Grilled Peaches w/ Honey & Sweetened Mascarpone

Raise your hand if you willingly admit to having a sweet tooth. One you get great joy out of satisfying. Raise your hand if you love making and serving easy, effortless recipes having a significant 'wow' factor. You know, the ones everyone believes you expended a great deal of energy making. And, last but not least, raise your hand if you love most things peach, but especially sweet summer peaches. If it were possible for me to see all of you virtually I have a very strong suspicion I would see everyone's hands raised at least once! What is not to love about having more than a handful of delicious, impressive, made in less than twenty minutes, equally perfect for casual outdoor gatherings or intimate dinner party 'homemade' dessert recipes in our back pockets? It's your lucky day because the recipe for these Grilled Peaches w/ Honey & Sweetened Mascarpone just happens to be one of those recipes. 

The key to this simple, super delicious, on the healthier side dessert is to choose ripe but not too soft yellow peaches. They shouldn't be rock hard and they shouldn't be squishy. They should give just a little when you press on them. When grilled, the sweetness of peaches deepens and intensifies. The flavor of slightly caramelized grilled peaches paired with a dollop of cinnamon infused mascarpone cheese, warm honey, and fresh thyme is heavenly.

The peach halves can be grilled on either an outdoor grill or on a grill pan (like this one). It's important that the grill or grill pan be hot. To test your heat level, place your hand about an inch over the grates or grill. If you can feel the heat, you are ready to grill. Before placing the peach halves on the hot grill brush it lightly with canola or vegetable oil. Beginning with placing the cut side down, the butter brushed peach halves are grilled for approximately three minutes per side.

Transfer the grilled peaches to a serving platter, drizzle with some warm melted honey serve with the slightly sweetened whipped mascarpone and fresh thyme sprigs. Note: Make the whipped mascarpone right before you begin grilling the peaches.

If there was ever an herb that paired well with peaches it would fresh thyme leaves. As fresh thyme leaves adds a subtle earthy, herbal flavor to this dessert. Sprinkle thyme leaves over the grilled peaches or serve sprigs on the side, letting everyone add as many or as few as they would like. But definitely encourage everyone to try at least one bite with them!

This may be one of the loveliest summer desserts I have ever made. Warm grilled peaches paired with cool creamy luscious mascarpone, melted honey, and fresh thyme have all of the feels of a sophisticated dessert. And yet, very little time and effort goes into making it. With peaches now in season, raise your hand if you think this is the perfect time to make this exquisite dessert for your family and friends. 

Recipe

Grilled Peaches w/ Honey & Sweetened Mascarpone

Serves 4-8

Ingredients

8 ounces (226g) mascarpone

3-4 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons confectionary sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting

Vegetable oil, for preparing grill

4 ripe, but not too soft, yellow peaches, cut in half, pits removed 

2-3 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons of honey, melted

Sprigs of thyme

Pieces of honeycomb, optional

Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, add in the mascarpone, 3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream, confectionary sugar and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed just until the mixture is thick and creamy. Do not over beat. If the mixture is too thick, add in the additional Tablespoon of whipping cream. Set aside.

2. Halve the peaches, cutting down the seam of the peach. Twist the halves in opposite directions. Remove the peach pit.

3. Brush the top and bottom of the peach halves with melted butter. On a heated grill or grill pan lightly brushed with canola or vegetable oil, place the peach, cut side down. Cook the peaches until grill marks have formed and they have slightly softened, about three minutes per side.

4. Place the grilled peaches on a large platter. Drizzle with the melted honey. 

5. Top the grilled peaches with a scoop of the sweetened mascarpone. Lightly dust with cinnamon. Serve with fresh thyme sprigs.

6. Serve immediately.

Notes: (1) You can find another recipe for Grilled Peaches on the blog here. (2) You could easily make this a dessert for 1, 2 or 3. Just reduce the number of peaches, reduce the melted accordingly, and halve the recipe for sweetened mascarpone or not. The leftovers will store well if covered and placed in the refrigerator. (3) I like BelGioisio's mascarpone but Trader Joe's also has a pretty good one.