Warm Pear Shortcakes With Brandied Cream Food

BRANDIED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears. Slice them in half down the middle, and remove the stems and cores.
• Add water, sugar and brandy to a small pot on the stove top. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, and whisk to dissolve the sugar in the sauce.
• Add the pears, and allow these to simmer for a few minutes, or until they are soft enough to easily pierce with a fork.

WARM PEAR COMPOTE

Steps:

• Peel and core the pears and cut into eighths; set aside.
• In a medium-size saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon or allspice. Stir in the juice or fruit nectar and mix well. Place the pan on medium-high heat and cook the sauce, stirring, until the mixture is smooth. Add the pears and bring the sauce to a gentle boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 15 - 20 minutes or until the pears are just tender, almost translucent, and the syrup is thick. Stir in the rum and butter and heat a few minutes longer.

WARM PEAR SHORTCAKES WITH BRANDIED CREAM

Steps:

• Make biscuits:
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Sift both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Add butter. Rub in with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; stir to blend. Gather dough into ball.
• Gently knead dough on floured surface until dough holds together. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using 3-inch-diameter star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out biscuits. Gather dough scraps, reroll and cut out additional biscuits, making total of 24. Arrange biscuits on 2 baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
• Brush tops of biscuits with egg. Bake until biscuits puff and are light golden, about 12 minutes. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cool completely. Wrap in foil. Reheat foil-wrapped biscuits in 350°F. oven about 10 minutes before using.)
• Make pears:
• Toss pears with lemon juice in large bowl. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add pear mixture and sauté until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Remove pear mixture from heat. Add whipping cream and brown sugar, then pear brandy. Bring mixture to boil. Cook until pears are tender and sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Divide pear mixture among 12 bowls. Top with warm biscuits and serve.

BRANDIED PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Mix 1/3 cup brown sugar with water and lemon juice together in an ungreased baking dish until sugar is dissolved. Arrange pear halves, core side down, in the dish, and baste with the sauce. Cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake pears in the preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until fork-tender but not mushy.
• Meanwhile, mix nuts together with the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons brandy, and the yogurt; set aside. In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle in white sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons of brandy, or liqueur of choice, and gently whip a few strokes more.
• To serve, place one pear half in the center of each serving plate and fill core cavity with nut stuffing. Top with whipped cream. Serve warm.

PEAR-CORNMEAL SHORTCAKES WITH OVEN-ROASTED PEARS

Steps:

• For pears:
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 6 ingredients in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; toss to blend. Cover dish with foil and bake until pears are tender, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. Uncover. Mix in cranberries and bake until cranberries are tender but still hold shape, about 15 minutes. Cool fruit mixture. Maintain oven temperature.
• For biscuits:
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend flour, cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, blend until butter is cut into pea-size pieces. Add buttermilk; using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together. Pat out dough on floured surface to scant 3/4-inch thickness. Using 2 3/4-inch-diameter cutter, cut out 4 biscuits. Gather scraps; pat out to scant 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out 2 more biscuits.
• Arrange biscuits on prepared sheet; brush with beaten egg. Bake until golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
• Beat cream and powdered sugar in medium bowl to stiff peaks. Cut biscuits horizontally in half. Place bottoms on plates. Top each with pear mixture, whipped cream, then biscuit tops.

BROWN SUGAR SHORTCAKE WITH WARM BOURBON PEACHES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a baking sheet. In a bowl, combine flour, 55 grams of sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and salt, and whisk well. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers. When butter is in pea-size pieces, mix in cream and egg until a soft batter forms.
• Dump batter onto a floured surface and knead until it holds together. Divide batter into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Press larger piece of dough into a 1/2-inch-thick round, roughly 8 inches in diameter. Place on baking sheet and brush with butter. Press remaining dough into a 1/2-inch-thick round and place on top of first dough round. It should be smaller in size. Brush with butter and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake until shortcake is golden brown and firm to the touch all over, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the peaches. In a medium skillet, heat bourbon and add 1 tablespoon water and 25 grams of sugar. Cook until sugar dissolves, then add peaches. Let cook until peaches are warmed through and release their juices, about 2 minutes.
• Carefully cut smaller top round off shortcake. Place shortcake bottom on a serving plate and cover with warm peaches and their liquid (reheat fruit if necessary). Spoon whipped cream over peaches and place shortcake top over cream. Serve immediately.

