Kitty Travers’ white peach and blackcurrant splits. Photograph: Laura Edwards/The Guardian. Food styling: Joss Herd. Prop styling: Tabitha Hawkins View image in fullscreen Kitty Travers’ white peach and blackcurrant splits. Photograph: Laura Edwards/The Guardian. Food styling: Joss Herd. Prop styling: Tabitha Hawkins Summer food 2026 Dessert Ice, ice, baby: four fab frozen desserts, from fruit splits to semifreddos Beat the heat with pistachio sammies, fruit lollies, mint chocolate semifreddo and green-tea ice-box cake
Prefer the Guardian on Google Kitty Travers’ white peach and blackcurrant splits (pictured above) During a recent traffic jam, on a day so hot it felt stagnant and seemingly eternal, I found myself in a private reverie of superiority. My fellow drivers, slumped in their baking metal shells, were observers to my good fortune: a homemade blackcurrant and white peach ice lolly – sharp and fruity, with a delicate almond flavour (the result of having used slightly underripe peaches) – plucked from the freezer in a rare moment of foresight. I licked it with the conviction that it was the only object of desire between Elephant and Castle and Acton Central in London. Ice lollies are fab (!) You will need silicone moulds and some wooden sticks.
Prep 5 min Cook 30 min Freeze 10 hr Makes 800ml (about 5 large ice lollies)
125g blackcurrants (frozen are OK) 225g water 50g sugar Edible flowers, to decorate For the peach puree 300g white peaches (about 3 medium flat or small round peaches) Juice of 1 lemon 50g water 50g sugar
Put the blackcurrants, water and sugar in a small pan, and simmer over a low heat until the fruit bursts and the sugar dissolves.
Use a stick blender or food processor to puree the blackcurrant mixture until perfectly smooth – if you’re using a stick blender it’s easiest to do this in a small jug. Strain the puree through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and set aside to cool.
Wash the peaches, then take a clean container and slice the peaches into it, removing as much flesh from the pit as you can. Add the lemon juice, water and sugar, then puree until perfectly smooth.
Strain the white peach puree into a clean bowl or small jug that can easily be poured from.
Laying some silicone lolly moulds flat on a tray, insert the wooden sticks leaving approximately a third of the stick visible outside the mould (this helps make your lolly more stable). Pour the peach puree to half-fill each mould – up to the level of the stick should suffice. Freeze for two hours or until the peach layer is frozen enough to add the blackcurrant puree without the two flavours mixing. Pour the blackcurrant puree on top, then freeze overnight.
To decorate the lollies with edible petals (lilac, pansy, marigold, say), line a sheet tray (or something similar that will fit in the freezer) with parchment paper. Working quickly and carefully, pop the lollies out of their silicone moulds, and dip each one into a cup of apple juice before “sticking” the petals to the lolly surface. Return to the freezer for a couple of minutes before serving. Eat within one week.
Kitty Travers is owner of La Grotta Ices in London, and author of La Grotta Ices, published by Vintage at £25. To order a copy, go to guardianbookshop.com .
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