Peach Crisp

I would have to say that my favourite fruit is the peach.  I absolutely love biting into a ripe peach.  They're juicy, sweet and tangy, and just pretty darn close to perfection.  I would take a peach pie or peach crisp over an apple pie any day of the week!

I had some peaches that needed to be eaten immediately, and rather then scarfing down 10 of them on my own, I decided to make a peach crisp.  My mother had purchased the America's Test Kitchen book, and after looking at it, I had to order one myself.  The book is HUGE, however after making one of their pie crusts, and this peach crisp, I'm thinking it was a good purchase!

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

This was the best peach crisp I have ever made.  It was simple, easy, but more importantly, delicious!  The peaches had caramelized from the brown sugar and butter.  I can't wait to make it, and eat it, again!

Strawberry Shortcake

 April's SweetShop has been MIA lately due to the lovely heat wave that hit Toronto this summer.  With no central air in my home, my oven has not been turned on in quite some time.  But the heatwave has lifted, and so I can bake again!

I had a family dinner to attend this past weekend for my boyfriend's sisters birthday, and at the birthday girl's request, the search for a yummy strawberry shortcake began!  Not knowing how many people would be attending, I did not want to make individual strawberry shortcakes.  There was a fear of having not enough, and you always want to have more dessert then not enough to serve!

I went shopping on Roncesvalles (a neighbourhood street in Toronto) and found some sweet and juicy Ontario strawberries. 

I came across a Barefoot Contessa's Strawberry Country Cake.  It sounded, and looked, delicious and I had to give it a try.   http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/strawberry-country-cake-recipe/index.html

I put a layer of whipping cream (pure whipping cream only, of course!  None of that fake whipped topping that some people like to pull off as whipped cream) on both the top and the bottom, to ensure no strawberry sogginess throughout the cake. 

The cake was delicious!  With orange and lemon zest called for in the recipe, it added a little something extra to the Strawberry Shortcake.  And of course, you can never go wrong with Ontario strawberries.