Ingredients
2 medium large Bosc pears, cored and peeled
1/2 medium large Red Delicious apple, cored and peeled
1 medium large peach, peeled, pit removed
1/2 medium size, medium ripe banana
Directions
Chop the fruit into large pieces and put in a blender. With the blender running, add a 1/2 c. white sugar and 1 c. half and half cream.
Keep the blender running for about a minute. The mixture will thicken. Stir in a teaspoon of peach or pear brandy or your favourite brandy.
Pour into a freezer safe bowl. I use a metal plum pudding container that has a cover.
There are a couple of different ways to serve this treat. When frozen solid, remove it from the bowl and position it upside down on a chilled cake plate.
Using a spatula, cover the frozen fruit mixture with whipped egg whites (as for meringue).
With a handheld decorating torch, singe the meringue until just lightly brown. Work quickly.
Keep it in the coldest part of the fridge briefly until ready to serve.
Position Mandarin orange segments around the plate edge, just as you are ready to serve.
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut into wedges. Lay a wedge on its side and drizzle a few drops of fresh really good maple syrup, or use a bit of your figgy brandy marinating jus.
Serve it as a salad
Split a quite ripe avocado in half and remove the pit. Spritz with white balsamic vinegar and olive oil and fresh ground black cracked peppercorns.
Using an ice cream scoop, position a round of the frozen fruit mix in the hole where the pit lived.
Serve on a plate of a mix of shredded romaine and iceberg lettuce with a few large cold shrimp strategically positioned around the avocado half.
Sprinkle with fresh roasted walnut halves that while still hot, you have drizzled with real maple syrup and sprinkled with coarse salt. If you fancy a little heat, dust the sugared walnuts with a little finely ground cayenne pepper.
Sweet tooth: Enhance with maple syrup
This is a mock semi-fredo or sorbet-like dessert. There are no eggs in it. I think you could easily make this in individual bite-size, pop-in-your-mouth pieces. Make them in either tiny paper cups and peel them off, or in mini metal muffin tins. Tap to release. Serve in a puddle of zabaglione perhaps, surrounded by fresh raspberries and/or blueberries or even sweet, seedless white grapes. Place a tiny dollop of whipped cream on top and again drizzle with really good quality maple syrup. This scoop of dessert cream will fill, nicely, a little ready made chocolate cup.
Tip: To easily peel a peach, cut an X on the bottom of the peach and cover for a couple of minutes with boiling water. Let stand, then dip in ice water or really cold water briefly and the skin will slip right off.
This is a quick and easy way to remove tomato skins also.
This dessert takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and is terrific to keep on hand to serve unexpected guests. It’s instant gourmet. It travels as a take-along in a freezer carry pocket like a frozen bag used for wine carry along.
This dish is beyond simple to make and tastes incredible. It keeps, covered, in the freezer for a long time. Just had a thought: this would be a great filler for the old Pavlova recipe, made as a vol au vent, here on REM.
From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks
The working title for Carolyne’s Gourmet Recipes cookbook is From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks. This kitchen-friendly doyenne has been honoured and referred to as the grande dame of executive real estate in her market area during her 35-year career. She taught gourmet cooking in the mid-70s and wrote a weekly newspaper cooking column, long before gourmet was popular as it is today. Her ebook, Gourmet Cooking – at Home with Carolyne is available here for $5.99 US. Email Carolyne. Scroll down to the comments at each recipe column. Carolyne often adds complimentary “From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen” additional recipes in the Recipes for Realtors Comments section at REM.
