Salted Caramel Peach Sundae for National Ice Cream Day

It's National Ice Cream Day on 19th July, there are so many different flavours of ice cream and different ways to serve it, but nothing beats a sundae on a hot day. There’s something magical that happens when ice cream and sauce and fruit and crunchy stuff come together. From classic fruit, nut and sauce combos, to more extravagant creations involving cookies, meringues and alcoholic sauces (for adults only!), there are many delicious possibilities.

Anatomy of a Salted Caramel Peach Sundae (from the bottom up)
Serves 4

Layer 1 - The Fruit
Roasted Caramelised Peaches
4 ripe but firm peaches
50g soft brown sugar
25g  butter (I used Moose Maple Butter)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.  Skin the peaches by covering with boiling water, removing after a couple of minutes and slip off the skins.  Slice the peaches and place in an ovenproof tray, cover with the sugar and dot with butter. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the sugar and butter melts and the peaches start to brown and caramelise. Leave to cool, then lift the peaches from the caramel and  Set both aside.

Layer 2 - The Ice Cream
2 scoops per person Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Try Kelly's of Cornwall Clotted Cream and Salted Caramel Ice Cream 

Place two scoops of ice cream per person on tray or dish and place back into the freezer until ready to assemble the sundaes.

Layer 3 - The Sauce
Salted Caramel Chocolate Sauce
100g salted caramel chocolate, chopped or use Hotel Chocolat salted caramel puddles
caramel from the roasted peaches
20g butter
2 tbsp water
Place all the ingredients in a small pan and gently heat, stirring,  until the chocolate has melted and formed a sauce, you may need a little more water to get it to the correct consistency for pouring.

Layer 4 - The Crunch

Caramelised Almond Granola Crunch
100g granola (I used one without dried fruit)
20g flaked almonds
50g soft brown sugar
25g butter

Heat the oven to 180C.  Place the butter in a frying pan and heat gently until the butter has melted add the granola, almonds and sugar, mix the dry ingredients with the butter stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a baking tray and spread evenly.  Place in the oven and bake for 5-6 minutes. Watch the Granola Crunch carefully as it burns quite quickly.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool.  Once cool, break up the mixture, it will keep well in a jar if you have any left over.

To assemble the Sundae 
Place the roasted peaches in the base of the sundae dish or bowl, top with two scoops of salted caramel ice cream, pour over the salted caramel sauce and sprinkle Caramelised Almond Granola Crunch over the sauce, eat and enjoy!

Easy like Sundae morning (with apologies to Lionel Ritchie!)
While this is a really rich and luxurious Sundae, it does require a bit of time and preparation to make the various layers,  if  you want to create something much quicker, simply use fresh fruit without roasting, use a ready made Dessert Sauce like the new squeezable range from Clarks (the honey and maple syrup people) the sauces are made with carob syrup, a low calorie, low gi alternative to refined sugar, flavours include tempting chocolate and tantalising caramel, either of which would work well in this Sundae,  as well as scrumptious strawberry.  For a quick and easy topping, try chopped up fudge, fudge pieces or chocolate chips, or simply sprinkle over some granola without caramelising it.