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Peach and Ginger Brown Sugar Shortcakes

30 Jul

You have to eat this. No, really. This might be the best dessert I’ve had all summer, and, as you may have noticed, I tend to eat a lot of desserts.

I can’t really say what the secret to this dessert is, because it seems to me that this shortcake’s power lies in the collective virtue of several influences. The brown sugar in the shortcake plays wonderfully off of the unexpected notes of the ginger in each bite. The crisp edges of each shortcake, with their buttery flavor and texture, are made more notable by the exquisitely ripe peaches, all of which are touched with just a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. Because the only thing that gets sweetened in this dessert is the shortcake pastry itself, the sweet ripeness of the peaches, along with the smooth mellowness of the cream, are really allowed to stand out. It’s ginger and brown sugar. It’s peaches and cream. It’s just so good.

It’s like a symphony, really. A decadent, summery symphony that beckons you to come closer, have a taste, then another taste…and then, perhaps, maybe, a few more tastes. So many that you just might, along with some assistance from an eager, peach-loving child, end up tasting an entire shortcake before dinner, which then means that, after dinner, when everyone else is having a bit of shortcake, you might be lucky enough to encounter even more shortcake. Not that anyone has to know about the first one. If you promise not to tell, I promise to give you some shortcake.

Last Year: Sour Cherry Pie

Peach and Ginger Brown Sugar Shortcakes Recipe

I was curious to see if peeled peaches would fare better in this dessert over peaches that still had their skins, so I peeled half of the peaches (which, if your peaches are extremely ripe, as they should be, will be a very simple and painless task—the skins should effectively just slip right off once the peaches are sliced) and left the rest of the peaches with their skins. The result? Both the peeled and non-peeled peaches tasted great, and I actually liked the look of a combination of the two. That said, if you don’t want to peel your peaches, you certainly don’t have to. The dessert will still taste wonderful.

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small squares

2/3 cup cold buttermilk

¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

6 or 7 very large, extremely ripe peaches

1 cup whipping cream

1 or 2 drops pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt, then whisk together. Add the butter and, using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the end result resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized chunks of butter here and there. Stir in the buttermilk, then the ginger, and incorporate everything as much as possible.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Gently knead the dough a couple of times to bring together any stray shaggy bits or dry patches, then pat the dough into a 9-inch by 6-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 squares. Place each square on the prepared baking sheet, gently rounding the corners of each shortcake as you space them apart.

Bake the shortcakes in the center of the oven for 12-14 minutes, until the bottoms are well browned and the edges of each shortcake have turned a dark golden brown. Remove shortcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the shortcakes are baking, pit the peaches and slice them into medium-thin slices. Toss all of the peach slices together in a bowl, then refrigerate until you are ready to assemble your shortcakes. Right before you want to serve your shortcakes, whip the cream with the drops of vanilla.

To assemble the shortcakes, slice the top 1/3 off of a shortcake. Layer a large amount of peach slices over the bottom 2/3 of the shortcake. Top the peaches with a dollop of whipped cream, then gently place the top 1/3 of the shortcake over the cream.

Makes 8 peach shortcakes.

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Lime Pecan Bars

12 Jul

Does anyone here have a single favorite cookbook? This is something I think about often. Most likely because, when asked the question myself, I tend to freeze up and stammer about categories of cookbooks, eras of cookbooks, and whether or not “favorite” can mean the same thing as “most utilized,” etc. It’s not that I have commitment issues with my cookbooks, it’s just that, when the word favorite is used, I never really know how to distill all the elements of a great cookbook into one choice. Maybe there’s an algorithm somewhere that can help me figure this one out. Something like number of recipes I’ve made more than once from a certain cookbook, divided by number of changes I’ve had to make in each recipe to make it work, plus number of food splatter stains adorning each page, multiplied by number of times I have had actual dreams about certain foods in each cookbook. Surely someone can figure this one out for me.

I’ll go ahead and submit a cookbook for mathematical consideration: Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. This cookbook contains several recipes I’ve visited more than once, nearly all of which I have tinkered with in order to really make them noteworthy, and is patterned with numerous stains and splatters. I have yet to have any actual dreams about the desserts in this book, but, worry not, there is still time.

My only complaint about this cookbook lies with element number two of the equation. Most of the recipes in this book sound absolutely delicious, but lack the sort of punch they need to really make them shine. The problem, of course, could be entirely mine, considering the fact that this cookbook was obviously not made to please my personal palette alone, but I still find myself adding and subtracting from each recipe whenever I endeavor to make something from the book. These lime pecan bars, in particular, have been a sticking point for me. The recipe printed in the book, though passable, has never been what I might consider to be a solid, go-to recipe. I’ve worked my way with it over the years, but no matter what I did, the final texture of the bars always seemed a little off—a tad too gummy for my tastes, and never as tart as I think a citrus bar should be.

