First time for everything

It's no secret to those who know me best- cooking's my favorite. There is no other way I would rather spend my time. It's creative, therapeutic, and when you're done, you get to eat delicious things.


The only thing that makes cooking better for me, is cooking with the people I love most. I think my love of all things culinary really stems from watching my mom in the kitchen. I would sit at the island on a tall stool and we'd talk while she went, chopping, browning, sauteing and refining flavors. I didn't realize it at the time, but those experiences shaped my core beliefs about food. Food was at the very center of what made us such a close family. It was a reason to gather every Sunday, and it served as a background for learning to truly enjoy each other's company.


So, last night my sister Em came over and for no reason at all, (or because I needed fodder for my first blog post.. you decide) we made an easy and delicious summer meal together. The whole menu started with Em's suggestion of a strawberry shortcake with those delicious homemade sweet biscuits. You know, the kind you get in fancy restaurants when you order strawberry shortcake expecting those round, concave disks of sponge cake. Not that I've ever done that.


Anyway, when we got to the market, our local peaches had just arrived and we needed a reason to buy them. Thus, peach shortcake was born. Acidic and sweet, crumbly biscuits with smooth whipped cream and slightly firm peaches. It was a great combination of flavors and textures. Here's the recipe, please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Summer Peach Shortcake
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (we used Kosher and it was just fine)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

4 oz Mascarpone (optional, but definitely delicious)

1 pound of yellow peaches, peeled and sliced

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, zest and salt. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3/4 cup cream with a fork to make a rough dough. Drop onto a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet to make four biscuits. Brush lightly with cream and bake until deep golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Whisk remaining cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, juice of half an orange, and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Stir in 4oz. of Mascarpone for extra decadent filling. Add more powdered sugar and/or orange juice to taste.

Halve biscuits, spoon on whipped cream mixture and peaches and sandwich with tops. Enjoy!