Roasted Peach with Walnuts and Dried Cranberry Crème Fraîche

Roasted peach with walnuts

This recipe transforms a few simple ingredients into a delicious dessert that is perfect for your next dinner party.

Mark Stower , Director of Food and Service

  • Preparation time: 10 mins
  • Cooking time: 35 mins
  • Serves: 6

Method

Step 1

Brush each peach with melted butter and sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Step 2

Place into a roasting pan and cook at 180°C for 25 minutes.

Step 3

Remove from the oven. The skins should be crispy and cracked. Leave to cool slightly, then peel off the skins with a knife. Then make an incision in the bottom of each peach and remove the stone.

Step 4

Chop the cranberries and mix with the crème fraîche.

Step 5

Strain the juices from the roasting pan and pour into a saucepan with the chopped walnuts. Simmer over low heat until reduced to a sticky syrup.

Step 6

Reheat the peaches in the oven for 2–3 minutes at 180°C, then place each into the centre of a large bowl and pour equal amounts of the warm walnut syrup over each peach.

Step 7

Serve the crème fraîche separately.

Nutrition

Peaches belong to the Prunus family, which also includes cherries and plums. Peaches and nectarines are actually the same species, but with a very slight genetic difference, and may even be grown on the same tree.

The peach originated and was first cultivated in Northern China, thousands of years ago, and peach blossom features in Chinese art. Peaches are very important in Chinese culture, symbolising longevity, and peach wood is believed to ward off evil spirits.

Peaches were later widely cultivated in Persia (modern day Iran) from where the peach takes its botanical name Prunus persica. They were eventually brought to Europe, arriving in England in the seventeenth century.

Like most fruits, peaches provide a range of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, and one fruit counts as one of your 5 a day.

Dr Juliet Gray, Company Nutritionist