Waffles with smoked bacon and caramelised peach

Method

1. To make the batter, grab a decent-sized bowl and combine the flour and baking powder. Meanwhile, heat the butter in the microwave until it has melted. Whisk the eggs and the milk into the flour until smooth, and then add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Top Tip: don’t stop whisking if the melted butter is still sitting on the top, it’ll solidify and create uneven waffles.

2. To prepare the peach, carefully open up the tin of peaches and strain them through a sieve, collecting the juice in a bowl below. Set the peaches aside.

3. Decant the peach juice into a saucepan and add the cinnamon, allspice and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Give it a stir, pop it on a medium heat and keep an eye on it. As it starts to boil, it will reduce and thicken, infusing with our gorgeous spices. Cook to reduce the volume of the juice by half, or until a thick, dark liquor is achieved. Set aside.

4. To make the cheesecake mousse, put the cream, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla paste (or extract) into a bowl. Whisk with an electric whisk until stiff – it is important not to stop whipping the mousse too early, as it needs to hold its shape on the plate. Once whipped and stiff, pop in the fridge to firm up even more.

5. For the topping, chop the pistachios finely with a knife, or pop them in a food processor and pulse a few times for a chunky crumb.

6. Mix the caster sugar with the ground cinnamon. Pop your peaches flat-side up on a baking tray and dust with some of the cinnamon sugar, reserving a little to decorate. You can blowtorch these using a mini chef blowtorch until the sugar has melted and they’re shiny and have a brûlée-style finish. Otherwise, pop them under a hot grill, and watch like a hawk so that they don’t burn. You’re looking for golden-brown in colour, but not black.

7. If you’ve got a waffle machine, cook your waffle batter according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you haven’t got one, use the batter to make pancakes instead, which they work equally well. To do that, set a medium frying pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper. When hot, pour in a small ladleful of pancake mixture and cook for 1 minute on each side until golden-brown, keeping the pancakes warm in a low oven as you go.

8. While the waffles (or pancakes) are cooking, heat a pan and add the chopped bacon. Cook until crisp.

9. Once the waffles (or pancakes) are ready, serve them sprinkled with the remaining cinnamon sugar, top with the cheesecake mousse, caramelised peaches, the crispy bacon, some pistachio crumb, fresh strawberries and blueberries, and finish by pouring over a little of the sticky, spiced peach liquor.