Grilled peaches with mascarpone

Grilled peaches with mascarpone are a fantastically quick and easy summertime dessert. Only a few ingredients and minimal effort, they're equally good as a last minute treat as for entertaining. Packed with delicious peachy flavor.

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Peaches are a true taste of summer and one I love to make the most of when in season. When you get that perfectly ripe one, there's nothing quite like standing over the sink or a plate while you enjoy it with juices dripping from you.

Unfortunately, we're not in a prime peach area so they can be a little less consistent. Plus let's be honest, handing out ripe peaches doesn't really work for entertaining. Grilled peaches, on the other hand, are a great option. You can plate them up, the flavor is more consistently delicious and they have that bit of wow factor.

Why grill peaches?

Cooking peaches is a great way to bring out the best in them. Cooking softens the flesh and helps the juices release. The sugars are drawn out, making them taste sweeter and more mellow. While I love caramelized peaches cooked on the stove, grilling is another great option as it adds that extra layer of flavor (and without needing to add extra sugar).

For grilling, you can cook the peaches as slices, such as for my grilled peach salad, but as a dessert, I find they are best grilled as halves. This way you can cook them a little longer to get nicely soft, if that suits your taste, as the skin helps them hold their form. They're easier to handle on the grill and look great when plated up.

Peaches and cream are a classic for a reason, as the different textures go so well. For grilled peaches, you could pair them with cream or ice cream, but I particularly like them with gently sweetened mascarpone cheese. It gives you that perfect rich creaminess without being too cold and running all over the place. And just all round tastes delicious.

Tips for perfect grilled peaches

Since there's so little to these, there's only a couple tips I'd suggest.

• Choose peaches that are largely firm and only just starting to soften. The peaches soften as you cook, so if they are already ripe and soft, they can disintegrate.
• Split the peaches in half around the seam, twist open and remove the stone. If you use what are called freestone peaches, the stone releases easily.
• Brush lightly with oil - this helps to avoid the peach sticking to the grill and helps it build a little color. You can skip, if you like, but it does help.
• Cook over medium heat - medium-high at most. Too hot and they can get charred on the outside without softening through. You can use either an outdoor grill/BBQ or a grill pan on the stove top. The pan won't give quite the same smokey flavor but will give you those nice grill marks and a little of the grill flavor.
• Don't be tempted to move them around or they won't get those nice grill marks and are more likely to fall apart. Just carefully turn them over once. Start with the cut side to get those nice grill marks, then cook a few minutes more on the skin side down to soften through that bit more.

Mix the maple syrup into the mascarpone then top the warm peaches with a little dollop. Then be ready to enjoy soft, sweet peach deliciousness!

Serving variations

While I really love the maple-sweetened mascarpone here, if you'd like a lower fat alternative, you could instead use a thick Greek-style yogurt, and similarly sweeten with maple syrup. You can use honey in place of maple syrup, if you prefer. As mentioned above, ice cream or whipped cream also go well, just be prepared that they melt much more quickly form the peaches' warmth.

While the grilling does help bring out the sweetness, if you want to sweeten the peaches a little more, you can drizzle a little honey or maple syrup on them after you turn then, or add a sprinkle of brown sugar.

If you want other ideas to make the most of summer peaches, why not also try my peach panna cotta, peach Dutch baby pancake or this peach cobbler. Or for a savory option, try my peach chutney. I definitely think it's worth making the most of them, in as many ways as you can!

These simple grilled peaches with mascarpone are easy, elegant and so delicious. It's such a great summery dessert, packed with bright fruit flavor that feels that bit indulgent, too. Definitely worth the few minutes to make them.

Try these other easy desserts:

• Lemon mousse (so bright and creamy, and incredibly simple)
• Eton mess (an easy British dessert with fruit, cream and meringue)
• Mango pudding (another fruity dessert, in this case as a set pudding)
• Lime mascarpone cheesecake shooters
• Plus get more desserts and summer recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

This post was first shared in may 2017 and has been updated, primarily with additional tips and updated photos.

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