Cooking web notes

Buckwheat Stone Fruit Shortcake

There's always some buckwheat flour in my pantry because of our love for Grandpa's buckwheat pancakes. So when I saw this recipe for buckwheat shortcake in Alice Medrich's book, I was intrigued. Then white peaches arrived in the market, I couldn't resist so decided to make the shortcake using stone fruit with raspberries rather than the traditional strawberries. The peaches were sweet and the juices from the fruit soaked into the bottom layer of the shortcake while the top stayed a bit crunchy. On top of that, this is the easiest shortcake I've ever made. In one bowl and it only took a couple minutes to throw together and ten to bake.  Dessert can be ready in a flash. I added a little confectioners sugar to the whipped cream and it really did need that touch of sweet. 
It turned out to be a lovely change from the ordinary shortcake. It even looks wholesome and healthy doesn't it? And it tasted even better than Mother's  shortcake, which I've been making for years. 

Buckwheat Shortcake
From  Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (5 ounces)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour (1.7 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream

Method:
Preheat oven to 425. Prepare a baking sheet lined with a double layer of parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together everything but the heavy cream. Make a well in the center and pour in the cream. Incorporate slowly with a rubber spatula by pushing the dry ingredients into the center, cutting and turning until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough should look shaggy and rough. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the side of the bowl a few times.
Turn the dough out on a floured counter and roll out to a square about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out in whatever shape you prefer, place on the parchment paper. Dip a brush into the cup that held the cream and brush the leftover cream on the tops of the shortbread. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 12 to 15 minute. Cool on a rack. (Made about 6 square shortcakes.)

Filling for the shortbread:

Ingredients:
5 medium plums, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large peaches, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2-pint basket raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
Additional powdered sugar

Method:
Toss plums, peaches, raspberries and 1/3 cup sugar in large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes.  Beat the whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until firm peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16, 2012 at 4:34 AM and is filed under Dessert. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.