I know. It’s now the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness so I should be picking brambles. Instead I’m clinging to the scrag ends of summer and playing with peaches. But who can resist when these little babies are still in the shops?
As far as I’m concerned, doughnut peaches - or squished peaches as they are known in my house - are completely irresistible. It’s not just their aesthetic appeal - although the velvety skin is blushingly beautiful - it’s the taste that’s amazing. The flavour of the white flesh is intensely sweet and honeyed, and less acidic than that of yellow-fleshed varieties. Also, the skin is finer and less fuzzy, which makes them more palatable (although more fragile), and the seed sits away from the flesh so that you can pull it out with ease. All around, doughnut peaches (or saturn, UFO or bagel peaches as they’re variously known) make pretty special eating.
They’ve always been considered an especially peachy peach. They first emerged in China - the birth place of the peach - centuries ago. And even in a culture where all peaches were highly prized and orchardists worked long and hard to develop new varieties, pan tao (“flat peach” in Chinese) were particularly special. In Chinese Taoist mythology, it was the peach that grew in the garden of Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West). And they were so revered that they could only be grown in the precincts of the emperor. Chinese poetry refers to them as Moonlight Kiss and Morning Dew.
Pan tao probably made their way to Japan and then Persia with other peaches, where they were discovered by Alexander the Great who took them to Greece. Most of the doughnut peaches available in the UK seem to hail from Spain (although they’re grown in Italy and France). I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find a UK producer, although doughnut peach trees are widely available to buy from UK nurseries. Perhaps their sensitivity to frost makes them commercially unviable - I’d be really interested to know.
Anyway, they are one of the joys of holidays, eaten by the pool or for lunch with young cheese and salty ham. Once, I was lucky enough to drink a Bellini made from these sublime peaches at a posh hotel in Ravello while the sun went down over the Bay of Naples. (Although some people like to batter and deep fry them!)
While I reckon they are best enjoyed raw, our supply (which came from Waitrose via Spain) were threatening to turn, so I made up a recipe for Doughnut Peach Muffins (I did want to make doughnut peach doughnuts but I’m not in deep-frying mode at the moment). Watch the tops when you bake them as the flaked almonds and coconut can catch a little - or just sprinkle the tops with sugar instead if you don’t want to risk a little “over-caramelization”. Of course you can make them with other peaches - they’re not quite as flavourful - but still divine.
Doughnut Peach Muffins
- 200g diced doughnut peaches, skin on (medium dice)
- 200g self-raising flour, sifted
- 150g caster sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 120ml Greek yoghurt
- 60ml milk
- 1 egg
- 60ml vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60g flaked almonds
- 70g mixture of soft light brown and dark muscovado sugar
- 30g flaked coconut (not toasted)
1. Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Line a muffin tin with 10 muffin cases.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine the almonds, soft light brown sugar and muscovado sugar, and coconut. Set aside.
3. In a jug, combine the yoghurt, milk, egg, oil and vanilla and stir with a fork to combine. Pour the mixture into the well you made in the dry ingredients and gently stir with a whisk, bringing the dry and wet ingredients together. Stop stirring as soon as the flour is incorporated - don’t worry about lumps - or the muffins will be tough. Gently fold in the peaches.
4. Spoon a tablespoon of the batter into each muffin case and then sprinkle over some of the sugar, almond and coconut mixture. Spoon some more batter on top and then a final sprinkling of the sugar mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes until firm. Leave the muffins to sit in the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Makes about 10.
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