Peachy Keen

Ahhhh, vacation! Or rather, “staycation”. We had fun this week, visiting local haunts and spending time with family, relaxing a little bit, and enjoying ourselves a lot.

One thing we did, which my sister declared she could do for hours, was pick peaches at Larriland Farms in Woodbine, MD. I don’t know if I could do it for hours (I have a hard enough time figuring out what to do with the peaches we picked in one HALF hour, let alone many hours!), but it was fun for sure! And once we got home, the real fun began: I had to figure out what to do with a 1/2 bushel of fresh peaches. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we worked through the half bushel without hardly any effort.

Here’s my Certain Little Someone thoroughly enjoying his first peach-picking experience. He LOVES peaches, and he had a lot of fun picking them (although he was very sure he would much rather eat them! We had to keep his little hands off the box of freshly picked peaches.).

In case you are inspired to stop by your local farm and pick some peaches (they’re in season now, so it’s the time to go!), here’s what we did with our peaches to give you a few ideas:

1. We ate them fresh. (Duh!) There’s just nothing like a fresh-from-the-tree summer peach. It’s like a dessert but with absolutely no guilt. Mmmm…

2. We gave some away. All our near-by family members were blessed with our bounty (and aren’t you all appropriately grateful? ;).

3. Peach Crumble Pie When I was eating allergen-free foods because I was nursing my son, I made this recipe a lot because I could make the topping with corn flakes. It was a quick and easy recipe that non-allergic people could actually enjoy (meaning it was normal and not weird like many gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, etc.-free recipes), so I would especially make it when we had company or had to bring a dish to special events. It’s really easy. Just peel and slice peaches and lay them in the bottom of a pie pan or round cake pan until the bottom is covered. You should have about 2 layers of peach slices. Then make a mixture of 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Cut in 1/2 cup butter. (Alternatively, use 1 cup crushed cornflakes instead of flour, and melt butter before adding.) Spread mixture evenly over peaches and bake at 350 for 30 min.

4. Peaches with Whipped Cream Take plain fresh peaches to the next level by topping them with a dollop of real whipped cream, lightly sweetened with a drizzle of honey. Heavenly!

5. Peach Oven Pancake This is such an easy breakfast; the only thing is you have to plan ahead for the baking time.

6. Freeze. I haven’t actually done this yet, but it’s on the docket for this evening. I’m going to peel and slice the peaches and then lay them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and freeze them. When they’re frozen, I’ll bag them up in freezer bags, ready to be used whenever I want some fresh peach!

I also made some Peach Shortcakes to bring to a bridal shower. I was inspired by the recipe at Baking Bites, a fun blog with lots of great recipes. There was nothing wrong with the recipe, but of course, I made some changes, because how boring is it to make a recipe exactly as written?! The main change is that I did not grill the peaches only because I have no grill (one of the many drawbacks to living in an apartment). Also, I altered a couple ingredients to make it just a tad bit healthier, because that’s what I do.

Here’s my version:

Ginger Peach Shortcakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup regular all-purpose unbleached white flour
1/2 cup “healthy” sugar (so there’s no such thing as healthy sugar, but at least a healthiER kind)
1 TBSP bkg powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, chilled and cut in pieces
1 6oz container yogurt (I used homemade.)
Some milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup candied ginger, diced
6 medium peaches
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2″ piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 TBSP honey
nutmeg, grated

Mix the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt until well blended. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender:

Place the yogurt in a liquid measuring cup and add enough milk to measure a scant 1 cup. Mix together thoroughly, and add to the dry mix. Add the vanilla, and stir gently until well blended. If necessary, add some more milk, just a little at a time. Be careful not to overmix, because then the shortcakes will be tough. The dough should be pliable and just a tiny bit sticky.

Carefully mix in the diced candied ginger. (This picture is - obviously - before I finished dicing.)

Using an ice cream scoop so as to create even, well-shaped shortcakes, drop the dough onto a lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 for approximately 15 minutes.

Peel and slice the fresh ginger.

Peel and slice the peaches, and mix them with the melted butter, sliced ginger and cinnamon. Place them in a square baking pan and warm them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes just to soften them a bit and blend the flavors.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then drizzle in the honey. Continue whipping until you have stiff peaks.

Now it’s time to assemble the shortcakes (or alternatively, to allow your guests to assemble their own).

Slice the shortcakes in half and place the bottoms on your serving plate. Top each shortcake bottom with several peaches:

Place a generous dollop of whipped cream on each short cake.

Grate some nutmeg, just to add a nice touch and a hint of flavor and finish up with the tops of the shortcakes.

Despite the lengthy ingredient list and instructions, it really is a QUICK recipe. The shortcake batter mixes up quickly and only takes 15 minutes to bake. To save time and cut steps, you could use pre-diced candied ginger and frozen peach slices without sacrificing any healthiness.

It’s also pretty EASY. This is a slightly fancified version of your basic shortcake, that’s it. (And shortcake is easy, if you’ve never made it before. Shortcake is basically fancified biscuit.)

It’s CHEAP. At least mine was, because I happened to get the candied ginger when my grocery store was featuring a triple-coupon sale. I had a coupon for any Asian Gourmet item, and the candied ginger ended up being free. You can also get candied ginger fairly inexpensively at Trader Joe’s if one is near you. Fresh ginger is dirt cheap (mere cents for a 2″ piece), and in-season peaches are very cheap as well. The shortcake/biscuit batter is made with very basic ingredients that don’t cost much.

It’s also HEALTHY, as desserts go. Now if you eat it for breakfast (I won’t tell anyone, promise!), I wouldn’t necessarily call it healthy because of the sugar, but as a dessert, it’s great. I love to make desserts with fresh fruit because I feel like it’s at least a little bit healthy. Whole wheat flour adds some fiber and other nutrients; and using real butter and whipping cream eliminates unnecessary and unhealthy trans fats and other undesirables. Peaches are also a good source of fiber as well as vitamin A, and ginger has been used for centuries to heal everything from motion sickness to heartburn.