More from Gordon Ramsay: baked white peaches with thyme ice cream

This is another recipe from A Chef from All Season (from which I am currently extracting recipes for the blog).  It is also another addition to the investigations into cooking with thyme, but this time something sweet.

Gordon Ramsay also suggests saffron or cinnamon as alternatives to thyme. I’m not sure what I’d serve with the saffron, but for the cinnamon he suggests serving it sandwiched between dried slices of pear and stood upright on a compote of pears in red wine.  If it didn't fall over when I made it, it could make a really good autumnal or winter pudding.

Thyme ice-cream

250ml of creamy milk
250ml double cream
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (OR two strands of saffron OR two sticks of cinnamon)
6 free range egg yolks
90g caster sugar

Heat the milk and cream in a large saucepan until the liquid starts to creep up the sides of the pan (i.e. boil). Then stir in the thyme sprigs, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Put the yolks and the sugar in a large bowl and whisk until thick and creamy (ideally with an electric whisk).

Reheat the milk and cream mixture and, when the mixture rises up again, pour into the yolk mixture whilst slowly mixing. Whist until well blended. Strain back into the pan through a sieve (discard the thyme). On the lowest possible heat, stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Cool the custard, stirring occasionally to stop a skin forming. Churn in an electric ice-cream maker if you have such things, or otherwise take out of the freezer to stir regularly as it starts to freeze.

Baked white peaches

4 whole white peaches.  Maybe UFO peaches if they are in season.
50g icing sugar
50g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
25 unsalted butter, melted
1-2 teaspoons Cointreau or Grand Mariner (or indeed Bärenfang, honey liqeuor)
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves (stripped from stalk)

Mix the icing and caster sugar together and roll fruits in them to coat. Sit peaches in a shallow ovenproof dish.  Mix the vanilla seeds with the melted butter and trickle over the peaches.

Bake the peaches uncovered at 190 degrees for 5 mins. Remove and spoon the caramelised liquid that has formed in the dish back over the peaches. Return to the oven to bake for 10 mins (spooning over the juices a few more times).

About 5 mins before the peaches are ready, spoon over the liqueur and sprinkle over the thyme. Remove when ready and allow to cool until warm. Serve with thyme ice-cream. Yum.

On the subject of baked peaches, there is a more wintry/ autumnal recipe in  Catherine Mason's Vegetable Heaven that also uses marzipan, if I remember i'll add it as well.