Pluot Melba with Raspberry Coulis Recipe

You can make this recipe with other stone fruit as well -- such as nectarines, peaches, and plums.

This recipes is classically made with Peaches. But we found it to be perfectly satisfying with all sorts of stone fruits. Although, the color of the peach goes very well with the color of the raspberry coulis. It is harder to get that contrast with dark-fleshed Pluots or plums.

This recipes adapted from Alice Water's cookbook, Chez Panisse Fruit (Harper Collins Publishers, 2002)

Ingredients:
5 ripe Pluots
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 quart vanilla ice cream
3/4 cup raspberry coulis

Directions:
1. Chill serving bowls or glasses.

2. Cut the Pluots in half, remove pits and slice into 1/3-inch wedges and place in a medium-sized bowl. Toss fruit with sugar. Cover bowl and let stand for ten minutes, until the sugar dissolves.

3. When ready to serve, remove the bowls from the refrigerator. Put three small scoops of vanilla ice cream in each bowl, drizzle with a few tablespoons of raspberry coulis, and top with a sliced Pluot. Drizzle with a few more spoonfuls of coulis over the Pluots and serve immediately.

serves 6

makes 3 cups