I have had such a busy summer that I have barely had time to do the things I love best: shop at the farmers market, pick my own fruits and vegetables at a pick-your-own farm, and cook for friends and family.
This weekend, however, we found ourselves with a blissfully unscheduled Sunday. On the spur of the moment, I invited some friends to join us for dinner. Friends who live close by but we haven’t seen in far too long; friends with a toddler who is utterly scrumptious; friends who are expecting their second child in a few months.
Although I had been busy on Saturday morning teaching a canning demonstration class at Morton Arboretum, I had deputized my husband to go to the farmers market and he had come home with all our late summer favorites: tomatoes, corn, zucchini, blueberries and peaches. So I had a lot of fresh, local ingredients around which to build a perfect menu for a late August dinner with friends.
Although I certainly had plenty of work to do, I spent most of the day cooking just for the fun of it and I enjoyed every minute. I started the day preparing a batch of gazpacho to ensure that it would be cool enough by the time dinner rolled around. With only 6 ears of corn for 7 people — Whoops! Make that five. One of them was yucky — I opted not to serve corn-on-the-cob but make a delicious side dish of grilled corn cut off the cob and served with a poblano pepper crema. The main course with be grilled chicken and vegetable kebobs.
Notice a theme? In the summer, we love to grill as much as we possibly can. “I can grill the peaches too,” my husband offered. Wasn’t that helpful? But let’s be honest. That man just loves grilled fruit. His motivation was purely selfish. I had been envisioning a peach cobbler or similar for dessert, but the offer of grilled peaches was too tempting to resist. “What about grilled peach shortcake,” I suggested. Sold.
If strawberry shortcake knew about grilled peach shortcake, it would retire. Luscious peaches with just a hint of char are the perfect foil for a not-too-sweet shortcake biscuit and some whipped cream. Plus, it looks mighty pretty on a plate. I selected some fresh rosemary sprigs from my garden to accompany the shortcakes, but basil or even lavender would also be a nice pairing.
Best of all, this dessert comes together in stages, and all the elements can be done in advance. With any luck, one of you can make the shortcakes while the other takes care of grilling the peaches. It’s a team effort, people! Just make sure to wait until right before you want to serve them to assemble the shortcakes.
So hold on to summer for just a little longer and make shortcakes with grilled peaches. Shortcake – it’s not just for strawberries any more!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 TB baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 TB unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
- 1 cup heavy cream (plus more for brushing tops)
- Demerera or Turbinado Sugar
- 10 peaches
- 3 TB melted butter
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 TB vanilla extract
- 2 TB sugar
- 6 sprigs rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat baking mat.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Add the butter and pulse just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Transfer the dough to a medium mixing bowl and add the cream.
- Stir just until the dough begins to come together. Gather into a ball and pat until smooth.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and roll until 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Cut out as many circles as you can using a biscuit cutter or round glass. Gather up the scraps and reroll to get additional circles. You should have 6 to 8.
- Place circles on baking sheets. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with Demerera or Turbinado sugar.
- Bake 15 minutes until tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Set aside.
- Cut peaches in half and remove stones. Brush cut sides with melted butter.
- Heat grill to high. Grill peaches until golden brown and just cooked through, turning once. Set aside.
- Place cream in bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat at high speed. Gradually add vanilla extract and sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
- Refrigerate whipped cream, covered, until needed.
- To assemble shortcake, cut biscuits in half with a serrated knife.
- Place two to three peach halves on bottom of biscuit. Add several spoonfuls of whipped cream and top with other half of biscuit.
- Garnish with fresh rosemary.
