Stone Fruit Heaven

Winding down all the windows offered no respite as I slipped into my seat in the stinking hot car on Friday afternoon - the heavy midday downpour providing little relief from Auckland’s relentless humidity. As my teeth pierced its fuzzy skin squishing down through the soft flesh, the juice made its escape.  Running slowly down my chin, totally absorbed by its sweet juiciness, I was suddenly startled by a man and his kids walking between the cars.  Grinning from ear to ear, I might have looked slightly deranged but I was in stone fruit heaven.  Waiting until I got home was out of the question!

Golden queen peaches are the stone fruit I long for all summer.  That’s after madly devouring fresh cherries and apricots earlier in the season.  And while not everyone is a fan of their velvety skins, there is something quite exquisite about the dense orange flesh of a perfectly ripe golden queen peach.

With the golden queen season short and sweet, eat them now or half, stone, vacuum pack and freeze them for winter.  Perfect in fruit crumble with freshly ground cardamom and threaded coconut in the crumble mix.  They make a heavenly filling for tarte tartin, served with mascarpone.

I’ll simply be eating them as they are, while I can still get my hands on them.

Michelle

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