The 20-Minute Table
71

Cinnamon Peaches with Yoghurt & Pistachio

Air Fryer Turkish Serves 44 prep · 8 cook Vegetarian 12min

Halved peaches go into the basket cut side up, come out collapsing at the edges but still holding in the middle, and land on cold yoghurt.

Why it works

Peaches carry enough of their own sugar that the cut face caramelises on dry heat alone, so the honey here is seasoning rather than sweetening. Cooking them cut side up keeps the juice pooled in the stone hollow instead of running off into the basket, and that syrup is what you spoon over at the end.

Method

  1. Heat the air fryer to 190°C (375°F). Stir the honey, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice and salt together in a small bowl.
  2. Brush the cut faces of the peaches with the honey mixture — a thin film, not a puddle — and sit them cut side up in the basket in a single layer.
  3. Air fry for 8 minutes. They are ready when the cut faces are burnished, the skins have wrinkled back from the edges, and a knife tip slides in with no resistance.
  4. While they cook, chop the pistachios on a board and grate the lemon zest straight over them, so the oils catch in the nuts.
  5. Spoon the cold yoghurt into four shallow bowls, sit three peach halves on each, and pour over every drop of syrup left in the basket. Scatter with the zested pistachios.

For the toddler

Brush two halves with cinnamon alone at step 2 and leave the honey off, since honey is not for a baby under one year old and a ripe peach is sweet enough without it. Let theirs stand a few minutes out of the basket, as the middle stays hot longest. Slip off the skins and chop the fruit small. Chopped pistachios are a choking risk under five, so grind them to a powder or leave them off.

How the toddler notes work

Chef’s notes

Swap

Apricots, plums or firm figs take the same treatment; drop apricots to 6 minutes, as they give way sooner.

Make it faster

Skip the honey brush and dust the cut faces with cinnamon alone. You lose the glaze but save the bowl.

On the side

Strong black coffee, or something chilled and sweet poured very short.

Leftovers

Keeps 3 days chilled and is better cold than reheated. Fold the peaches through porridge at breakfast.