The woman was dressed for the season in a light cotton shift patterned with oversize daisies. Her shoes matched the petals and her purse, which was black-and-yellow striped, hung over her shoulder, buzzing the flowers like a lazy bumblebee.

—David Sedaris, Our Perfect Summer

Well now. July ran right on by me. Or, through me.

This was my first month as Chief Resident, and it also happened to be a month within which my fellowship applications were due and I took one of our mini/topical board exams. Nooooo pressure. The “work” section of my life has, therefore, been disproportionately represented in attention and effort.
However, I walked past a thrift store in my neighborhood earlier this month and saw two perfect Nick and Nora cocktail glasses that sparked my fancy.
Around that same time, I saw Paris’ post about frozen berry soufflés and was enchanted. The glasses came home with me. So while I was studying derm surgery and writing my personal statement and putting out scheduling fires and having what seems like an infinite number of meetings, I was also daydreaming about ice creams.
(Additionally contributing to these dreams was the addiction Maria and I have developed to Morgenstern’s as a study break… the Hojicha Hazelnut is really an all-timer.)

These fluffy little treats are Peach Melba flavored. Peaches are roasted with a pat of Kerrygold and a sprinkle of salt, then blended until smooth into a purée that is pure summer. Lashings of black raspberry jam bump up the fruity flavor even further. The “soufflé” itself is really a semifreddo. It features an egg-yolk based sauce similar to a zabaglione, only with elderflower liqueur, with a healthy helping of softly whipped cream gently incorporated with the fruits.
It is spooned into glasses made taller with a collar of acetate or parchment paper (or, like 3/4 of my batch, seeing as I only possess the two Nick and Nora’s, old yogurt cups) , then frozen. It freezes very quickly, which unfortunately means it melts just as quickly, so when serving, whip your cream for garnishing before you even think about taking them out of the freezer, and then move quickly!

These would be, in my opinion, even lovelier garnished with fresh raspberries, but in light of the current cyclospora outbreak, I’m avoiding excesses of raw berries. Maraschino cherries, which are my guilty pleasure, have no such issues. Garnish how you see fit. (A little sprig of mint would fit perfectly, too.)