bourbon honey peach shortcakes
When the going gets tough, the touch get peachy.
I experience an inexplicable joy when I slice open a perfectly ripe peach. The hue of its interior is always a mystery until you expose it: is it yellow, or a muted scarlet, or maybe a vibrant orange? On a sunny day, with the peaches laid out on my cutting board, I find next to nothing prettier.
I’ve been trying to photograph en place as early as possible lately. Our afternoons are riddled with rain showers, so the quality of light is pretty unpredictable and I usually get released from The Day Job around noon. Whenever I work with peaches and manage to capture that glowing midmorning beam, the result elicits happiness.
Nature heals, they say, and I surely do believe that.
I eagerly awaited peaches in part because I was so excited to make shortcakes. Last summer I adored my Bourbon Strawberry Shortcakes, and knew that a stone fruit counterpart was necessary (I merely ran out of time in 2022). After I photographed these guys, I ran the leftovers to my neighbor – the same one who helped with my towing issue – and played a little catch with their rambunctious young son.
Kind of felt like an idyllic afternoon, the ones touted by internet fantasies all across the world. Warm ovens, flaky biscuits, a chat with the friendly next door clan. And these will fulfill all your shortcake dreams, whether they involve sharing or not.
Don’t Flake On Me
Shortcakes are wonderfully easy, even when you make everything from scratch. These don’t take long, so if you’re surprised by a visit from friends one day, you can be assured that a treat will be ready in about an hour.
The very first bit of prep I do is grate the butter. Some recipes say to cube, but I find it much easier to cut shreds of butter into my batter, as far as speeding up the process goes AND distributing the necessary fats evenly. Once you’ve got your little buttery tendrils, pop the bowl or plate in the fridge while you ready everything else. You need it to be cold, or else the bizkits will turn out very much limp.
Buttermilk biscuits are the name of the game. Start by whisking together flour, baking powder (yes, 2 tablespoons, you need it!) and salt.
Use a pastry fork or your fingers (I’m team clean fingies all the way) to cut in the butter until you have a coarsely crumby mixture, with no pieces bigger than a pea. Stream in your COLD buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, but still has a nice shaggy element, as if it needs a good haircut. I found 1 1/2 cups perfect for my biscuits; yours might need more, depending on whether you live in a very humid environment or a dry one.
Pat the dough into a 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Fold the shorter end towards the center, then the opposite shorter end overtap, repeat the patting and folding once more for two nice layers.
I wanted my biscuits to be big bois, so I used a 2 3/4 inch cutter. If you want more biscuits, use 2 1/2. Slice out your rounds and re-fold your dough as needed to use it all up.
Set the biscuits on a baking sheet and pop the sheet in the freezer to let the butter solidify. After 15 minutes they’ll be nice and solid; here, you can put them in a covered container and keep them in the freezer for up to a month before baking. Biscuits on demand, woo!
Disturbin’ the Bourbon
When you’re ready to bake, pull the biscuits out of the freezer and brush the tops with heavy cream. This helps give them a nice golden finish. Bake until flaky and browned, about 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.
While the biscuits bake, prep the peaches. Slice up a couple juicy fellas and toss with bourbon, lemon, and honey. Sometimes I’ll add a splash of vanilla, too, but this isn’t required.
The finishing component? Homemade whipped cream. You can, of course, buy a can if you wish, but I usually have heavy cream around and make my own. Just whip it up on high speed with some powdered sugar and vanilla – sometimes I do unsweetened with just the vanilla – until stiff peaks form.
Now, put together those gorgeous cakes! Slice the biscuits in half. Layer on a few peaches, then a blob of whipped cream. I like to drizzle some of the syrup onto the cream as well. So great.
I don’t know how to eat a shortcake properly, I don’t think there’s a graceful method. You might try taking the lid off and using a knife and fork to slice the bottom layer. Or, shit, you could stack peaches and whip on both the top and bottom slice of biscuit. Double fist that fucker.
How much more can I do with peaches? Infinite things, methinks. When something brings glee to your day, hold onto it, even if it seems like overkill. Because it’s not. It’s just enough.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Peach feast:
Pull-Apart Peach Caprese Garlic Bread
Chopped Peach and Blue Cheese Salad with Hot Honey Vinaigrette
bourbon honey peach shortcakes
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 sticks butter, grated, VERY cold
- 1 1/2-2 cups buttermilk, chilled
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 large peaches, sliced
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- whipped cream, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry fork or your hands (I use hands because I'm a savage) until there are no longer pieces of butter larger than a pea. Stream in 1 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and stir until a shaggy but cohesive dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a 1 1/2 inch rectangle. Fold one of the short ends to the center, then fold the opposite end overtop. Pat again into a rectangle and repeat the folding, then pat into a rectangle again. Using a 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter, slice out the biscuits and place onto the baking sheet. Re-pat the dough and repeat the folding and cutting. You should get 8 biscuits.
- Freeze the biscuits for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the biscuits from the freezer and brush with the heavy cream. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops are golden and the biscuits very poofed and flaky.
- While the biscuits bake, add the peaches to a large bowl and toss with the bourbon, honey, and lemon juice. Let sit at room temperature.
- If making, prep the homemade whip (see recipe in notes). Slice each biscuit in half and layer with 5-6 peach slices, then dollop the whipped cream on top. Drizzle with some of the syrup from the marinated peaches.
