The end of summer is the yummiest time to make shortcakes with peaches. Why? Because they’re in season — and because making desserts with fresh fruit is always fun.
ZeBot and I got the dough and sliced peaches as a present from our grown-up friend Elaine, who teaches kids’ cooking classes.
But she left it up to us to figure out how to bake it and put the cakes together.
First we tried rolling out the dough, but it stuck to the rolling pin and everything else (including my hair and ZeBot’s nose). So we decided to use our hands.
It LOOKS like we're on a roll, but we're not -- the dough is super sticky!
ZeBot said I was "working the dough too much" -- what do you think?
Think my hands are sticky? You should see ZeBot's hooves!
We pushed and squished the dough into circles that looked like blobs. I sprinkled a little sugar on the dough blobs to make them sweeter. ZeBot said sugar crystals would make them sparkly, but he couldn’t put on with his hooves. So I used my hands to help him sprinkle.
ZeBot gives this dough blob his official Zebra Zeal of Excellence (I give the same thing to the big smudge of flour on his nose!)
There's nothing better than the sweet smell of ripe peaches -- even zebras agree!
Okay, so then we put ZeBot in the oven…
Oh, no, we didn’t: I’m just kidding! We put our dough blobs in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
(How did we know when we didn’t have Elaine’s recipe? ZeBot checked the Williams-Sonoma website – he said that’s a good place to look if you don’t have a cookbook. It turned out Elaine uses a higher oven temperature and shorter baking time — but ours worked fine, too.)
ZeBot, our friend PG FrogBotte and I are REALLY excited about making whipped cream!
While the shortcakes baked, we made whipped cream. This is how we did it: we put cream and sugar and vanilla into a mixing bowl on a stand mixer.
We used the whisk attachment to make it fluffy.
Why? Because the secret magic ingredient in whipped cream is air!
ZeBot can't believe that AIR makes whipped cream fluffy -- but it really does!
ZeBot says I should taste the whipped cream just to make sure it's okay -- and it is!
When the shortcakes were done, we took them out of the oven to cool.
ZeBot checks to see if the cakes are cool enough to eat -- a zebra always follows his nose!
When they were cool enough to eat them, we cut them open down the middle, then put sliced peaches inside and put the tops back on. Then we put whipped cream on top. If you want, I think you could also add sprinkles or bacon or both. I told ZeBot NOT to stick his nose in the whipped cream but he did anyway.
How did our shortcakes taste? I say awesome: MMMMMM! MMMMM! YUM!
I cannot wait to taste our amazing homemade yumminess!
You really should try making these yourself. Smooshing the dough, making the whipped cream and putting together the cakes are all fun for kids.
A grown-up should help you with the oven and the mixer, slicing peaches and cutting the shortcakes in half down the middle.
How about a zebra? I’d say for helpfulness, ZeBot was so-so. But he was really fun.
We named our shortcakes YumCakes because they were super-yummy!
ZeBot and I are very proud to have figured out how to make Just Peachy YumCakes!
Okay: so do you want to make your own YumCakes? Good!
Here’s the recipe from our friend Elaine Smit at Chow Bella Kids:
Peach Shortcakes (aka Just Peachy YumCakes)
Serves 8
This recipe, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, is great for kids because it celebrates the idea of fresh fruit for dessert. The shortcake combines yogurt and lowfat milk with just a bit of butter — so it’s healthier than most baked treats. If you want to make these cakes even more nutritious, substitute vanilla yogurt (regular or frozen) for the whipped cream.
PEACHES
2 pounds peaches (4 to 6) peeled, pitted and sliced into ¾ in wedges
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice (I used peach nectar)
BISCUITS
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup low fat plain yogurt, chilled
6 tablespoon low fat milk, chilled
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and hot
Directions
For the peaches: Toss peaches, sugar and orange juice in a large bowl and set aside. Stir occasionally, for 30 minutes.
