2 large egg yolks
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Cakes
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon chilled heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
BERRY COMPOTE: Cook blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in heavy large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and bubbles, about 10 minutes. Continue to cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cool.
LEMON CREAM: Whisk lemon juice, sugar, and egg yolks in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture is thick and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer lemon curd to bowl and set aside to cool completely.
DO AHEAD: Berry compote and lemon curd can be made 2 days ahead. Cover separately and chill.
Whip cream in large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold half of cream into lemon curd to lighten; fold in remaining cream. Cover and chill lemon cream until ready to assemble shortcakes.
CAKES: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place sugar and lemon peel in large bowl. Press with back of spoon to release oils from peel. Reserve 2 tablespoons lemon sugar in small bowl. Add flour, baking powder, and salt to lemon sugar in large bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix ⅓ cup cream and lemon juice in small bowl. Pour cream mixture over flour mixture and stir with fork to form dough. Gather dough into ball; press out to 1-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Using 2½-inch-diameter cutter, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps; press out to 1-inch thickness and cut out additional rounds to form 6 shortcakes total. Transfer cake rounds to heavy baking sheet.
Brush cake tops with remaining 1 tablespoon cream and sprinkle with reserved lemon sugar. Bake shortcakes until just golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Using serrated knife, cut warm or room-temperature shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottom halves, cut side up, on each of 6 plates. Top cake halves with berry compote and lemon cream. Cover with cake tops and serve.
Legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier created the classic peach Melba—vanilla ice cream topped with poached peaches and raspberry sauce—to honor Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba. In this updated version, peaches and raspberries are layered between airy sponge cakes, and whipped cream replaces the ice cream. (You could also try it with nectarines and blackberries.) The tartlet pans used in this recipe can be found at cookware stores. If you don’t have them, you can use mini cheesecake pans or make one large shortcake in an 8-inch-diameter tart pan and then cut the cake into wedges. Makes 6
CakesMelted butter
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
Sauce and Topping
1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed
¼ cup sugar
4 large peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, sliced
1 ½-pint container raspberries
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
1½ cups chilled heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extractPowdered sugar
CAKES: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush six 4-inch-diameter tartlet pans with 1⅛-inch-high sides and removable bottoms with melted butter. Place pans on rimmed baking sheet. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt over mixture in bowl. Beat until almost blended, then add buttermilk and beat just until combined. Divide batter among prepared pans (about scant ½ cup each).
Bake cakes until golden and tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer pans to rack; cool 5 minutes. Push up bottoms of pans to release cakes. Cool cakes on rack.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.
SAUCE AND TOPPING: Puree raspberries in processor. Strain into medium bowl, pressing on solids to release sauce. Discard solids in strainer. Stir sugar into raspberry puree.
DO AHEAD: Berry sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
Combine peaches, fresh raspberries, and 4 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl; toss to coat. Let stand until juices form, about 30 minutes. Beat cream, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until peaks form.
Using serrated knife, cut cakes in half horizontally. Lightly sift powdered sugar over cake tops. Place 1 cake bottom on each of 6 plates. Gently toss fruit mixture. Top each cake bottom with fruit mixture, dividing equally. Spoon whipped cream atop each, then cover with cake tops. Spoon raspberry sauce around shortcakes and serve.
Shortcake TipsThe ideal shortcakes are flaky, tender, and fluffy. Here’s how to achieve that state of shortcake perfection.FLAKY: Use very cold butter or shortening and chilled liquid, such as milk, cream, or buttermilk. Gently mix the butter or shortening with the flour just until the mixture resembles coarse meal and pea-size pieces of butter or shortening are visible—the water in the butter (plus water in the dough) releases steam during baking, which lifts the dough and makes the shortcakes flaky.TENDER: Use a gentle hand when mixing liquid into the dough. Once it begins to clump together, pat the dough out (don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfectly smooth); never knead shortcake dough as you would bread dough.FLUFFY: When cutting shortcakes with a biscuit cutter, press the cutter through the dough without twisting it; twisting seals the edges and prevents the shortcakes from rising. Alternately, use a very sharp knife to cut out squares or triangles.
A handful of oats adds texture to decadent shortcakes. The key to making the delicate, tender cakes is to handle the dough as little as possible; once the milk is added, stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened and come together as a dough. Makes 6
Cakes
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
⅔ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons sugar
Plums
1 pound firm but ripe plums (about 6), halved, pitted, each half cut into 4 wedges
⅓ cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground ginger