Recipe: Peaches Stuffed with Chocolate and Amaretti

This is a recipe that only works when Peaches are good and ripe, and will come apart easily. I've tried it in London at the wrong time of year with the fruit which are falsely trumpeted as 'Ripe to Eat', and in the process of halving them and removing the flesh have managed to massacre the poor things way beyond any practical possibility of their being 'stuffed' with anything. These days, I wait until Peaches have already been on the market stalls in Cavalca for several weeks before I would even consider revisiting this recipe. It's worth the wait, though!

For Four.

Ingredients: 4 large Peaches; 1 oz Butter; 6 Amaretti biscuits (or macaroons); 1 Egg Yolk; 1 tablespoon of Amaretto liqueur; 1 oz Chopped Almonds; 2 oz Granulated Sugar; 1 teaspoon of Cocoa Powder; grated rind of half a Lemon; 4 tablespoons of White Wine; 4 slivers of Butter, approximately 1/4 oz each.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Halve the Peaches and remove and discard the stones. Using a small, sharp knife scoop out as much of the flesh from the Peaches as you can, leaving the skin and a rim of flesh inside it to act as the container for the stuffing. Place the Peach shells in a buttered oven-proof dish.

3. Chop the Peach flesh finely and put into a bowl.

4. Add to the Peach flesh all of the other ingredients except the White Wine and the slivers of Butter. Mix together thoroughly, and fill the Peach shells with this mixture. Top each one with a sliver of Butter and a spoonful of Wine.

5. Bake half an hour in the pre-heated oven.

Serve, either warm or (my preference) once they've been left to go cold.