Fino & butter poached peaches with ginger pecan crunch

SERVES 4 PREP 20 mins COOK 40 mins EASY

110g plain flour

2 tsp ground ginger

50g unsalted butter, diced and chilled

50g muscovado sugar

50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

4 ripe peaches

1 vanilla pod

200ml fino sherry

60g unsalted butter

2 tbsp maple syrup

100g thick Greek yogurt, to serve 1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. To make the crunch, put the flour in a bowl with the ginger and a pinch of salt and rub in the butter until you have a breadcrumb consistency. Mix in the sugar, pecans and pumpkin seeds. Throw in a splash of water and clump some of the mixture together using your fingers (this will make lovely crispy chunks). Tip the mix onto the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 mins until golden and crunchy. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then break it up. You can do this stage a few hours ahead of time.

2 Slice the peaches in half and remove (but keep) the stones. Slice open the vanilla pod and put the seeds in a pan with the sherry, butter, maple syrup and peach stones (they add a lovely almond note), along with the vanilla pods. Gently heat up, stirring, until the butter has melted and the mixture is gently simmering. Add the peach halves and poach for 20-30 mins until tender. Serve the peaches in little bowls with a splash of the poaching liquor, a dollop of natural yogurt and some of the crunch on top.

GOOD TO KNOW 1 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 582 kcals • fat 34g • saturates 15g • carbs 50g • sugars 27g • fibre 4g • protein 6g • salt 0.1g

The flavour of a peach develops while it’s still on the tree, though it will get softer and juicier at home. Avoid fruits that look green, as they will have been picked too early