Recipes > Roast Peach
Roast Peach with Balsamic Syrup
Cook this for the object of your desires and I promise you, you're going to get some sweet loving! And for those chumps out there who are raising their eyebrow at the idea of balsamic vinegar in a sweet; be prepared for enlightenment. The longer you cook balsamic vinegar and the more you reduce its liquid volume the sweeter it gets. A thick balsamic vinegar is a gorgeous addition to your sweet palate and will mirror and match most roast fruits.
So get in the kitchen, slap on some smooth jazz or mellow R'nB and get your groove on...trust me, its all peaches!

Serve with ice cream, yoghurt or cream

Serves 4

Recipe Ingredients
4 x peaches
1 lemon, juice and zest of
2 Tblsp soft brown sugar
1 Tsp vanilla essence
110ml / 4fl oz water
140ml / 5fl oz balsamic vinegar
Ice cream and mint tips to serve

Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180°C / 350°F
Cut the peaches in half and remove the stone
Zest and juice the lemon
Mix the lemon with the sugar and vanilla essence

Method:
Roast the peaches:
Place the peaches in a roasting tray
Pour the water into the tray (the water prevents caramelisation and burning yet will evaporate in the oven to become a syrup as it combines with peach juices)
Dribble the vanilla, lemon and sugar mix over the peaches
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes
The peaches are cooked when they have coloured slightly and are soft to the touch

Make the balsamic syrup:
Place the balsamic syrup into a saucepan
Heat rapidly until it boils down to a thick syrup
The syrup is done when it is thick, sweet to the taste and when poured onto a cold plate forms a thin line that doesn't puddle

Serve the peaches with the balsamic syrup, the juices from the roasting tray and with the ice cream, yoghurt or cream

Adjust:
The roasting juices:
Too thin: Place the roasting tray over a high heat and rapidly boil to thicken
Too thick: Add a little water

The balsamic syrup:
Too thick: Add a little hot water
Too thin: Continue boiling to reduce to a syrup

Presentation:
Using a teaspoon trickle the balsamic vinegar onto a plate in the pattern of your choice
Arrange the peaches on the plate
Pour over a little of the roasting juices
For extra height arrange a scoop of ice cream on top of one of the peach halves

Chef insight: Vanilla is an essential ingredient for any kitchen. Vanilla pods (which are native to Mexico) get their intense flavours and aromas from the production of vanillin molecules.
There are three ways a chef can use vanilla as a flavouring:
Using the seeds from a vanilla pod
Using vanilla extract. (Flavouring which is made from whole vanilla pods)
Using vanilla essence (This is the cheapest method and the flavours are in fact artificial)

To make an excellent home vanilla extract:
Score open 20 x vanilla pods
Scrape free the seeds
Place the seeds and vanilla pods into a bottle of brandy.
Leave for 1 month before using.