When summer comes again, I just need to find new light and fresh desserts to use peaches, my favorite fruit. If you are like me, cannot get enough of them, here is another a cool recipe to try.

This recipe is quite versatile, you can also saute the peaches in a pan with a little butter and sugar. Personally I love to grill them, I think the flavor stands out more. Also, you can see the rice cream at the bottom of the dish to be a little dark, it’s just because I used coconut sugar which is naturally amber color. You can use regular sugar to get a snow white cream which I think is prettier in the plate. This dessert is also vegan which can be interesting for those who are lactose intolerant but can also be made using regular milk as well. For coconut milk, I used the light one which has 45 calories per servings and that comes in a large paper box, not the one in a can.

For the ice cream, I used a vanilla ice cream made with coconut milk that is delicious (usually I don’t like to advertise brands on this blog, but this one is really , on top of it, it has no added sugar, so if you are like me and that you don’t have a sweet tooth and no taste for sugar, this ice cream is perfect.

Ingredients for 2 people

For the rice cream

• 70 g white round rice
• coconut milk, one pint or more (depending on the rice absorption)
• 2 tbs coconut sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 vanilla bean, cut in half and scarped

For the peaches

• 2 large peaches, cut in 6 quarters
• 2 tbs raw unsalted pistachios
• vanilla ice cream made with coconut milk
• agave nectar or honey for drizzling

Preparation

Start by cooking the rice. In a pot, add vanilla bean to milk and bring the mixture to a to a boil at medium temperature. Add rice and sugar and let cook the rice until tender at low temperature. Add milk if necessary and adjust sugar. stir once in a while ensuring the rice does not stick to the pot. When the rice is cooked, let it cool and mix in a blender to obtain a smooth cream. Place in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, grill peaches in a skillet or grill pan. Grill on both sides.

In a plate, place 3 tbs rice cream, top it with grilled peaches. Spoon ice cream in the middle, sprinkle with pistachios and agave nectar.

I made this recipe a month ago when the peaches were delicious and juicy, now you get the last peaches of the season…bye bye my sweet fruit.

This dessert reminds me of my childhood…during the summer months when I used to go in town with my mom, we would sit down sur la terrace d’un cafe in Place Stanislas, and watch people walk by indulging with one of those ice cream desserts. Life could not get any better and sweeter. Peche Melba was one of my favorite ice cream cups (coupes de glace), along with Chocolat Liegeois and Poire Belle Helene. It’s fairly simple, you only need excellent ingredients.

The dessert was created in 1893 by Auguste Escoffier for the Opera Singer Nellie Melba, that’s where it got its name. It’s simply a peach poached in a syrup served with vanilla ice cream, raspberry coulis and toasted almonds. It’s a great dessert to serve when you have 6-8 guests and that you don’t want to start getting into complicated desserts. Since it’s still peach season with peaches sweet and juicy, this would be the right dessert to enjoy right now. I bought tons of peaches, so it looks like this will be on the menu for the next week or so. No complaints.

Ingredients for 4

• 4 peaches, cut in half, pit removed
• 2 packs raspberries
• 3 tbs sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• Vanilla ice cream
• 3 tbs toasted sliced almonds
• whipped cream (optional)

• water (enough to cover the peaches)
• 1/4 lb sugar
• vanilla bean, cut in half and scraped
• 1 star anise