Summer is in full swing and I saw lots of fresh fruit and ice cream in the blogging community this week. As usual, I narrowed it down to a few particularly tasty sounding recipes for this week’s Bites from other Blogs.
- When you think of shortcakes, you probably think about strawberry shortcakes, although other types of fruit can be used in them as well. A Couple Cooks put a few twists on a traditional shortcake recipe with Chocolate Peach Shortcakes. These desserts have a chocolate biscuit and are stuffed with peaches that are lightly macerated in sugar and balsamic vinegar to bring out their juices and enhance their natural sweetness. A generous dollop of whipped cream finishes off the shortcakes and provides a nice contrast to the chocolate biscuit.
- Sally’s Baking Addiction also made good use of peaches in some Peaches and Cream Bars. The bars are a layered bar cookie that contain all the flavors of a peach pie in an easier to make – and easier to eat – format. The cookies start with an oatmeal crust that is topped off with a lightly sweetened peach mixture. The peaches are topped off with a pecan and oatmeal streusel that adds some crunch to the bars and highlights the nuttiness of the oatmeal in the crust. A vanilla glaze gives the bars a finishing touch.
- Offbeat and Inspired whipped up a batch of Spiced Rum Banana Ice Cream as a way to cool down on a hot day. The rich ice cream is loaded with ripe bananas and a generous dose of spiced rum. There isn’t enough rum in the recipe to mistake this ice cream for a tropical daiquiri, but there is enough to ensure that the ice cream has a great flavor and stays ultra-creamy and smooth even after it is frozen. An ice cream maker will give you the best results for this recipe.
- Cherries are also in season and the Cherry Vanilla Pie that Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe baked is a lovely way to enjoy them. The pie uses sweet black cherries and is flavored with a whole vanilla bean. To keep the pie a little lighter and take advantage of the natural sweetness of the cherries, it is slightly lower in sugar than most cherry pies. This pie also uses a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat flour in the crust that adds a little bit of whole grain to the buttery pastry, although you could use a regular crust if you already have a favorite recipe.
- The Ombre Brownies fro Lorie’s Mississippi Kitchen are not a strictly summertime dessert, but there is never a bad time for brownies. The bars start with a layer of blondies and are topped with a layer of milk chocolate brownies. They are baked and then finished with a layer of dark chocolate ganache, so the colors of each bite of brownie fade from dark to light. They’re decadent, so cut them into bite-sized pieces for serving.