Did you Know These 3 Ice Cream Desserts?

Hi everyone, and welcome to my kitchen. Today's video is a bit of a flashback into the 90s, when I used to travel with my parents around Europe. There was this restaurant chain called Flange in France, and I remember a few ice cream desserts from their menu with fancy names I'd never heard before. I don't even know how it came back to me recently, but on what I guess I could call a wave of nostalgia, I decided to look them up and recreate them. So I'm going to start with the easiest of them, Café Liegeois. Despite its name, it wasn't invented in Liege, but in Paris. So why Liegeois? Well, it was to honor the Belgian city's resistance to the German advance during World War I. The first thing I've done is to prepare an espresso, so that I can let it cool down to room temperature. Then I'll chop up a couple of pieces of dark chocolate. I'm going to use it as a topping, but you can use cocoa powder instead. And that's really all I need before I can assemble the dessert. I'll place three scoops of coffee ice cream in a glass, I'll pour in the espresso, and swirl on a generous amount of whipped cream. To finish it off, the chocolate shavings, a couple of roasted coffee beans, and a wafer roll. Well, it really doesn't get any easier than this, does it? It's like Italian affogato, but with whipped cream, although I'm pretty sure that affogato is a more recent thing than Café Liegeois. Simple and delicious, you really can't go wrong with it. But now, let's take things up a notch. This one is called Pêche Melba, and it's got its own bit of history too. It was created by French chef Auguste Escoffier to celebrate Nelly Melba, an Australian soprano. But let's get going. I'll start by bringing water to a boil in a saucepan, and I'll drop in two peaches. I'll keep them in for about a minute, then I'll transfer them to a bowl with cold water. The point of this blanching process is to loosen their skin, so it's easy to peel them. Time to halve them and remove the pit. This is kind of tricky because you risk damaging their delicate flesh. That's why it's best to use peaches that are not fully ripe. Now, you can either use them like this, or if you think that they're not sweet enough, you can poach them in syrup. Here I'm only adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the water in which I blanched them, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. But you can also add herbs such as rosemary or mint. I'll let them gently simmer for 5 minutes, then I'll turn off the heat and let them sit there for 5 more minutes. Don't overdo it, or they might start disintegrating. Of course, instead of all this, you can also simply buy thin peaches, which I'm sure is what a lot of establishments do. While the peach halves cool down, I'll toss some flaked almonds in a dry saucepan. You can also roast them in the oven, but don't use the airfryer or they might fly around everywhere. I find it quicker to do it on the stove, over medium to low heat. It only takes a couple of minutes, flipping them every now and then to prevent them from burning. And now, let's prepare a raspberry coulis. 150 grams of fresh raspberries, but I've set some aside to garnish the dessert at the end. A tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of water, and I'll go in with an immersion blender. If the coulis is still too thick, you can add one or more tablespoons of water, basically until it's thin enough to pour. You can also strain the coulis to remove the seeds if you want, but I won't do it because they don't really bother me. Let's assemble the dessert. I'll place two peach halves on the serving dish, a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream right alongside them, then I'll spoon over a generous amount of raspberry coulis. Let's not forget a couple of fresh raspberries, and of course a sprinkle of toasted almonds. Isn't it a beauty? Look at those vibrant colors. You get the perfect balance between the natural sweetness of the peaches and the tartness of the raspberries, and between the creaminess of the ice cream and the crunch of the almonds. I think it used to be my favorite back in the day. And now, the third and last dessert, Poire Belle Hélène. This one too was created by Escoffier, although this time the tribute was meant for Offenbach's opera La Belle Hélène. So, just like before, I'll toast some flaked almonds in a saucepan, then I'll heat up half a liter of water with 150 grams of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a few strips of lemon peel. While the sugar dissolves and the lemon peel flavors the syrup, I'll slice off the bottom of two conference pears so that they can stand upright on a dish. I'll also core them to remove the seeds. Technically, I should use a small melon baller, but I don't have one, so this is really the next best thing, because I tried an apple corer and it can easily poke through the sides if you go in too deep. Lastly, I'll peel the pears. Then, I'll lower them into the boiling syrup right away to prevent them from browning. I'll cover the saucepan and poach the pears for 15 minutes, always on low heat. Don't go beyond 15 minutes or they will soften up too much. You can flip them halfway through, just to make sure that they absorb the syrup evenly. Now I can remove the lid, turn off the heat, and let them cool down completely while they're still in the syrup. Of course, for a quicker version of this dessert, you can resort to thin pears. And now, let's set up a double boiler for the chocolate ganache. I'll place a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and I'll throw in 60 grams of dark chocolate, and then also 50 grams of double cream. I believe the original recipe used a simple chocolate sauce without cream, but it seems most chefs make a ganache with cream nowadays. And this is the safest way to melt chocolate without burning it. I actually turned off the heat altogether after I placed the bowl on top, and as you can see, the residual heat is still enough to melt the chocolate until it's smooth and glossy. Then, you want to use the ganache right away while it's still warm. To serve it, I'll place a pear on a dish, add a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, and I'll pour this luxurious chocolate ganache on top of the pear. A sprinkle of flaked almonds, and it's done. I think this is my new favorite. Chocolate and pear are fantastic together, and I like the contrast between warm and cold. So, what's your favorite? Are you going to try any of them? Let me know in the comments. And as usual, if you enjoyed this video, please consider giving it a thumbs up and subscribing. 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