Get the most out of cooking peaches
Where to buy Melbourne’s best peaches | How to get to Prahran Market
While there’s nothing quite like biting into a delicious peach on a hot day, there are many other ways of cooking peaches too. From grilling them on the barbecue to stewing them for a breakfast, see below for 5 delicious ways you can enjoy your favourite stone fruit!
Grill them
Looking for some dessert ideas to impress guests at your next backyard bash? Try grilled peaches! Grilling peaches not only draws out the flavour, it caramelises the fruit, leaving you with a mouth-watering dessert that everyone is sure to love. To get the best results the fruit needs to be tender but not overly ripened. Halve the peaches and brush them with a touch of oil, then place them under a low gas grill or on top of a dying charcoal fire for 4-5 minutes per side. Serve with ice-cream and/or cream, with a drizzle of grated cinnamon to top it off and voila – it’s as easy as that!
Check out Tobie Puttock’s recipe for grilled peaches here
Roast Them
Did you know that roasting peaches actually intensifies their flavour? The direct heat reduces the water content in the fruit which allows the flavour to be magnified! Roast your peaches on a barbecue or in the oven and add them to everything from salads to cheese boards – you can even create a simple dessert; just serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon, some brown sugar and a dash of mascarpone – delish. Add roasted peaches to your next salad for something different. The key is to keep it simple – maybe some rocket or spinach, some pumpkin seeds, a dash of balsamic vinegar and some cheese. Cheese and roasted peaches go extremely well together. We love pairing it with goat’s cheese, Swiss cheese or mozzarella. The cheese will melt over the warm peach combining flavours of savoury and sweet.
Read all about other stone fruit pairings here
Stew them
If you have some peaches that are beginning to look a little too ripe or bruised, don’t throw them out just yet! You can save them by stewing them. Just follow these simple steps:
- Slice your peaches and add them to a saucepan over a medium to high heat.
- Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want the peaches to be)
- Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and then stir. Once you’ve brought your ingredients to the boil, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for around ten minutes or until the peaches are tender.
- Pair with some vanilla bean yogurt and you’ve got yourself a delicious breakfast or snack. You can also make jam – see how here!
Bake them
By baking peaches, you can often achieve the taste of a pie without actually eating one! All you need to do is pop them in the oven and cook until they go golden brown. Keep the peel if you like but despite the blush on the skin being pretty, it’s not as flavorsome as it looks. Add some extra flavour with almonds or walnuts and go one step further by covering the whole dish with pastry! Next time you go to make an apple pie, substitute with stone fruit and try peaches instead. We promise you won’t be disappointed!
Drink Them
These juicy, sweet stone fruits are not only great to sink your teeth into, but they also make a perfect creamy base for milkshakes, smoothies and cocktails. Pair your peaches with strawberries, mangoes, blueberries and/or bananas for a delicious fruity flavour . If it’s a refreshing summer cocktail you’re after, try juiced peaches with gin, lemon basil leaves and ice – amazing!
And there you have it! 5 delicious ways of cooking peaches! Enjoy.
