White Peaches, Ricotta, Honey & Rose Petal Dessert

“I love this dessert, it’s a bit Middle Eastern, a bit summery, and completely delicious. The bonus is it’s quite a healthy dessert.” Hayden Quinn, author 

Serves 4
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS
20 g (3/4 oz) unsalted butter
3 ripe white peaches, quartered
240 g (8 1/2 oz) firm ricotta
1 teaspoon rosewater
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup fresh, unsprayed rose petals (see note)

METHOD
1 Heat a heavy-based griddle pan over medium–high heat. Place the butter on the pan and spread evenly on the surface. Place the peach quarters on to the griddle so you get nice char marks. Caramelise the peaches on each flesh side for 1–2 minutes.
2 In a bowl, combine the ricotta, rosewater and lemon juice.
3 To serve, spoon a dollop of the ricotta onto a plate, delicately place the white peach quarters around the ricotta, drizzle with a tablespoon of honey and garnish with almonds and rose petals.

Notes
1 If you can’t find fresh unsprayed rose petals you can use dried baby rose petals, available at some Asian grocers and certain delicatessens.

The Carousel thanks Hayden Quinn for this recipe from his cookbook ‘Dish It Up’. The recipe was part of Vicinity Centre’s ‘Christmas of Oz’!