Coupes Dame Blanche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Countertop ice-cream maker with a fully frozen bowl
• •Powerful blender
• •Fine nut-milk bag or double layer of cheesecloth
• •Food processor
• •9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) shallow metal pan
• •2-quart saucepan and parchment paper for the cartouche
• •Piping bag with a 6 mm plain tip
• •4 glass dessert coupes, about 6 fluid ounces (180 ml) each

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the almond milk

   Bring the measured water just to a boil. Pour 1½ cups (360 ml) over the blanched almonds and leave them for 30 minutes, then transfer the almonds and soaking water to a powerful blender. Add the remaining ½ cup (120 ml) water, the sugar, and salt. Blend for 2 full minutes, until the liquid is brilliantly white and no coarse almond pieces remain. Strain through a fine nut-milk bag, squeezing firmly, then chill the sweet almond milk for at least 3 hours. It may separate as it stands. That is harmless; blend or whisk it smooth again before churning.

   Do not toast the almonds. This ice should taste fresh and milky and remain snowy white; browned almonds would turn it into a different dessert.
2. 2

   Prepare the lemon ice

   Combine the water, sugar, and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then simmer gently for 2 minutes. Cover, leave the zest to infuse for 15 minutes, and strain. Stir in the lemon juice and salt only after the syrup has cooled, which keeps the flavor bright. Refrigerate until thoroughly cold, then pour it into a shallow metal pan and freeze for 3 to 4 hours, raking it with a fork every 30 to 40 minutes so it freezes in small crystals rather than one hard slab.

3. 3

   Poach the peaches

   Combine the water, sugar, and split vanilla bean in a saucepan just wide enough to hold the peach halves. Boil for 2 minutes, then lower the heat until the syrup barely trembles. Add the peaches and place a cartouche (parchment lid) directly on the fruit to keep it submerged. Poach for 6 to 10 minutes, turning once, until a small knife enters with slight resistance. If the peel still clings, give the fruit another minute; if the edges begin to soften, lift the peaches out immediately. Cool them in the syrup, then refrigerate in the syrup for at least 2 hours.

   A hard boil bruises the fruit and clouds the syrup. Keep it at the gentlest tremble and let time carry the vanilla into the peach.
4. 4

   Churn the almond ice

   Whisk the chilled almond-milk base until perfectly uniform, then churn it according to the ice-cream maker's directions, usually 20 to 25 minutes, until it is dense, smooth, and able to hold the track of the paddle. Pack it into a shallow container, press parchment directly against the surface, and freeze for at least 2 hours. If it becomes too firm to spoon, move it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes and beat it firmly with a spoon. Gentle tempering restores the texture without melting the edges.

5. 5

   Smooth the lemon ice

   Break the frozen lemon ice into small chunks and pulse them in a food processor until the crystals become smooth, thick, and pipeable. Spoon the ice into a piping bag fitted with a 6 mm plain tip, twist the bag tightly, and freeze it for 10 to 15 minutes so the ice holds a clean cord. If the lemon ice is a solid block, leave it for 5 minutes before processing. If it becomes soupy, spread it back in the cold pan and freeze for another 15 minutes. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Chill the peach halves

   Lift the peaches from their syrup and slip off the skins. Drain them cut side down on a rack, then blot every surface gently but thoroughly. Refrigerate them uncovered for 1 hour and place them in the freezer for the final 15 minutes. They should be very cold and firm but not frozen through. Syrup clinging to a warm peach melts the almond ice on contact, so this drying and chilling are part of the dish, not decoration.

7. 7

   Build each coupe

   Chill four glass coupes for 20 minutes. Fill each three-quarters full with almond-milk ice and shape a shallow level bed. Spoon 1 teaspoon of Bar-le-Duc redcurrant jam into the hollow of each peach half, then overturn the peach onto the ice, cut side down, so the jam is hidden beneath its dome. Pipe one continuous cord of lemon ice around the peach. If the almond ice softens while you work, return the partially filled coupes to the freezer for 5 minutes before adding the fruit. Serve the moment the fourth cord is piped. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Bar-le-Duc is not merely a red accent. Its whole currants bring tartness and a delicate skin against the soft peach, while an ordinary smooth jelly disappears into sweetness. If dinner must be rescued, use the best seedless redcurrant preserve you can find, but know plainly what changes.
• •Choose peaches that smell ripe at the stem but still resist a gentle press. Soft fruit collapses in syrup; hard fruit never takes on the vanilla. Freestone peaches are easier to halve neatly.
• •Outside peach season, use four intact canned yellow-peach halves packed in juice. Drain them, warm them in the vanilla syrup for 2 minutes, then cool and chill them exactly as written. The classical pantry understood preserved fruit perfectly well.
• •Serve with a small glass of demi-sec Champagne if you want wine. Its freshness follows the lemon and peach, while enough sweetness remains to stand beside the ices.

Advance Preparation

• •Make and churn the almond-milk ice up to 2 days ahead. Keep parchment pressed against its surface to prevent icy crystals, then temper it briefly in the refrigerator before assembly.
• •The lemon base can be frozen in its shallow pan the day before. Process and load it into the piping bag shortly before serving so the cord retains its ridges.
• •Poach the peaches up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate them in their vanilla syrup. Drain, peel, dry, and chill them uncovered before they meet the ice.
• •Chill the empty coupes for at least 20 minutes, but assemble only at serving time. A finished Coupe Dame Blanche waits for no one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)