Dessert: Whiskeyed Peach Shortcakes

Recipe by Steven Satterfield Firm peach slices will hold their shape even when they are doused in sugar and whiskey and put to a flame. They're delicious on their own, over ice cream, or in this case with sweetened crème fraîche spooned over homemade sho

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup half-and-half, plus more as needed
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg plus 1 tablespoon water, whisked together to make an egg wash
1/4 cup turbinado sugar

Instructions

Heat the oven to 475 °F. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and work the mixture between your thumbs and fingers to stretch the butter into flat pieces. Leave a few larger chunks of cold butter in the flour mixture. Start by adding 3/4 cup half- and-half, and stir it into the flour mixture with a large spoon. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more half-and-half until it holds together. Do not overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and gently knead—just two to three turns—and form into a ball. Pat the dough ball down to create a flat surface. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1 inch thick. With the tines of a fork dipped in dry flour, pierce the dough about every inch, making sure to pierce through to the bottom of the dough, to create holes for steam to escape. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the surface of the rolled-out dough with the egg wash, then sprinkle the turbinado sugar across the top evenly. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the shortcakes with a deliberate vertical push and then gently remove from the cutter. Place shortcakes side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet, with edges touching. Use scraps of dough to fill in any large gaps between shortcakes; this helps the cakes hold their shape.
Bake until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.