PEACH MELBA

Her Majesty likes to end a meal with fruit, particularly grapes. Prince Charles’s penchant as a boy was for lychees, with peach melba a close second favourite. Like many children, he enjoyed experimenting with recipes and bought a plastic tray and sticks for making his own ice-lollies – much to the enjoyment of his siblings. Orange and strawberry were the favourites. Now, he prefers home-grown fresh fruit.

Serves 2

2 ripe peaches

225g (8oz) sugar

300ml (½pt) water

4tbsp vanilla ice cream

150ml (¼pt) whipped cream

A small handful of blanched almonds

For the melba sauce

1tsp cornflour

2tbsp water

A handful of raspberries (fresh, tinned or frozen raspberries may be used but if tinned, no sugar should be added)

3-4tbsp redcurrant or apple jelly

1tbsp sugar

Skin the peaches by plunging in boiling water for 1 minute, then remove and ease the skin off with your fingers. Halve them and remove the stones. Unless the peaches are to be served within minutes, poach in advance. Boil the sugar in the water for 5 minutes, adding a cracked peach stone for extra flavour. Poach the peaches in the sugar syrup for a few minutes until just tender, making sure they do not become mushy. Remove the stone and chill well before serving.

When ready to serve, place half a peach, flat-side up in the base of 2 glasses. Put 2tbsp of ice cream on top of each, then top with a peach half and cover with melba sauce (see right). Decorate with whipped cream and a few almonds.

Charles and Anne as children in 1954