Ingredients (serves 8)

• 1 Luxury Read-Made Christmas Pudding
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ripe but firm peaches, sliced in half + pits removed
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

Method

1. Heavily press the cut side of the peaches into the combined salt and sugar and bring the olive oil and the butter to heat in a heavy based pan. Place the peaches flesh side down into the butter and leave them for about 8 minutes to really caramelise and turn a dark golden colour. Sprinkle in a little more of the sugar and turn the peaches over cooking them for another 5 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
2. Pour the sugar and water into the same pan and bring to a rapid simmer over medium heat swirling the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Without stirring, lower the heat and let the mix simmer until the colour changes to a golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Turn off heat and slowly stir in the cream until it combines, add in a pinch of salt and set aside until needed.
3. Heat the pudding as recommended on the pack, slice and serve with a peach half and some of the warmed caramel sauce.

Notes

-It is important not to stir the sugar and water when it starts to boil or it will form crystals and may not dissolve properly, leaving it grainy. -If your peaches are super ripe, cook them a little less so that they don’t end up too mushy. -For faster ripening, place peaches in a brown paper bag on kitchen counter. -Choose peaches that have a strong perfume as this means they’ll have a well-developed flavour. Select firm and plump fruit, and store at room temperature for best flavour results. -Once your peaches have reached your desired ripeness, then and only then should you place them in the refrigerator. -To prepare peaches, wash before eating or cooking and remove the stone by cutting around the seam of the fruit, twist both halves in opposite directions to separate the fruit and use a knife to gently cut around the stone and remove. -Peaches, like apples and pears, tend to brown after being sliced, to avoid this toss or cover slices with a little lemon juice.