights every millimeter of the way and usually tears before surrendering its stone.
5. 5

   Fill and reconstruct

   Shape the vanilla ice cream into four narrow plugs with two teaspoons and freeze them until very firm. Blot the peach cavities with the rolled corner of a clean towel, then push one plug into the space left by each stone. Draw the flesh gently around the filling and place each reconstructed peach stalk-side down on a cold tray. If the ice cream begins to soften, stop and return it to the freezer for ten minutes. Firm ice slips into place; soft ice smears through the fruit.

6. 6

   Build the timbale

   Process or scrape the raspberry ice once more until it is fine and spoonable. Pack it into a 1-inch layer across the bottom of a chilled stainless-steel timbale or deep serving bowl. Nestle the reconstructed peaches upright in the ice with their stalk cavities hidden underneath. The metal bowl is the honest home equivalent of the original silver timbale: it conducts cold efficiently and gives the dessert the support it needs.

7. 7

   Whip pralined Chantilly

   Reserve two tablespoons of the cold cream, then whip the remainder to soft peaks. Fold in the dry pralin, the caramelized nut powder that makes the Chantilly pralined, and continue whisking only until the cream holds a supple medium peak. Cover the peaches generously, allowing the cream to settle between them and conceal their joins. If the Chantilly turns grainy, whisk in the reserved liquid cream one spoonful at a time until it smooths. Do not throw it out.

8. 8

   Set it cold

   Place the assembled timbale uncovered in the freezer for exactly 30 minutes. This replaces the intensely cold pastry refrigerator assumed by the original brigade recipe. The hold firms the hidden vanilla ice and settles the Chantilly without freezing the poached peaches hard; do not leave it there for hours.

9. 9

   Spin the pink sugar

   Cover the work surface with parchment and suspend two wooden spoon handles over it. Combine the sugar, water, liquid glucose, and pink coloring in a small clean saucepan. Heat gently until clear, then boil without stirring to 150°C. Remove the pan from the heat and wait until a fork dipped into the syrup draws a fine thread rather than heavy drops. Sweep the fork rapidly over the spoon handles to form loose pink strands. If the syrup is too fluid, wait another minute; if it hardens in the pan, warm it gently. If crystals form, add a tablespoon of water, cover for 30 seconds, and cook it again. Hot sugar burns fiercely, so use the fork and never your fingers.

10. 10

    Veil and serve

    Lift the cold sugar threads from the handles only after they have hardened, then arrange them loosely over the timbale like a fine pink veil. Do this at the last possible moment because spun sugar dissolves against cold cream and humid air. Carry the whole timbale to the table and serve each peach with raspberry ice and a generous spoonful of pralined Chantilly. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This dish truly needs sound summer peaches. They must be fragrant but still resilient at the seam; if the market has only hard, scentless fruit or peaches already collapsing in their skins, save Rose-Pompon for its season and make poires Belle-Hélène instead.
• •Dry pralin is caramelized almonds or hazelnuts ground to a sandy powder. Buy it from a pastry supplier or prepare it ahead, but do not substitute a sweetened chocolate spread or a loose nut butter; either will slacken the Chantilly and bury its clean cream flavor.
• •Use a pair of narrow-tip pliers kept only for food, not something borrowed from the toolbox. The extraction looks improbable until the first stone comes free, and then the method becomes perfectly sensible.
• •Serve with demi-sec Champagne rather than a bone-dry bottle. The wine needs enough sweetness to remain itself beside the fruit, praline, and spun sugar.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the raspberry ice up to one week ahead and keep it tightly covered in the freezer. Process it briefly before assembling so it packs into an even layer rather than hard chunks.
• •Poach and peel the peaches one day ahead, then refrigerate them submerged in their vanilla syrup. Stone and fill them only when thoroughly cold.
• •Shape the vanilla ice cream plugs several hours ahead and freeze them on a covered cold tray. Their firmness makes the reconstruction much cleaner.
• •Do not prepare the spun sugar ahead or refrigerate it. Humidity dissolves the threads, so spin and place the veil immediately before the timbale goes to the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)