THE PEACH MELBA SMOOTHIE

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Lets talk smoothies and using up leftovers all at the same time shall we?  It will be fun, trust me...


What leftover ingredient could be used to create a smoothie?  Custard of course!

CUSTARD
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk.  Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (crème anglaise) to a thick pastry cream (crème pâtissière) used to fill éclairs. Most common custards are used as desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla. 

Now whilst I advocate making your own from scratch in nearly everything I do, I am going to stray away from this mantra and lure you to the dark side with a little custard powder!  I love Bird's custard.  There I said it out loud, a dirty little secret perhaps but that thick canary yellow gloop is just too good to deny.  

BIRDS CUSTARD
The Bird’s brand is best known for its original homemade custard powder, invented by Alfred Bird in 1837 and still loved by generations today. Yet the range of instant desserts stretches wider, with semolina, Dream Topping and a seasonal range of trifles and Christmas sauces too.


Now perhaps custard is not your first choice of smoothie ingredient but custard is the base of ice cream and therefore naturally lends itself perfectly for creating a smoothie.  If we are talking ice cream and fruit there is a perfect match made in retro sundae heaven; the peach melba.  Are you wondering what a peach melba is?  Let me explain.....

THE PEACH MELBA
The Peach Melba is a dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream. The dish was invented in 1892 or 1893 by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, London, to honour the Australian soprano, Nellie Melba.

A school dinner favourite of mine, the peach melba of my childhood included tinned peaches, cheap bright white ice cream and day glow pink sauce.  The sauce should have tasted of raspberry but any fruit flavour was dulled into submission by all that artificial colour and sweetener.  I always thought it was classy.  A special treat of fancy colours and delicious fruity flavours.  

It really has lost non of its charm for me so if you have a little leftover custard (it's worth making some specially for this), whip up my smoothie take on the iconic desert, the Peach Melba: 

THE PEACH MELBA SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTS
  • 410g can peach halves
  • 100g frozen raspberries
  • 100ml cranberry juice
  • 150ml cold custard
METHOD
  1. Drain the peaches and place in a blender with all of the other ingredients.  Blend until smooth and thick.
  2. Best served chilled (with sprinkles on top)
So if you have nothing in the fruit bowl, let the fridge and the pantry be your saviour with this sneaky smoothie.  You could replace the custard with yogurt but you won't get that velvety ice cream taste.  

It's thick, rich, fruity and a joy to slurp- perfect smoothie!  









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