peaches and strawberry shortcake
August 7, 2013 § 52 Comments
Juicy tree ripen peaches are showing up at the markets right now! I just purchased my first bunch and every one of them were ripe, sweet, juicy and ready to eat. We have a market here in Seattle featuring the most delicious organic peaches from both Washington and California State. They put together a website with valuable peach information as well as some nice recipes too. If you love peaches as much as I do take a look here. It is very uplifting to walk through the door of this market and not only see…but smell the peaches during Peach-O-Rama!
Peaches and cream or strawberry shortcake? Here I combined both for a fresh summer treat. These rustic cakes are very moist and not too sweet. And I added honey to sweeten up the fruit just a little. For us this is a bit heavy following a sit down dinner. Occasionally we have had this as a mid day treat, instead of lunch.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 pint strawberries, cleaned and halved
- 3 plump juicy peaches, diced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
s h o r t c a k e
Heat oven to 400° F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter. Using your fingers blend until crumbly. Add the milk and stir until just combined (do not over mix)
Drop 6 large mounds of the dough 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
f r u i t
Combine strawberries, peaches and honey in a bowl and mix well breaking up slightly to create a little juice.
w h i p p e d c r e a m
In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form.
Assemble cakes as desired making sure to give each a generous amount of whipped cream.
Serves 6.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
The perfect summer dessert, looks delicious!
Thank you! I love summer desserts! Especially when fresh fruits are involved. I’m itching to make some cobblers too! We have wild blackberries a little out of control on the laurel hedge right now…thinking a few in a cobbler would be nice. :)
What a lovely thought. Peaches. Yum!
Thank you Janet. Can not get enough peaches right now. Purchased another bunch today!
Yum. What a perfect summer dessert! Fresh produce in the summertime is just such a beautiful thing!
It is what I look forward to in summer. I am not much of a hot weather person…but it is a good trade off to get such amazing fruit from the hot sun. Tis a beautiful thing :)
This is the perfect after dinner treat for us….we’re heavier and heartier eaters! Actually, this would be perfect any time of the day or after any meal. Peaches are so good right now!
daisy
Ha! Heartier eaters! Sometimes I wish I could handle more. My taste buds are always asking for more! Peaches are amazing right now. I had to go out and get some more today.
I agree; I prefer my sweet in the middle of the afternoon, usually with a cup of tea, as opposed to after dinner.
this sounds yum! Only problem for me is that peaches aren’t in season in Argentina yet! there are so many things i would do with peaches…ah! Thanks for another lovely recipe! Btw, i made the blueberry crostata you wrote about the other day! so so good!
You are right! Isn’t it interesting to read blogs from those who are experiencing an opposite season? The bookmark can only hold so many ideas without getting completely overloaded. Almost need to make “seasonal files” for all the wonderful recipes! So happy to hear the blueberry crostata was delicious! I can not take the credit for that wonderful recipe. It certainly is a good one. I think I made 4 of them by the time I was finished with it! I saw a blueberries on sale the other day and stopped for a moment and thought…crostata! Then came to my senses that I have clearly had too much of that good thing. :)
Sounds very yummy! :)
Thank you Nancy. :)
The short cake has always been one of my favorites, thank you for reminding me to add it to our table for a delicious treat!
:) I hope you do make these because the girls will love them….even without the fruit and whipped cream! Thank you sis!
Such a nice twist on the shortcake!
I love your presentation, the photo is great and the combination of ripe, sweet, juicy peaches, strawberries and honey, with whipped cream and short cakes on the side ultimate indulgence. I honestly would enjoy eating that Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for such a thoughtful and kind comment Liz.
Love the shortcake recipe. You won’t believe that I’ve just cut up strawberries and peaches and photographed them in a bowl. Synchronicity or what:)
Synchronicity for sure! Thousands of miles apart…yet on the same wavelength. I want to see your photographs! I long for your camera and writing talent…
This sounds fantastic!!!
Kenley
Thank you Kenley…. :)
What a fantastic combination! Love it, it must be delicious :)
I think I prefer the peaches over the strawberries. it is the sweetness without the tart I love. However, combined with cream…very delicious!
