Rosé-Soaked Peaches + Shortcake | a.k.a. Drunk Shortcake
Fruit desserts are decidedly my favorite type of sweets and shortcake probably ranks in my top 5. Juicy fruit, light as air whipped cream, and crumbly, buttery biscuits is a can't-lose combination. So how to improve such a perfect dessert? Make it drunk, duh. I was inspired by a recipe for peaches soaked in white wine in Yossy Arefi's stunning cookbook, Sweeter Off The Vine and had a hunch rosé would work well, too. I was right. Rosé often has sweet and aromatic fruity notes so it's a wonderful compliment to the peaches. They are delicious on their own and even better with whipped cream and shortcake. Enjoy!
Rosé-Soaked Peaches + Shortcake | a.k.a. Drunk Shortcake
serves 8
For the Rosé-Soaked Peaches
recipe adapted from Yossy Arefi's book, Sweeter Off The Vine
1 bottle rosé (750 ml)
1/2 c organic cane sugar
1 t vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
6 peaches, halved and sliced in 1/2 " wedges
Whisk together the wine, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl then add all the peaches. The peaches should be fully submerged in the wine mixture. Allow to soak in the fridge for at least 24 hours but up to two days.
For the Shortcakes
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
2 T organic cane sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
8 T unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 c + 1 T heavy cream, separated
1 T turbinado or raw sugar, for topping
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until the mix resembles course meal. Fold in the heavy cream until the dough just comes together. Pat the dough out on a lightly floured surface into roughly a 1 inch thick square. Cut the dough into 8 even squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each with the reserved tablespoon of heavy cream and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Pop the tray in the freezer for about 10 minutes then bake for about 20 minutes, until the biscuits are lightly golden and puffed.
To Serve
Slice the biscuits in half horizontally and place a generous spoonful of peaches along with a little of the juice on the bottom of the biscuit and top with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and the top biscuit.
*A side note about the leftover rosé peach juice: in her recipe, Yossy suggests using the leftover juice as the base for a spritzer and I have to agree! I served this dessert at the 4th of July and made the most delicious spritzers by combining 2 parts rosé peach juice and 1 part sparkling water and garnished with a peach slice!
