This sugar-free treat makes a virtuous alternative to ice-cream for kids - or add a splash of rum and schnapps once they've gone to bed.
The only drawback of this long hot summer has been trying to protect my children from death by sugar. The white stuff is everywhere, masquerading as refreshment.I do my best to be a responsible parent - spotting the ice-cream vans before the children do and gliding surreptitiously into a position that blocks their view. But the vans seem to have multiplied in the heat. Next thing you know I'm three quid down and my children's chins are dripping with Mr Whippy. It's like Dawn of the Dead, but with sucrose.
The boss zombie of the sugar world is the Slush Puppie. My five-year-old son has never had one yet - there is a limit to pester power - but that doesn't diminish his fascination. One glimpse of a glistening, misted machine, slowly turning over its lurid blue cargo, and he is lost in desire - drawn to it like Odysseus to the sirens.
In these politically correct times it is considered unacceptable to tie your young boy to the mast, so I have settled on a gentler alternative. This peach slushie contains all the fibre of the peach and no added sugar, but is sweet and cold, and cold enough to satisfy even five-year-old tastebuds. And when the children have gone to bed, we can add rum and peach schnapps and try to forget what bad parents we are.
This recipe would also work well with nectarines or ripe mangoes. Some people prefer it with a couple of teaspoons of icing sugar, but then you don't get to feel virtuous.
Make your own peach slushie
Makes 2
2 ripe peaches
50ml water
Juice of 1 lime
60ml white rum (optional)
A splash of peach schnapps (optional)
1 Peel the peaches, pour over boiling water and leave for 30 seconds, drain and the skin should come off quite easily. and remove the flesh. Blend with the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
2 Pour into a shallow tray and freeze for at least 4 hours, occasionally stirring the mix to break it up. The mix will not freeze solid because of the alcohol content .
3 Remove the tray from the freezer and allow to sit for a few minutes. With a whisk break up the contents to make a "slushie" consistency. Spoon into long stemmed chilled ocktail (Martini ) glasses.
Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon)
Peachy keen ... a homemade slushie should keep the kids cool. Photograph: Jill Mead for the Guardian