Baked peaches with raspberries, marzipan and Amaretto


	Bowl of peaches by Elda Abramson

Taken from "Vegetable Heaven" by Catherine Mason
(Pauntley Prints, 2002, ISBN: 0-9534879-3-6, price £20.00)
[other sample recipes]

Here is a beautiful dessert for early autumn. Peaches should still be at their best and autumn-fruiting raspberries will carry on until the first frosts, but the weather is turning and cooler days make us want warmer food. This recipe takes all of five minutes to put together and may be assembled in advance, yet is sophisticated enough to make a good dinner party dessert. Serve it hot with cold, thick cream. Shop-bought marzipan is fine here if you're in a hurry but since home-made is nicer, and also very quick and easy to make, I included a recipe in the book.

a little butter for the baking dish
4 perfect ripe peaches, washed, halved and stoned
100 g raspberries
4 teaspoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
200 g marzipan
thick cream to serve

Oven temperature: 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4)

You will need a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the peach halves in a single layer.

Butter the baking dish and put in the peaches skin-side down. Mix together the raspberries, sugar and Amaretto, crushing the raspberries slightly. Share them out between the peaches, packing them into the cavities left by the stones.
Roll out the marzipan between sheets of greaseproof paper to about 5 mm thickness, peel off the top sheet of paper and stamp out peach-sized circles using a biscuit cutter (or an inverted glass). Put the marzipan lids on the peach halves and press down around the edges. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes, until the marzipan is slightly browned and the fruit fragrant. Don't forget the cream.

SERVES 4 VERY GENEROUSLY, 8 AFTER A LARGE MEAL