Peaches in sauternes gelato

There is ice cream, and then there is ice cream with alcohol! Boozy ice creams are becoming the rage now. We are used to desserts with alcohol, such as tiramisu and soufflés, but ice cream is hidden in plain sight. They are slowly gaining traction, and I could not be happier.

Gelatos differ from ice creams in the proportion of cream to milk, and most gelatos, including this one, do not contain eggs. In addition, gelatos are slowly churned, which creates a richer and denser mix than airier ice cream—more on the differences here.

This is a fabulous, rich gelato—everything a great frozen dessert should be. The sauternes add a wonderful nuance to the poached peaches, adding a sublime sweetness to the dessert. I served this gelato with grilled peaches; the fruit combines well with the rich dessert.

This is a thin volume containing some superb recipes, most of which use alcohol as an ingredient or flavouring agent. Beautifully designed recipes produce amazing gelatos, ones that I find hard to stay away from.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1/2 bottle dessert wine like a sauternes

1/2 cup sugar, plus as needed

6 yellow peaches for ice cream + 3 peaches for roasting, halved and pitted

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Ground cinnamon

Mint leaves

Heat the wine into a large flat pan and add the sugar. Add the peaches in a single layer and poach till just cooked but not mushy, about 4 minutes. Turn the peaches over and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Cool.

Slip off the peach skins and purée them in a blender with the remaining poaching liquid until smooth. Pour in the cream and mix well. Taste and adjust the sugar.

Churn the gelato according to the ice cream manufacturer's instructions.

To roast the remaining three peaches, layer them skin side down on a baking sheet and drizzle the top with brown sugar and a touch of ground cinnamon. Broil or grill the peaches till soft and charred in spots. Cool and slip off the skins.

To serve, heat the roasted peaches briefly until warm in the oven or microwave. Load a scoop of ice cream onto a peach or next to it, and serve immediately. Garnish with mint.