Spicy peaches in parchment - the summer dessert that doesn't hog the oven

A parchment paper, some spices, a hint of vanilla: summer peaches cook gently in their own juice and perfume the entire house.

It's the end of July, yellow peaches are overflowing on the stalls, they smell like warm apricot and honey. When they are this ripe, the question is no longer "what do we do with them?" but "how not to rush them?". My answer this summer: the papillote. Gentle cooking, oven for a small quarter of an hour, the steam of the fruits remains locked with the spices, and we recover at the end a syrupy juice of an amber color. No butter, no pastry, no additional sugar - just what the fruit already knows how to do.

What you need

For four papillotes (people):

• 4 yellow or white peaches, very ripe but still firm
• 1 vanilla pod, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla powder
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 1 pinch of ground cardamom (or 2 green cardamom pods crushed)
• The zest of half a untreated lemon
• 1 tablespoon of liquid honey (optional if the peaches are very sweet)
• A few fresh basil leaves (yes, with the peach: try it)
• 4 large squares of parchment paper (about 25 × 25 cm)

The gesture

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (rotating heat if you have it).

2. Prepare the peaches. Rinse, dry, cut in half, remove the pit. No need to peel - the skin becomes tender when cooked and retains the flavors.

3. Assemble the papillotes. Place a whole peach (both halves flesh side up) in the center of each square of paper. Distribute: a pinch of vanilla, a hint of cinnamon, a bit of cardamom, a bit of lemon zest. Add a drizzle of honey if the fruits are not very sweet. Slide one or two basil leaves next to it (they will flavor the steam).

4. Close. Bring the four corners of the paper up to the center, twist to form a well-sealed pouch. The steam must be trapped: it is what cooks the fruit without drying it out.

5. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes depending on the ripeness of the peaches. They should be melting under a fork but keep their shape.

6. Serve. Open the papillote at the table - it's one of the pleasures of this dessert: the cloud of fragrant steam that rises when you cut the paper. A little of well-chilled Greek yogurt on top, a spoon of lemon sorbet, or simply alone with its juice.

Why the papillote

Three prosaic reasons:

• The oven does not heat the kitchen. A quarter of an hour at 180 °C, it's almost nothing in the summer.
• The fruit does not lose water. Everything it releases (flavors, natural sugar, juice) stays in the package and becomes syrup.
• No greasy dishes. The paper is thrown away, the baking dish does not need to be greased.

Variations

• Other summer fruits: apricots, red plums, fresh figs - same gesture, adjusted time (shorter for figs, a little longer for plums).
• "Party" version: add before closing a splash of sweet white wine (Muscat, Sauternes) or almond syrup.
• Sweet-savory version: replace the basil with mint and serve with a fresh goat cheese.

A word on the choice of peaches

A peach that smells good from a distance on the stall is a peach that will be good. A peach that smells nothing will remain flat when cooked. The nose before the eyes, always. Look for the local fruit, in season, picked a few days before - the one that could not be transported a thousand kilometers. This dessert, humble by its simplicity, highlights exactly what is best in the fruit; it is not made to rescue insipid peaches.

Happy summer at the table.