Peach ice cream

A recipe from Recipes from an Italian Summer

Preparation: 6 1/4 hrs (including softening andfreezing)

Cooking: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

500g (1lb 2oz) peaches, peeled, stoned and sliced

175g (6oz) (1½ cups) icing (confectioners') sugar

2 leaves gelatine

5 eggs, separated

120ml (4fl oz) (½ cup) rum

Method:

Put the peaches into a bowl, cover with the icing sugar, leave to soften for 2 hours, then press them through a sieve into another bowl.

Put the gelatine leaves into a small bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 5 minutes, then squeeze out.

Put the egg yolks into a pan, add the peach and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 15–20 minutes, until thickened.

Put the gelatine into a heatproof bowl, add a little water to cover, set over a pan of barely simmering water and melt. Stir it into the peach mixture and leave to cool.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in a separate bowl and fold into the peach mixture.

Brush a freezeproof container with the rum, pour in the peach mixture and freeze for 4 hours.

To serve, briefly dip the base of the container into hot water, turn out the ice cream onto a serving dish and cut into slices.