Baked Nectarines

There’s something frugal and maybe a little dull about a dessert called “Baked Fruit”, but it’s a real cracker. I was intrigued to try it because there must be a recipe for the dish in almost every trendy cookbook available these days. I know Jamie and Nigella certainly have them.

I had some nectarines to hand but you can experiment with whatever fruit you like (I believe rhubarb and figs work very well).

Halve and stone one large nectarine per person. Arrange (cut side up) in a baking dish. Dust each piece fruit of with a little caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar) and add a few drops of brandy over the fruit. Bake in the oven at 240°C for about 12 minutes. It’s excellent served with rich mascarpone, sweetened with some vanilla sugar.

Strange Fruit

Read an interesting article in the Indo today about a fruit called ‘synsepalum dulcificum’. The red berry, native to West Africa, allegedly contains a compound that alters tastes in your mouth by blocking out the ability to register ‘sour’ tastes. Examples given are:

Once the pulp is swilled around the mouth and the large stone spat out, lemons suddenly taste like sugary lemonade, vinegar takes on a peculiar treacly tang and Irish stout tastes frighteningly similar to chocolate milkshake.

You can read the full article here. (registration required)