Sweet Peaches and Cream Shortcakes

It's officially peach season and I'm taking full advantage of it by using the juiciest and sweetest peaches from Harry & David in all of my dessert recipes this month. Enter: peaches and cream shortcakes. Strawberry shortcakes may be the traditional version of this dessert, but using peaches adds a delicious seasonal twist.

Making the peaches and cream shortcakes

All-purpose flour is the best flour to use for the biscuits because it provides a good amount of structure; the baking powder and baking soda will help them rise so that you have enough biscuit to hold up all the toppings. A key tip here is to not overwork your shortcake dough. Overworking it will result in dry and crumbly biscuits.

The addition of salt helps complement the sweetness in the recipe, and unsalted butter provides the best flaky, buttery texture for the biscuits. You'll also want to make sure the butter is very cold, since warm butter will result in a soft dough that will be hard to work with. You can use milk or buttermilk — either one works fine in this recipe. If the dough gets too soft while working it, pop it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. You can also pause at this step and wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap to finish closer to when you're ready to bake the biscuits.

When you arrange the biscuits on the baking sheet, arrange them side-by-side so that they're all touching. They'll rise up taller this way, since each biscuit will provide support for the others; they'll all rise evenly together. Brushing the biscuits with heavy cream before baking will also help create a beautiful golden crust, but be sure to only brush them lightly. Adding too much heavy cream can weigh the biscuits down, resulting in flatter ones.

While the biscuits are baking, prepare the peaches. Harry & David's Oregold Peaches are incredibly sweet and juicy and my favorite peaches to use in this recipe. You'll toss the sliced peaches with granulated sugar, which helps enhance the natural sweetness of the peaches.

Serving the shortcakes

Shortcakes can be served warm or cold, but I like to wait until they cool completely to assemble the dessert. This will help the shortcakes hold up once you add the toppings, especially if you use multiple layers of whipped cream and peaches for each shortcake. I recommend serving them immediately after assembling, but if you need to assemble them a few hours in advance such as before hosting a dinner or throwing a party, you can refrigerate the assembled cakes until ready to serve.

If you're not serving the shortcakes until the following day (though who can wait that long!), you can also wrap the biscuits tightly in plastic wrap and store them on the counter until ready to assemble. The sliced peaches should go in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The whipped cream, stored in a bowl and covered tightly with plastic wrap, should also be refrigerated until ready to use; it will last in the fridge for one to two days.

If you have leftovers, everything will stay fresh for up to two days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. But these leftovers usually don't last that long in my house...