Oh my. Guys, this is one of those easy recipes that’s almost TOO good. As in, too easy to make, and too bad for my waistline. But then again, summer only happens once a year, and when you’ve got ripe peaches and ripe strawberries, you’ve gotta take full advantage!
We don’t make a bunch of desserts around here at Fridge to Fork, mostly because we try to stay in the healthy lane as much as possible. But from the start, we wanted our blog to be open to cookie recipes and baking when we got the itch. Mary Parker and I had several healthy blog names in the running that ultimately didn’t make the cut because….cookies! We all need a ‘lil dessert in our lives every now and then.
I looovee a good strawberry shortcake. I’m definitely more drawn to fruity desserts than anything chocolatey, so when there’s a fresh fruit shortcake on the menu you can bet I’m going for it. Or anything involving lemon, berries, and mascarpone…but I digress.
For this recipe, I wanted to build a really tasty shortcake that didn’t involve an hour in the kitchen, so I went the route of store-bought sweet cornbread to save time. Important note here: It really must be sweet cornbread, or else the whole dessert will be off! I’m not a big fan of sweet cornbread on any other day, but we really can’t have a salty base here. With the right cornbread in hand, I was able to use a biscuit cutter to cut out small rounds. Then I arranged them nicely on a platter and topped them with whipped cream, the sliced berries and peaches, and some fresh mint! I use my handy cream whipper for this task, but you can use any canned whipped cream from the store that you like.
To make this ahead for a party or gathering, you could cut out the cornbread rounds and arrange them on your platter. Then cover them tightly with plastic wrap until time to serve. Similarly, you can dice and prep the strawberries and peaches ahead of time, cover and refrigerate. I would wait until time of assembly to julienne the mint so it’s at peak freshness.
I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as my friends and I did. If you make this “shortbread”, be sure to snap a photo and tag us on instagram @fridgetofork. We can’t wait to see what you make!
