Salty Sweets (12 page)

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Cherry Johnnycake Cobbler

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Walnut-Crusted Lemon Tart

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Fig and Ricotta Pizza

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Roasted Summer Fruits

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Oatmeal-Crusted Banana Tart

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Honey-Tangerine Caramel Truffle Tartlets

In Westford, Massachusetts, where I grew up, there is a Strawberries & Art Festival every year in mid-June, held on the town common. The big draw is the strawberry shortcake, doled out in heaping portions with plenty of fresh whipped cream. When I was little, that was the only reason I wanted to go. Though I haven't attended the festival in years, strawberry shortcake is still one of my all-time faves. How can you go wrong? A simple shortcake split in two with fresh berries and whipped cream? All good. I especially love it with a mix of berries (when in season) and a touch of salt on top of the shortcakes, which makes them a little more savory and complements the sweet berries and cream. The Salted Shortcakes are also good with Roasted Summer Fruits (
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) and a spoonful of Snappy Butterscotch Sauce (
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).

 

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

 

1. Combine the strawberries, blueberries, orange juice, and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until the berries have released some of their juices.
   
2. Split the shortcakes in half. Spoon a generous amount of berries on the bottom half of each, top with a dollop of whipped cream, and place the top half of each shortcake just slightly askew on top of that. Serve immediately.
   

MAKES EIGHT
3-
INCH SHORTCAKES

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Combine the flour, ¼ cup of the sugar, the baking soda, and the fine sea salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for a few seconds. Add the cold butter pieces and mix on low just until the dough has a sandy, crumbly consistency.
   
3. Mix in the orange zest and then the buttermilk by hand until the dough is just moistened. Don't overmix. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and roll it out to about ½ inch thick. Cut it into eight 3-inch circles and arrange them on a baking sheet.
   
4. Brush the top of each circle with the cream and then sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar and a quick grind of sea salt.
   
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 to 12 minutes, until the shortcakes are golden. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes, then split in half horizontally. These are best served the day they are made.
   

This crisp is inspired by Native American cooking, which features cornmeal and pine nuts in many delicious ways. Here those ingredients lend wonderful texture and flavor to the buttery, slightly salty topping of a homey dessert. Make this when peaches are in season locally—fresh, organic peaches make all the difference (mealy, flavorless, out-of-season supermarket peaches won't do). Serve this with vanilla ice cream or Almond Ice Cream (
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).

 

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Toss the peaches with the lemon juice in a medium-size bowl. In a small bowl, combine ½ cup of the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and ¼ cup of the flour. Add the sugar mixture to the peaches and mix well. Pour the peach mixture into a 9-inch square baking dish.
   
3. To make the topping, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup flour, the cornmeal, the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, and the salt, and mix quickly to combine. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the topping is coarsely crumbly. Stir in the pine nuts.
   
4. Distribute the topping evenly over the peaches and bake until the juices are bubbly and the peaches are tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm.
   

If you're ever looking for a dessert that's easy to throw together, and you want something that's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, make a fruit crisp. Warm, gooey fruits paired with buttery, cinnamony, brown-sugary topping never miss. Add a dash of salt to the topping, as in this recipe, and serve the crisp warm with ice cream (vanilla is perfect, of course; you could also try it with the Almond Ice Cream on
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or the Butterscotch Ice Cream on
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), and you're in for a treat.

 

MAKES
6
TO
8
SERVINGS

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. In a large bowl, toss the apple wedges with the extracts. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour, ¼ cup of the brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Toss to combine, and set aside.
   
3. To make the topping, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup flour, the remaining 1 cup brown sugar, the oats, the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon, the nutmeg, butter, and fine sea salt. Mix on low speed until coarsely crumbly.
   
4. Pour the apples into a 9-inch square or a 7 × 11-inch baking dish. Distribute the topping evenly over the apples. Sprinkle a few grinds of sea salt over the topping and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the topping is golden brown and crisp and the juices are bubbling. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.
   

In my opinion, when summer fruits are in season there's no reason to make any dessert other than a fruit dessert. It's the New Englander in me—where I live, these fruits are so fabulous and so fleeting that it feels like a crime not to take advantage of them. Serve these crumbles warm, with a dollop of ice cream, of course.

 

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Toss the blueberries and nectarines with 1 tablespoon of the flour, the granulated sugar, and the almond extract, if desired. Divide the fruits among eight 6-ounce ramekins.
   
3. Combine the brown sugar, the remaining 7 tablespoons flour, the oats, pecans, and salt in a medium-size bowl and mix well. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or a fork until the butter is evenly distributed and in pieces about the size of small currants.
   
4. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the fruits, dividing it evenly among the ramekins. Bake until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly, then serve.
   

I love fruit desserts that don't require fussing over a pie crust. For this cobbler, however, I do suggest fussing over the task of pitting fresh cherries instead of using frozen, if possible. The topping has a little additional twist besides the salt: cornmeal, which gives it great texture and reminds me of johnnycake, a rustic staple of early New England cooking that is now most strongly associated with Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders are proud of their food traditions—if you're there and you see johnnycakes (or "stuffies"—a description of which doesn't belong in a dessert cookbook) on a menu, always order them. Serve this with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

 

MAKES
8
SERVINGS