Name: Frozen Peaches With Strawberries and Mint
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar; 6 large ripe peaches (about 3 1/2 pounds total), halved, pits removed; 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise; 3 sprigs spearmint or mint; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 cup small strawberries, halved lengthwise

Frozen peeled peach halves placed cutsidedown on a bed of peachypink frozen ice and topped with halved strawberries.

Photo by Anders Overgaard

Poached frozen peaches eat like fruit-shaped sorbet and look like a three-dimensional sunset.

Recipe information

Yield
Serves 8

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

6 large ripe peaches (about 3 1/2 pounds total), halved, pits removed

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 sprigs spearmint or mint

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup small strawberries, halved lengthwise

Preparation

Step 1
Sprinkle sugar evenly across bottom of a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven and place peaches, cut sides up, in a single layer on top. Scrape in vanilla seeds and add pod; scatter spearmint over. Pour in water to come halfway up sides of peaches. Bring to a very gentle simmer over low heat, stirring once or twice just to dissolve sugar. Cook peaches, turning once, until tender but not falling apart, 5–10 minutes. Let cool.
Step 2
Pluck out vanilla pod and spearmint from pot; discard. Stir in lemon juice. Remove skins from peaches (they should slip off easily). Transfer peaches, cut side down, to a 3-qt. shallow baking dish and pour poaching liquid over. Freeze until peaches are icy all the way through but still soft enough to cut with a spoon, 45–60 minutes (poaching liquid should be semifrozen and break into shards when scraped with a fork, just like granita).
Step 3
Scatter strawberries over peaches just before serving.
Do Ahead
Step 4
Peaches can be poached 1 day ahead. Let cool in poaching liquid; cover and chill.