Well, it´s peach season here, and mostly my favourite way to eat them is “au naturel”. Sometimes though, it´s fun to do something a little more exciting with them.
Here´s a simple little recipe for those of you who want to make a light dessert using the best of the season´s fruit. Oh, and wine. Not sure how it would taste using an alternative, grape juice perhaps, but if anyone gives it a go, I´d love to hear how it turns out.
I made the recipe for three, but the spices are enough for about half a dozen pieces of fruit.
Ingredients
- 1 peeled peach (or nectarine per person) left whole but scored as if you were going to cut it in half
- About half a dozen red grapes and raspberries per person
- Red wine
- Water
- 3 tsp of sugar per person
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1 clove per person
- 1 vanilla pod, sliced in half lengthways (you can reuse to make vanilla sugar afterwards)
- A good grind of fresh black pepper
Put the peaches or nectarines and grapes into the snuggest pot they will fit in, then cover completely with half water and half wine. Add the sugar, vanilla and spices (including the black pepper) and bring to the boil. Simmer until tender then remove the fruit. Taste and add more sugar if necessary or a little squeeze of lemon juice if you prefer it less sweet.
Turn up the heat, and boil it hard until you have a pouring syrup.
Arrange the fruit on a serving plate, strain the syrup over (you don´t want the spices now) and garnish with fresh raspberries (rose petals and mint leaves are optional). Chill and serve as is or with single (pouring) cream.
And if this has set you thinking, check out Greg´s fantastic post which features an amazing range of ideas for using peaches in recipes. Yummy!
Chica Andaluza 
Yummy! 🙂
🙂
Tanya, what a fabulous recipe! Lovely use of ingredients. SCRUMITY!
🙂 Mandy
Ah, glad you liked it – it was very tasty (or scrumity)!
Just got back from walking the dog in the campo & was taking loads of pictures of peaches! Is that what you call serendipity? 😉 I have to use up a huge box of plums first though and the brevas are looking pretty gorgeous too! I love this time of year, I could live on fruit & just eat desserts for breakfast lunch & dinner. Greg always has good peach recipes especially the boozy ones!
It´s that time of year and the fruit is so good right now. You forgot watermelons!
PS beautiful photo, so pretty!!
Thanks – it was a pal´s plate which I think makes it look pretty!
What lovely presentation!
Thank you, and the plate I used was an old plate a pal has – probably someone would call it “vintage”!
I will be buying more peaches at the farmers’ market today!! This sounds like a wonderful treat!
It really was very good and not too heavy!
Bought some white peaches at the market today. Will be trying this soon.
Made this with white peaches, strawberries and blueberries. Plus added some nutmeg. So delicious!
Nutmeg…I love the flavour of nutmeg! I bet it was amazing 🙂
It was! Thanks for the idea!
Oh, to have beautiful peaches again! Our weather up here makes them a hit-or-miss crop, so we don’t see too many…
This would be a good way to use some of those never-quite-what-you-wanted grocery store peaches, do you think?
Exactly – the ones when you take a bite and think “well, they looked like they were going to be sweet and juicy”!
Although peaches are beginning to fill the displays in the supermarkets, they’re not locally grown and very often hard as rocks. The locals will be here soon, though, and this dessert of yours is a perfect way to welcome them. Adding fresh raspberries is a great touch and, loving pepper like I do, adding some here make me very happy.
I’ve got my Italian flag ready for tomorrow’s game. Win or lose, it will wave all day long. 🙂
You wave that flag John! I´m going for both I´ve decided, I love both countries and my heart is split between them…I´m just going to have fun 🙂 This dish is actually probably a good way of dealing with so-so peaches if you do end up with some.
I’ve been into peaches lately and just had the most delicious one yesterday!! truth be told I’ve been trying to eat more fruit lately to keep me away from more fattening food items and I’ve always loved peaches! as long as they’re ripe and sweet. This recipe looks so good! I will have to try it. I was surprised to see a bay leaf in there as I’ve only ever used bay leaves for meat dishes. que interesante 😉
Yes, I thought I´d give the bay leaf a go as I have so many of them. I usually only put them in savoury dishes but it really added a lovely taste!
Just this very minute I am trying to get my son to try peaches! (the kid who will eat oysters, smoked haddock, and spinach won’t try peaches!?!). Now I have an idea for what to sdo, should he completely reject them!
I hated the feel of the skin when I was little, but got over it eventually 😉
I think that´s why so many people either peel them or buy nectarines!
Wow he has great taste for strongly flavoured food! Maybe he find peaches too bland?!
Who knows what goes on in that little head?
