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Baked Peaches with Almond Frangipane

(recipe, Marc Vetri & David Joachim)

Introduction

Peaches and almonds are one of those slam-dunk flavor combinations. When peaches are in season, I love nothing more than roasting them with some frangipane, or sweetened almond paste, in the hollows of the pitted peaches. The frangipane oozes over the sides and browns up crisp on the edges, yet stays creamy soft in the center.

Ingredients

  1. 8 oz. almond paste, broken into small pieces
  2. ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  3. 3 Tbsp. sugar
  4. 2 eggs
  5. ½ cup white pastry flour
  6. 4 large, ripe peaches

Steps

  1. Make the frangipane: Put the almond paste, butter, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed, using the paddle attachment, until well incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until each egg is incorporated before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the pastry flour until it becomes incorporated and the frangipane becomes a thick, wet paste. (Yield: about 1 cup.)
  2. Prep the peaches: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the peaches in half and flick out the pits. (If the pits don't come out easily, ease them out with a spoon.) Put the pitted peaches, cut side up, in a shallow baking dish that holds them snugly. Bake just until heated through, about 10 minutes.
  3. Finish the dessert: Spoon 2 tablespoons of frangipane into the hollow of each peach half and bake until the frangipane develops a golden crust, 10 to 15 minutes. As it bakes, the frangipane will spread over the cut surface of each peach. Serve warm.

Note

You can make the frangipane up to 2 days ahead and keep it refrigerated in an airtight container.