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Stuffed Peaches
Pare large peaches and cut a slice from the top of each. Remove the pits without breaking the fruit and fill hollows with any chopped fruit, such as apples, citron, raisins, or with nuts. Sprinkle with sugar and a little cinnamon or nutmeg. Pour custard over the peaches and bake; or serve cold soft custard with the chilled fruit.
A loose formula rather than a fixed recipe: the method matters more than the amounts. The one thing to get right is the custard, which sets by gentle heat and curdles if pushed.
- Choose freestone peachesRemoving the pit "without breaking the fruit" is only realistic with a ripe freestone variety in late summer. Clingstones will tear; if that is all you have, halve them and mound the filling on top instead.
- Peeling"Pare" here means skinned. A 20-30 second dip in boiling water followed by ice water slips the skins off cleanly and without gouging the flesh, which a peeler will not do on soft fruit.
- CitronThis is candied citron peel, sold in tubs near the holidays, not the whole citron fruit and not lemon. It is intensely sweet and slightly bitter; a tablespoon chopped fine is enough for four peaches. Candied orange peel substitutes well.
- Baking custardSet the filled peaches in a baking dish and pour over a custard of roughly 2 eggs to 1 cup milk with 2 tablespoons sugar. The recipe gives no temperature; a moderate oven of about 325F, with the dish standing in a water bath, should set it in 30-40 minutes, until the custard is firm at the edges and still trembling at the centre. Custard curdles and weeps if it is overheated, so keep the oven moderate rather than hot.
- The cold versionSoft custard is stirred stovetop custard - a thin pouring sauce, cooked over low heat or a double boiler to about 175F, until it coats a spoon. It must not simmer. Chill it and the peaches separately, then combine at serving.
- Sugar and spiceSprinkle sparingly. Ripe peaches plus candied fruit or raisins are already sweet, and the custard carries sugar of its own. A grating of nutmeg is more forgiving than ground cinnamon, which can dominate.
- YieldOne peach per person; four large peaches take about 1 1/2 cups of custard, baked or poured. Serve the baked version warm rather than hot, when the custard has firmed.