Six big peaches not very ripe
Four or five lady-finger biscuits
Two ounces sweet almonds
Candied fruit (angelica), half an ounce

"Cut the peaces n two parts, remove the stones and enlarge somewhat the cavity where they were with the point of a knife. Mix the peach pulp that you extract with the almonds, already skinned and grind the pulp and almonds very fine together with two ounces of the sugar. To this mixture add the ladyfingers crumbled and the candied fruits. Cut in very small cubes. This will be the stuffing with which you will fill the cavities of the twelve halves of peach. These you will place in a row in a baking tin, with the stuffing above. Add the remaining ounce of sugar and bake in oven with a moderate fire."

This recipe was taken from "The Italian Cook Book: the Art of Eating Well, Practical Recipes of the Italian Cuisine" by Mrs. Maria Gentile. It was published in the U.S. in 1919. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org........P.S. The recipe ingredients as originally presented in Mrs. Gentile's cookbook were rather misleading. Their layout seemed to have suggested that the recipe called for the use of peach kernels, when in fact, it did not. Peach kernels are poisonous and should not be consumed in any shape or form.... In any case, I tried this recipe and had some problems with it. As the peaches were supposed to be baked in a pan without butter or water, the bottom of the fruit quickly burnt. The cooked stuffing had a pleasant enough taste, but peaches in their natural state, without any embellishment, are, in my opinion, much more inviting. Photo and notes: Mary Melfi.

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