So for a change here’s a pudding – and another eminently adaptable one. It’s based on a Diana Henry recipe from last week’s Waitrose Weekend paper: Peaches baked with Marsala & Rosemary.

Here’s the original recipe (click the image for a readable view):

Of course, as you’d expect, I immediately had to adapt it:

I used:
5 nectarines
2 good handfuls of homegrown blackberries
about 250ml liquor: roughly 50/50 Muscatel and Amaretto
½tsp almond essence
3tbsp sugar
4 sprigs rosemary

And I did:
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Nectarines halved and put in small oven-proof glass dish.
Add the liquor and almond essence.
Then blackberries, making sure to fiddle as many as possible in the gaps.
Sprinkle with sugar and tuck in the rosemary.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes; baste once about half-time and remove the foil.
Nectarines decanted and allowed to cool.
Juices reduced by about 30% and added to the nectarines.

Here’s the result, straight from the oven:

We ate about half (still slightly warm) with cantuccini – dipped in the liquor. This was extremely excellent. The blackberries worked exceptionally well (I wasn’t sure they would) especially with the liquor. I’d been tempted to use 100% Amaretto, but I think this would have been over-kill. And it doesn’t need cream (or any such) as an accompaniment.

What would I do differently?
– Well I want to try it without the blackberries.
– think I’d not bother with the rosemary.
– I’d not bother covering with foil.
– I’d bake for 30 minutes rather than 40 (it was slightly over-done).
– I’d use half the amount of liquor and reduce it a bit more.

But definitely another success!