I can imagine it must be!! Cream and fruits go hand in hand very well :)
Lovely! :-)
Thank you Francesca. :)
My stomach’s almost rumbling! One of the few biscuit-y things I like is shortbread. It’s along the same lines as yours. Teamed with organic off the tree peaches…loving it :)
It was interesting to see these peaches displayed with a sign explaining how they were “tree ripened”! There was a day when that was the only way peaches were ripened! Shouldn’t even be a “selling point”! However, this day and age I guess we receive so many fruits and vegetables which are harvested before their time and we just buy and go about cooking and eating them. It truly has become a treat to purchase organic, ripened produce direct from the farm. However, you do spend more in doing so. I purchased 6 more of these peaches today..on sale and was surprised to pay the price! I think I need to plant my own peach tree. :)
I love that you thought to combine the two! It sounds so delicious and perfect for summer evenings outside. I need to get to the Farmer’s market a.s.a.p.!!
Awww. Summer evenings outside! I love that too. And strawberry shortcake is made for just that. Don’t you love the Farmer’s market? I hope you have some good ones in your area…
Wow! Does this ever sound good! This time of year, I try to enjoy as much fruit and berries as possible. They’re just so good! Combining two in one dessert is brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
It’s finally hot here in Seattle! We have had three days in a row at 80°F! Can you imagine that? We have such mild summers here in the Pacific Northwest. I have 5 humongous tomato plants in my garden completely full of “green” tomatoes! We need the sun to do it’s magic and turn them to red. Otherwise…do you have any green tomato recipes John? :)
We here are in the same boat. Plenty of green tomatoes and none ripening. Greg over at the Rufus’ Guide often has green tomato recipes. He has a great blog, full of tasty recipes. Here are 4 of his green tomato recipes:
1) http://rufusguide.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/another-use-for-green-tomatoes/
2) http://rufusguide.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/turn-a-frown-upside-down/
3) http://rufusguide.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/fried-green-tomatoes/
4) http://rufusguide.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/chicken-with-green-tomato-apple-and-brie/
Thank you John! I just took and peek and there are some very nice choices here. I am so hoping my tomato crop does not come to this! One of my tomato plants really surprised me this year. It is a sungold (small yellow pear shaped varietal) and it has reached an astounding 7 feet tall! I have had to cut it back (unheard of for a tomato plant) and the poor thing is bound up and staked like I have never witnessed before. It’s thriving…however green tomatoes…not yellow. yet. Wish me sun luck!
Oh, for a fresh, ripe peach! I’ll store this recipe away for summertime! :)
Don’t you love food blogs! You can see recipes that are so untimely for your own season! :) Hopefully you’ll recall something of this sort in your summertime. Thank you for your comment. :)
Haha, shortcake for lunch sounds divine!! I love peaches. It’ll be ages before we get any Australian peaches at the market (still winter here, waah!) but I’m definitely going to make this when the fruit is available. Such lovely photos. I am in a sweet peach haze right now! xx
Laura… if only we could all be in synch with our seasons. It is interesting to me to read about what is in season on the other side of the world. How could it be cold in Australia when it is so hot here! Although here where I live we haven’t had a very hot summer….right now we are in a heat streak of 80°F (26°C) for the past 3 days! I have so many green tomatoes out back that are screaming for hot sun! Ugh.
I have nothing original to add as the sentence echoing in my head was also: “the perfect summer desert” ! looks beautiful too
Thanks Azita! Love summer desserts especially. I think it’s the fresh fruit I really love. (not much of a sweet tooth person!) You? What is your favorite dessert?
we’re sitting on bunches of pizza right now, too, so am glad to have a new recipe. Thanks :-)
Great! Thanks. :)
Peaches and strawberries complement each other so well, so that this combination must make for a much better tasting shortcake dessert. Looks so refreshing.
I hadn’t even heard of the peach variation on strawberry shortcake until this summer, but it’s been blowing up on blogs all season! I love the idea, and your rendition is particularly tempting ;)
On a separate note, I bet the markets in Seattle are amazing.
Oh, those shortcakes do look lovely! Can’t wait to give them a try. Here in Canada, our peaches are grown in Ontario, in the Niagara region. We went to Niagara Falls last week and picked up some peaches at a road stand. The juiciest peaches this season! Too bad it’s a short one!!
I’m enjoying peaches more this season than I can remember. So nice to hear you found some wonderful peaches at a road side stand!
This sounds yummy! I love strawberry shortcake. Love the addition of the peach here. Delicious!
Thank you Anne. The available peaches are so amazing right now. So good with the shortcake too.
Having a friend over for dinner for her birthday tomorrow– I think this would be more yummy than birthday cake– thanks again for another really usable recipe. I love finding things I really want to make from your blog!
Gorgeous photo and how had I forgotten about shortcake (especially as I’m originally Scottish!). Great idea and too delicious with fruit.
I made this stunning & tasty recipe & loved it so much too! :) A Lovely picture too!