Sweet and juicy peach-filled desserts

With their dewy soft skin and juicy flesh, luscious peaches are the perfect fruit for sweet summer treats “This is my frugal breakfast... Give me my peach, my cup of coffee, and my claret”

Sweet, juicy and fragrant, peaches are the colour of sunshine. Their delicious flavour is a welcome addition to desserts, including pavlovas, trifles and cobblers, or they can be simply sliced and served with cream. They also enhance savoury dishes and bring colour and a refreshing tang to summer salads. The deciduous peach tree is native to China, where the fruit has been cultivated since 1000BC, and which remains the world’s largest producer. Before arriving in Europe, it was widely grown in modern-day Iran, formerly Persia, hence its Latin name, Prunus persica. Peaches can be grown in the UK against the protection of a south-facing wall. The genus includes the cherry, apricot, almond and plum: stone fruits also known as drupes. Along with the almond, the peach is classified in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished by its corrugated seed shell. Wild peaches are only found in China and are small and tart with a particularly fuzzy skin. Peaches sold today come from cultivated trees. Reaching approximately 25ft (7.6m) in height, they blossom in spring, bearing fruits between May and September which reach the shelves from July. They are the size of a small apple or a tennis ball, measuring from 2¾-4in (7-10cm) in diameter, and weigh approximately 4½-5½oz (130-160g). There are some flatter, disc-shaped varieties, such as doughnut or Saturn peaches, but the most common type is spherical, with a little peak or ‘beak’ at one end. The fruit develops from a single ovary that ripens into the fleshy, edible exterior and hard interior, called the stone or pit, enclosing the reddish-brown seed. Usually only one ovule in the ovary becomes fertilised and develops into a seed, often resulting in one half of the fruit being slightly larger than the other. The flesh may be white, yellow, or even red-purple. Yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang, favoured in European countries, whereas white-fleshed ones tend to be sweeter and more favoured in Asia. Varieties may be freestone, where stones separate easily from the flesh, or clingstones, which have flesh that adheres firmly to the stone. The blushed red skin of most ripe golden peaches is downy or velvety. Nectarines are peaches with smooth skins. Peaches are nutritious, providing significant amounts of vitamins A and C, plus magnesium, calcium, iron and potassium. Antioxidants found in peaches make them ideal for beauty products, with the phrase “peaches and cream,” denoting a smooth, unblemished complexion. Easily bruised, peaches chosen for cooking should be firm, but yield when gently squeezed. To peel easily, the peach is dropped into boiling water for at least 15 seconds, then plunged immediately into cold water. Peaches can be ripened at room temperature for a day or two. They should then be placed in a perforated bag in the fridge, where they will keep for a couple of days.