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Dessert

Southern Peaches with Pecan Shortbread

Dessert of sliced peaches served with pecan shortbread cookies and optional whipped cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Peach and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 558 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Southern Peaches with Pecan Shortbread

Oven350°F
Time12 to 15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peaches

  1. Slice peaches and put the slices into a large mixing bowl.

  2. Sprinkle slices with sugar, salt, and lemon juice, then set aside, covered, at room temperature.

Make and bake the shortbread

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Lightly butter a large baking sheet and set aside.

  3. Cream butter, flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl with an electric beater until dough is smooth and creamy.

  4. Add vanilla and beat again, then stir in pecans.

  5. Pinch off a piece of dough and roll into a 1-inch ball, then place dough balls on the cookie sheet and press flat with tines of a fork.

  6. Repeat with remaining dough.

  7. Bake cookies until golden but not brown, for 12 to 15 minutes.

  8. Remove from oven and, while still warm, sprinkle both sides with sugar.

  9. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream and serve

  1. Put all cream ingredients into a chilled mixing bowl.

  2. Whip just until cream forms soft peaks, taking care not to overwhip, then keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

  3. Spoon portions of cut-up peaches onto individual plates.

  4. Place 2 cookies next to peaches.

  5. Top with Soft Whipped Cream, if using.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

963Calories
19 gProtein
42 gFat
131 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pecans1 oz (28g / ~19 halves)196
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Peach1 medium (150g)59
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Pecan1 half (4g)20
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Peach + vanillatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together558 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Vanilla + pecanstop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,691 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Peaches
Provide the fruit and juices that the sugar and lemon draw out into a syrup.
Butter
Supplies fat that keeps the shortbread tender and gives it a rich flavor.
All-purpose flour
Forms the structure of the dough that holds the cookies together as they bake.
Pecans
Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor to the shortbread.
Heavy cream
Whips into a light, airy topping that adds richness to the peaches.

The step that matters

Bake cookies until golden but not brown. Shortbread bakes pale and tender; over-browning turns the sugar and butter bitter and makes the cookies hard and dry.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peach, sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, pecans, cream):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Blueberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peach, sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, pecans, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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