WARM PEACH SHORTCAKE WITH BRANDY WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• Make the shortcake: Preheat the oven to 375°F Spray a 9-inch cake pan with nonstick vegetable spray. In a small bowl, stir 1 tablespoon sugar with the cinnamon. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, the baking powder, nutmeg, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the cold butter until it is the size of small peas. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk and the beaten eggs. Stir with a fork, until a dough forms. Scrape the dough into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 minutes, until the top is golden, Brush the top of the hot cake with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Transfer the shortcake to a rack to cool for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: In a small bowl, pour the brandy over the raisins and let stand for 20 minutes. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the peaches, cover and cook over moderately low heat until the peaches just begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the brandy. Add the remaining brandy and the raisins to the skillet along with the brown sugar and cinnamon. cook the peaches over moderate heat, stirring often, until glazed and crisp-tender, about 8 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the reserved 1 tablespoon of brandy until soft peaks form. Remove the shortcake from the pan and transfer to a serving plate or cake stand. Using a serrated knife, slice the cake in half horizontally; slide the top of the cake onto a plate. Spoon the peaches and their sauce over the bottom of the shortcake. Top with the other half of the cake. Cut the shortcake into wedges and serve with a dollop of brandy whipped cream.
• Note: The shortcake can be baked up to 1 day ahead and kept at room temperature.
• FYI: I like my whipped cream a little sweeter, so I add about 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar to heavy cream along with the 1 tablespoon of brandy before whipping the cream.

BRANDIED BAKED PEARS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Peel and halve pears, leaving stems intact, then core with melon-ball cutter and toss with brown sugar in a large bowl.
• Melt butter in a 3-quart shallow baking dish in oven, about 1 minute, then add pears, turning to coat with butter. Add water to dish and bake pears, turning over occasionally, until tender and edges are caramelized, 30 to 50 minutes, depending on ripeness of pears.
• Transfer pears with a slotted spoon to a plate, then add 1/4 cup brandy to baking dish and stir with a heatproof rubber spatula to dissolve any caramelized juices. Return pears to dish.
• Whisk cream in a bowl just until thick (before soft peaks form), then whisk in remaining teaspoon brandy. Serve pears with brandy sauce and drizzle with brandied cream.

WARM PEACH SHORTCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR CREAM

Steps:

• Gently toss sliced peaches with the brown sugar,fresh lemon juice, bourbon and cinnamon in large bowl to blend. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, tossing occasionally, about 2 hours.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F
• Whisk flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and pecan bits in medium bowl to blend.
• Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms.
• Whisk buttermilk and 1 egg to blend in small bowl. Add to flour mixture and stir until moist clumps form.
• Gather dough together; turn out onto floured work surface and knead gently just until dough holds together, about 5 turns (dough will be moist).
• Pat dough into 9x6-inch rectangle; use a 3" cookie cutter or a large juice glass to cut dough into rounds. Transfer to heavy ungreased baking sheet, spacing apart.
• (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)
• Sprinkle rounds with remaining 3 teaspoons sugar. Bake biscuits until puffed and light golden, about 18 minutes. Cool biscuits 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat whipping cream and brown sugar in medium bowl until soft peaks form.
• Using serrated knife, cut warm biscuits horizontally in half. Place 1 bottom half on each dessert plate. Top with Brown Sugar Peaches. Cover with biscuit tops. Spoon generous dollop of whipped cream atop each; serve immediately.