This sounds amazing, especially with the bay leaf and black pepper, which I wouldn’t have thought of using! Like you I enjoy peaches au naturel, but at this time of year with so many of them to eat it’s great to have the chance to try out new recipes with them.
When fruit tastes like it should, there´s usually no need to mess around too much with it!
I have to say that au natural is my favourite way to eat peaches…only in season… only perfectly ripe and only dripping with nectarous juices on a hot sunny day…ok, so I would also be swatting at the wasps in their “sugar phase” (sugar phase is right before meat phase that coincides with bbq season…clever wasps!), covered in sweaty sticky juice and with a patina of flies stuck to my shirt along with the dripping peaches but aside from that… the ONLY way to go 😉
I agree…the juice dripping down your arms and your chin!
Yeh and don’t forget those flies and wasps stuck to your t-shirt…an integral part of summer lol 😉
This is genius and you’ve inspired me to get myself to the farmers market! Thanks for the shout out!
You´re welcome!
…and vanilla – how delicious 😉
Oh yes, the lovely vanilla!
Looks great- we get peaches soon and will be trying this…nice photo, btw
Thank you!
I love spiced and cooked fruit, but have to say I’ve never tried cooking peaches like that, I bet the sweetness marries well with the spices. It’s such a shame though as my OH really doesn’t like cooked fruit. Humph!!
It´s a shame that sometimes we are such “good” people that we don´t get to eat what our OH´s don´t like 😦 If you do get a chance though, can highly recommend them!
I’m now having cravings for peaches… they look so good… and with raspberries as well (could it get any better)??!!! x
I did so enjoy my raspberries….a rare treat!
Looks delicious T. Fab photo. Are these your own raspberries? If not, can you let me know where you bought them. Have a great weekend.
Regards Florence x
Sadly I made this last week when I was in London 😦 No fresh raspberries here, maybe in Supercor or Carrefour though?
Yum! alcohol and fruit is always such a genius combo 🙂
You can´t go far wrong with the combo!
Delicious! I’ll be making these soon!
Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Beautiful colour – and presentation with those lovely raspberries in the end! Your post reminds me actually… there’s a house around the corner from me with a big peach tree in the yard. They usually let the peaches just fall down and go rotten… (a crying shame!) and the smell when they’re ripe in the street is intoxicating. I’ll have to, ahem, take a walk tomorrow night to investigate the possibilities of peach, er,
theft, checking to see if some might accidentally fall into my bag as I walk by :pWhat a beautiful looking dish. And I love the serving plate too. What great colours, textures and flavours. I can definitely tell it’s the summer in your part of the world xx
Thank you (I love the dish too but I couldn´t persuade my pal to part with it!). Oh yes, summer is here…it´s hot, hot, hot!
Wow this is a real fruity treat, love it
Thank Raymund!
Sounds delish…a definite make for when the peaches are ready for us. 🙂
Not long now….:)
Oh ya….enjoy the game tonight!
Oh my freakin word…how GORGEOUS!! roll on peach season, don’t know how I can wait til December. I think this may be a new favorite camp recipe – yep, it’s perfect for cooking over a fire somewhere in the African bush 🙂 You coming, Chica???
Count me in! I can imagine the special touch cooking it over a fire would add 🙂
Our market peaches won’t be out until August.. it’s so frustrating, I’ll have to remember to just keep coming back here for your recipes since you’re so far ahead of us in produce:) I love peaches, the sauce, everything…would be so amazing poured over ice cream.. even a nice pork roast.. do you think?? xoxo Smidge
Mmm the sauce would be great with meat (perhaps a little less sugar) and peaches are so very “summer” aren´t they?!
For me the are the “ultimate” because they came out right before the end of summer for us so they are look a flower in full bloom:)
Gonna have to try this! Looks delicious!
Hope you enjoy it!
Sshhhh! Whisper it! I don’t like peaches! All my friends think I’m spectacularly weird because of this fact. But I don’t like apricots either!
Ooh that is unusual! But that means….all the more for the rest of us!!
Indeed…but I’d make it up with the other yummy things you make! 😉
Sounds wonderful… heavenly! Would it work with under-ripe peaches? In our shops they mostly seem to have been stored in a chiller and then don’t ever ripen properly. This would be a great way to use them!
This would be absolutely perfect for underripe peaches!
Guess what I’m buying this afternoon!
Love this idea Tanya. Ending a meal with fresh fruit poached in wine is about as perfect as dessert gets, and peaches (!) don’t get me started! Ok, do! THanks for the inspiration, this sounds wonderful!
I´m not a big dessert eater (although I do have my moments sometimes!) but something like this is right up my street…
When I lived with my parents, we had spiced peaches at Thanksgiving. They wouldn’t compare with yours poached in wine. Delicious.
Oh, I bet they were good too!