Poached Peaches with Instant Blender Chocolate Mousse

by Leah Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 4 peaches
  • 3 cups caster sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves
  • 400g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ cup very strong coffee
  • ¼ cup dark rum
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 2 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 600ml thickened cream
  • 1½ cups honey

Instructions

1 Use a small knife to cut a cross in the bottom of the peaches, blanch in rapidly-boiling water, then refresh in iced water. Peel, halve and remove stones, then place in a preserving jar. Combine 2 cups sugar, cinnamon and lime leaves with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add to the peaches, fit the lid, then simmer for 40 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2 Place the remaining sugar in a saucepan with ¼ cup water and set over a high heat to boil rapidly. Meanwhile, put the chocolate and eggs in a blender and puree until smooth, then add the sugar syrup in a steady stream and whip until light. Fold in the coffee, rum, vanilla and ½ tsp salt. Whip 400ml cream to soft peaks and fold in.
3 Cook half the honey in a medium saucepan over a high heat until caramelised, then mix in the remaining honey, cream and salt.