Ingredients
8 ripe peaches, cut in 1/2 and pitted
1/4 cup vanilla sugar, recipe follows
1/4 cup good dark rum (recommended: Mount Gay)
1/4 cup good almond liqueur (recommended: Amaretto Di Savonna)
8 amaretti cookies, crumbled
Creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream to serve, optional
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat a grill with a single layer of charcoal.
- When the coals are hot, brush the grill with a little oil to make sure the peaches don’t stick.
- Place the peaches, cut side down, on the grill and cook for a few minutes, until they’re slightly charred.
- Place the peaches in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle each half with a little vanilla sugar.
- Combine the rum and amaretto and drizzle 1/2 of it on the peaches.
- Bake the peaches for about 10 minutes, until they’re very tender.
- Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold with crumbled amaretti cookies on top or with the cookies on the side, and with a dollop of creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.
Vanilla Sugar:
Find a jar tall enough to hold 2 vanilla beans. Fill the bottle with sugar and cover tightly. Store on a pantry shelf. After about 3 months you will have a wonderful ingredient for cooking and baking. Keep adding vanilla beans and sugar to the jar and you will have it for years.