I spend the first part of my trip to the farmers market following my nose. I start at the first stand and wander from one vendor to the next. I gently pick up a sample of fruit or vegetable and smell its sweet mouth-watering aroma; feel the texture of the skin and look upon its vibrant color. I take a bite and feel the juice and flesh tickle my palate.

The other day when I was at the farmers market, I found O’Henry peaches. They are my favorite peach because when this variety is ripe, they are on the firm side. This makes for a perfect peach to bake with and macerate. Currently the peaches are called “freestones”.

Peaches are divided into 2 categories; clingstones and freestones, depending on whether the flesh sticks to the stone (pit) or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh. Peaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies greatly. Both colors often have some red on their skin.

To find the best peach, first smell it: a ripe peach should be sweetly fragrant. Next give the peach a gentle squeeze: a ripe peach won’t be too hard; it should slightly give to the squeeze. Keep in mind that the color of a peach tells more about what variety it is than its maturity or ripeness. So don’t pick your peach based on color; it could be more white or greenish white than peach colored.

When I arrived home, I had many pounds of peaches and I started to bake; peach cobbler, peach pie, peach scones. I was down to my last pound and I remember the amazing peach shortcake I had made in the past. I went to the kitchen and with a grind of this, a cup of that and few turns of the dough, I had shortcake.  I then sliced up the peaches and macerate for a short time. Finish with a dollop of whip cream. I love peach season.

Peach Shortcake
Makes 6 to 8 shortcake

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoon sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks of unsalted, cold butter, 12 tablespoons, cut into cubes
2 eggs
½ cup heavy cream

Oven temp 400 degrees, preheat

Place flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Process to blend, add cubes of butter and process until the butter is the size of small peas. Lightly mix the eggs and cream together and add to the flour and butter mixture. Process until it just starts to come together. The dough will be sticky

Dump the dough out onto a flour surface. Pat the dough into a circle, about ¾ inches thick.  Cut out 6 cakes with a 2 ½ inch round cutter. Place cakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Brush the top of each cake with a bit of water & sprinkle with sugar. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.  Let cool on a rack.

While the cakes are baking, slice up 6 peaches. Place in a medium bowl and mix in 2 tablespoon of peach brandy and 4 tablespoons of sugar depending on sweetness of peaches. Let them macerate.

Mix together 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons sugar. Whip in electric mixer until soft peaks form, add 1 tablespoon of peach brandy and mix until peaks are stiff.

Split each cake in half crosswise and place the bottom half on a plate. Spoon on peaches and some whip cream. Place on the other half of cake and put on a dollop of whip cream.

Click on picture for photo credit

Yesterday when I did my Julia post, I put up the recipe for her Pate Brisee Fine recipe from “The Way To Cook”. Today I was reading through my copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and found another recipe for a tart shell. I am sharing that recipe and directions to roll out the crust. I did not include the instructions for rolling out a crust, and by doing that I was asuming that you know how to do it. Not everyone does, as I remember my first attempt at making a crust. It was not the best, but with practice it improved. If you have any questions please post them here, find me on Twitter: or on my Facebook Fan page.

How to roll out a tart/pie crust
If you would like a visual, I found this great link done by Cat Cora.

Things You’ll Need:
All-purpose Flour For Dusting
Rolling Pin

A. Ensure that the dough is chilled and has rested for at least 30 minutes, unless otherwise directed in your recipe.
B. Have your other ingredients ready to finish the recipe, such as pie or tart pans and fillings.
C. Clean off your work space to allow enough room to roll the dough. Ensure that the work surface and the rolling pin are clean and dry.
D. Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and turn it out on the work surface.
E. Lightly dust your hands, the dough, and the rolling pin with flour. Only a little is necessary.
F. Pat the dough down with your hands if the dough is not already shaped in a thin circle.
G. Position the rolling pin in the center of the dough and roll it away from you to slightly flatten half the dough.
H. Reposition the pin in the center of the dough and roll towards you to slightly flatten the other half. Use even pressure on the rolling pin.
I. Always roll from the center of the dough. Use several passes to roll it to the desired thickness. Don’t try to flatten it all the way in one pass.
J. Keep the dough at an even thickness as much as possible. Make sure it’s at one even level of thickness before flattening it further.
K. Dust with more flour if needed.
L. Work fast but don’t rush. Try to roll out the dough before it has a chance to warm up.

Pate Brisee Tart Crust
Makes one 8-inch tart crust
Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons (or more) cold water

Need
8-inch-diameter tart pan
Dried beans or pie weights

Directions
Whisk flour, salt, and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons cold water. Work mixture with fingertips until dough comes together in moist clumps, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on floured work surface to 10-inch round. Carefully transfer dough to 8-inch tart pan. Press dough onto bottom and about 1 1/2 inches up sides of pan, pressing to adhere to sides. Fold down and roll 1/2 inch of dough sides inward, forming double-thick edge at top of crust sides. Using dull edge of small knife, make small indentations at 1/2-inch intervals on double-thick edge. Chill 20 minutes.

Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides of crust are set, about 18 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Pierce bottom of crust all over with fork. Continue to bake until bottom is set and pale golden, about 14 minutes longer. Remove from oven and cool in pan on rack.

I just found this further description of what was served at the inauguration lunch, posted by the New York Times.
Their mission was lunch for 234 guests, including the newly sworn in President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. 
A Mission to Serve Lunch in the Capitol

My beautiful boys posing. =)