However, I am proud to say that, after a few years of off-and-on experimentation, I think I have finally cracked the code of this treat. I upped the lime juice quotient by almost 30%, changed the ratio of eggs to flour, reduced the sugar percentage accordingly, pinched in some sea salt, and tinkered with the baking time. It only took me a half dozen batches or so over the course of a few years (two batches in this week alone), but I think I have done it. A creamy custard baked atop a crisp and slightly nutty base, it is a dessert both pleasingly tart and satisfyingly sweet, without falling too much in the category of either. It is very nearly perfect, and I can say with certainly that this recipe, at least, is now one I can call a favorite.

Last Year: Nectarine and Raspberry Galette in a Cornmeal Crust, and Roasted Asparagus and Lemon Chèvre Galette . What can I say? I like a nice galette.

Lime Pecan Bars Recipe

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Base:

½ cup pecans

¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

pinch of fine grain sea salt

Topping:

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon very finely grated or chopped lime zest

pinch of fine grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of an 8” by 8” square baking pan.

In the bowl of a food processor, or by hand, finely chop the pecans. Add the sugar, flour, melted butter, and sea salt, and process or blend with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Press the crust into the buttered pan, coaxing the crust about ¼ of an inch up the sides and pressing it into place. Bake the crust in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is golden brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling by whisking together the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar. Whisk in the flour, lime juice, lime zest, and salt. As soon as the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven, pour in the lime mixture, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until the center is no longer wobbly and the top of the bars are only slightly firm to the touch (a finger touched in the center of the bars should leave only a slight indentation.

Remove the bars from the oven and cool at room temperature for 1 hour.

Bars can be cut into 12 medium-sized rectangles, or 16 smaller squares.

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Blueberry Cream Pie in a Gingersnap Crust

2 Jul

Some good friends of mine had a baby recently.  Actually, a few good friends of mine have had babies recently, which is rather exciting. In addition to being able to visit and squeeze all the new babies (cheeks!  Thighs!  Chubby arm folds!), I am also able to test out some new recipes on my ravenous and more-than-a-little exhausted friends and their families.

Wait.  That came out wrong, like I am testing out recipes on unsuspecting new parents.  I don’t mean it that way.  I’ve been known to bring newly developed recipes to potlucks, brunches, and the occasional Thanksgiving dinner, so introducing new dishes to many people at a time is old hat to me.  I swear that I only do this sort of thing when I am positive that the recipe is a good one, and that I would never, ever spring a suspicious new dish on people.  Nobody wants to be served something revolting, and I certainly don’t want to serve anyone anything that might be categorized as such.

Which is why, when I wanted to come up with a new way to make a blueberry dessert, I decided that the best way to present the blueberries would be in a medium with which I am decidedly familiar: a pie.  Specifically, a pie lined with what has become my favorite crumb crust, made with spicy gingersnap cookies in lieu of graham crackers.  Topping the pie is a middle layer of cool vanilla custard, and on top of that is a full 3 cups of fresh, plump blueberries.  That doesn’t sound like an experiment that could ever go wrong, does it?  Of course not.  And it didn’t, as I heard from the pie’s recipients just a day after I dropped it off.  The last slice of pie had just been happily consumed, the new mother getting the honors of the last bite.  As it should be, I think.

Blueberry Cream Pie in a Gingersnap Crust Recipe

Gingersnap Crust

9 ounces gingersnap cookies

4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Arrange an oven rack to the middle position.

In the bowl of a food processor, process cookies until they are pulverized into small crumbs.  Alternately, if you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the cookies in a plastic bag, using a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer.  When cookies are crushed, slowly drizzle in melted butter, pulsing the food processor as you drizzle.  If not using a food processor, transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl and drizzle in the butter while stirring with a spatula.  Add pinch of salt and process or stir until crumbs start to cling together.

Pour the crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie pan.  Using a spoon or a small metal measuring cup, press the crumbs into the pan, covering the bottom, then pressing the crumbs evenly up the sides of the pan.  Bake the crust for 8 to 9 minutes, until the edges of the crust are just beginning to color.  Remove crust from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Blueberry Cream Pie

¼ cup cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 cups milk

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups fresh blueberries

In a medium saucepan set over medium low heat, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, and pinch of salt.  Slowly pour in milk while steadily whisking, making sure the cornstarch mixture does not clump up. Whisk in the egg yolks.  Reduce heat to medium low and slowly whisk the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes, until it becomes quite thick.  Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in vanilla.

Pour the custard into the baked gingersnap crust.  Pile blueberries on top of custard.  Place pie in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until custard has set and pie is thoroughly chilled.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

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