Recipe by Kate Schrire
This is a summery take on our popular banana split at our cafés, where we dust with sugar and then brûlée the cut banana with a blowtorch to create a hard sugar top, like you’d expect on a crème brûlée. I recommend using a simple plumber’s blowtorch, which uses 500g gas cartridges. They are simple to use, affordable and perfect for brûléeing tarts and fruit (and starting braais when your wood is damp!)
Brûléed peach sundae
Ingredients
- Buttermilk ice cream
- 350ml full-cream milk
- pinch sea salt
- 120g sugar
- 400ml fresh cream, halved
- 5 egg yolks
- 55ml buttermilk/maas
- 2 ripe dessert peaches + extra, to serve (optional)
- white sugar, to dust
- honey, to drizzle
- toasted almond slivers, to garnish
- fresh mint, to garnish
Instructions
For the buttermilk ice cream, combine the milk, sea salt, sugar and half of the cream in a medium-sized (3L – 5L) saucepan and gently heat until steaming.
Pour the remaining cream into another bowl and place a sieve over the bowl.
Whisk the egg yolks lightly in a separate bowl. When the cream and milk mixture is steaming, slowly pour it in a thin stream into the egg yolks, whisking the yolks the whole time. This tempers the yolks and prevents them from scrambling. Return this mixture to the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring with a rubber spatula to prevent the bottom from burning. Keep stirring gently until the custard has thickened to the consistency of heavy cream and coats the back of the spoon (65°C on a sugar thermometer). Remember, it won’t be as thick as store-bought custard. Remove from heat and pour the custard through the sieve into the cold cream. This will help it to cool down. Any fragments of eggshell or tiny bits of scrambled egg should be caught in the sieve.
Stir the custard with a clean spoon, add the buttermilk or maas and refrigerate to chill, 6 – 12 hours. Once chilled, churn in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions, then place in the freezer until frozen. If you do not have an ice-cream maker, place the mixture in a freezer-proof bowl and place in the freezer. Just before frozen (it will be thick, but still liquid), beat with electric beaters until smooth and fluffy. Return to the freezer until frozen completely.
Just before serving, wash your peaches and rub to remove any peach fuzz. Cut the peach in half, lightly twist to separate the halves and carefully remove the peach stone; or, if the peach is too ripe or too firm to twist, cut down either side of the stone to create two smaller cheeks. Place the peach, cut side up, on a flame-proof dish (such as a stainless-steel roasting tray), and dust the cut side generously with sugar. Use your blowtorch to melt and caramelise the sugar.
Layer the caramelised peach halves, ice cream and honey in a tall glass. Finish with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkling of almond slivers and some fresh mint. Serve with extra peach halves, if desired.
