Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Baked Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Pare the peaches and remove the stones.
Bake and serve
Place the peaches in loose layers in a shallow earthen pudding dish.
Sprinkle each layer lightly with sugar and add water.
Cover the dish and bake for 30-40 minutes until tender.
Let cool before serving with sweet cream.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit that softens into tender, juicy flesh as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the peaches develop a syrupy juice as they cook.
- Water
- Creates steam and liquid in the covered dish so the peaches cook gently without drying.
The step that matters
Cover the dish and bake until tender. Covering traps steam so the peaches cook through evenly and stay moist. Uncovered, the surface can dry and the fruit may turn tough before the centre softens.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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