Oven Baked Peaches

I personally adore peaches, as a young child we usually only got to eat peaches from a tin, doused in syrup and only as a Sunday treat to brighten up a bowl of ice-cream or some such.

Later in life when fresh fruit became more readily available despite its country of origin or indeed the season it normally grows in, I continued to enjoy the simple peach in its original form complete with fuzzy skin, remember if it has a smooth skin it’s a nectarine.

For this recipe, I shall be using the flat peach, also known as the doughnut peach or Saturn peach, named so because of their oblate shape.

If you have not had an opportunity to taste this variety of peach, then this is a fabulous way to enjoy them.

Utensils

1 x baking tray, some tinfoil and a pot for stewed fruit

Ingredients

4 x doughnut peaches

5g x caster sugar

Stewed apple OR stewed rhubarb

Blueberries OR raspberries

All fruit apart from peaches is optional and you only need to use one as a choice.

Time & Temperature

Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C / 356° F / Gas Mark 4 for 10 minutes.

If you are hosting a dinner party, it would be ideal to place the fruit in the hot oven while your party is enjoying the main course. Remembering to reduce the oven to 140° and then by the time you are ready for dessert the baked peaches will be ready to serve.

Method

If using stewed fruit.

Peel the skin from apple, slice the apples to the core and dice (not too small) before adding to a little lemon juice and water and cooking in a saucepan until the apple is softened.

Top and tail the rhubarb stalks, then wash the stalks thoroughly and slice up the rhubarb into a saucepan, add little water and cook until softened. (optional add 1 x teaspoon of ground ginger)

All peaches have a stone in the centre and so you will need to cut around the peach in order to remove the stone.

Once you have removed the stone you can add in the fruit, stewed or uncooked berries.

Sprinkle a little caster sugar over each peach and place each half on the tin foiled tray.

Once all the peaches are on the tray you should cover the peaches with tin foil.

Serving Suggestions

Serve a full peach per portion with either warm custard or freshly whipped cream sprinkled with some cinnamon.