Campaigners for real operatic puddings will eat this dish without the raspberries, which were not part of Escoffier's recipe. Outsiders who remark that what remains is just peaches and ice-cream lack all sense of romance and occasion, and fail utterly to understand the enthusiasms of the canary fancier.
Serves four
2 large peaches
8 oz fresh raspberries
2 oz caster sugar
1 pint vanilla ice-cream.
Blanche the peaches in boiling water, leaving no longer than a minute. Drain, peel and halve each fruit, and stone carefully.
Purée the raspberries through a fine sieve and sweeten with the sugar.
Serve in individual serving glasses; first placing the ice-cream on the bottom, adding the peach, flat side down, and spooning the purée over it. Present with a flourish and a snatch of an aria. Avoid Brünnhilde, which was Dame Nellie's only failure.
