1

220 gm (1 cup) caster sugar

6 Lebanese cucumbers,

half-peeled, halved and

seeds removed

1 cup (firmly packed) mint

Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste

2 tbsp gin, or to taste

Cucumber-gin slushie

SERVES 4-6 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 1 MIN (PLUS FREEZING)

Resist the temptation to add extra gin to this

recipe – if you add too much, the mixture won’t

freeze. You can always add a splash over the top

when you serve it. Straws as well as spoons will

see that none of it goes to waste.

Peach Melba pops

MAKES 12 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 25 MINS (PLUS COOLING, FREEZING)

Here peaches are roasted to deepen their flavour, then puréed and
mixed with a yoghurt base. A raspberry sherbet adds an intense
fruity burst; if you can’t get freeze-dried raspberries, leave them out
of the sherbert and freeze fresh berries instead to crumble on top.
Begin this recipe a day ahead to freeze the pops.Pictured p108.

200 gm caster sugar
4 ripe peaches, halved
Juice of 1 orange
1 kg Greek-style yoghurt
Scraped seeds of
1 vanilla bean
RASPBERRY FIZZ
60 gm pure icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp crushed freeze-dried
raspberries (see note)
1 tsp citric acid
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 Preheat oven to 200°C.
Scatter sugar in a roasting pan
just large enough to fit peaches
snugly in a single layer. Place
peaches cut-side down in sugar,
stand for 5 minutes, then turn
cut-side up. Drizzle orange
juice and 60ml water around
peachesand roast, basting
occasionally, until caramelised

(20-25 minutes). Purée peaches

and any pan juices in a blender

until smooth.

2 Whisk yoghurt, vanilla seeds

and 250ml peach purée in a

bowl to combine and pour into

100ml popsicle moulds, filling

to 1cm below rims. Top up each

mould with remaining peach

purée, insert a wooden popsicle

stick in each and freeze

overnight. Dip moulds in hot

water to unmould popsicles.

3 For raspberry fizz, combine

ingredients in a dry airtight

container, seal and set aside

until required. Scatter the fizz

over popsicles to serve.

NoteFreeze-dried raspberries

are available from The Essential

Ingredient and select

delicatessens.

1 Bring sugar and 160ml water

to the boil in a saucepan over

high heat, stirring to dissolve

sugar. Boil for 1 minute, then

refrigerate until chilled.

2 Chop cucumber, spread on a

tray and freeze until semi-frozen

(2-3 hours). Place in a blender,

add mint, lemon juice, gin and

1 cup ice cubes and blend until

smooth. With the motor running,

add sugar syrup a little at a time

to taste, then freeze until nearly

firm (2-3 hours). Served in

chilled glasses.