For the biscuits: Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat to 475. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, salt and 4 teaspoons of sugar, baking soda and salt together in large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt, milk and egg together, then stir in the hot melted butter until clumps form. Stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until the dough comes together and no dry bits remain,
Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop out and drop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, placed about 1 ½ inches apart. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Bake the biscuits until golden brown and crisp, about 13 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
Split each biscuit in half and place bottoms on serving dishes. Spoon a portion of the peach mixture and their juices over each biscuit bottom. Top with a heaping spoonful of whipped cream or yogurt and cap with the top biscuit.
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen “Healthy Kitchen Summer 2011”
My friend ZeBot and I think spring rolls are silly. For one thing, it is summer now and not spring.
So why are they called spring rolls? We asked our friend Erica who writes about Vietnam.
She said it’s because they’re made with lots of fresh ingredients. And spring is a time when people are happy to have fresh food after a long winter.
Then Erica told us how to make spring rolls like they do in Vietnam.
And after that we made spring rolls!
ZeBot & I get all our yummy ingredients ready to roll!
Here’s what we did:
We first a took a dried circle of rice paper. ZeBot said it looked like a flying saucer and I told him it really was one.
So we made our rice paper circle flying saucer fly! We flew it into a bowl of water, then we swished it around until it got soft.
Water turns a crispy rice paper flying saucer into a squishy wrapper for spring rolls -- it seems like magic!
A silly thing about wet rice paper: it's soft and squishy and sort of slimy (in a good way).
You can hold it up and see right through it. Kind of like a window. Here's looking at you, kid!
After that, we put the soft rice paper on a plate and put on all the stuff we wanted to put on it.
Erica said there are no rules.
You can put anything in a spring roll that you like. And nothing that you don’t like.
This one's going to be for my dad! Doesn't it look yummy?
There was a bunch of food in bowls: carrots, cucumbers, shrimp, noodles, lettuce and some fresh herbs. Plus a bunch of sauces and some other things (we weren’t sure what they were).
ZeBot and I learned that this is a traditional Vietnamese sauce for spring rolls.
We're almost ready to rock and roll (this one is for me)!
Here’s what we put in our spring roll:
Stretchy noodles, crunchy carrots, crispy cucumbers and some soft green lettuce.
I think spring rolls are one of the silliest foods ever!
Then we folded the edges over and rolled it all up.
I'm really on a roll now! See how fast I am?
And then we ate it. It was really fun!
ZeBot and I never made spring rolls before, but we were really good at it.
How many did we make? Three! Did we eat them? Yes!
Should you try making them? Yes, for sure!
See how much energy ZeBot and I get from making spring rolls?
If you’re hungry for info about Planet DooF and ZeBot‘s Planet Earth mission with Y-SpaceAlien, just click here. And stay tuned for more adventures — see you soon!
Wontons really are wonderful! Their name sounds like they weigh a ton, but luckily they don’t — so you can eat lots of them. We looked up “wonton” at the Food Timeline and learned that the name comes from the Chinese for “little stuffed dumpling.”
Making a yummy after-school snack is as easy as 1-2-3-WONTON!
They’re light and yummy and filled with fresh flavors. And they’re good for you too!
Wontons are super-fun and easy to make.
In case you want a preview, this is how you do it:
So, you get your own wonton dough and stuff it with sausage. Then you just simmer your wontons for a few minutes. “Simmer” means to cook them gently in heated water that’s barely bubbling. Then put them on a plate with carrots — make them look really pretty. Then dip your wonderful wontons in soy sauce (or not) and start snacking!
Easy, right? Tastes great too!
So what are you waiting for? Wontons are a ton of fun!
Wontons are as much fun to make as they are to eat!
A Super-Simple Recipe for Wonderful Wontons
Makes 32 super-yummy wontons
What you need
Ingredients:
•1 pound sausage w/Asian seasoning (available at Whole Foods)
•1 large egg white
•32 wonton wrappers (one package)
•6 cups water for cooking
•Soy sauce for serving
•1 cup shredded carrots for serving
Equipment needed: fork, medium mixing bowl, pastry brush, skimmer and large pot.
What you need to know:
1.Put the chicken sausage in a bowl and break apart with a fork.
2. Put the egg white into a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork.
3. Lightly dust a baking pan (your work area) with flour. Lay a wonton wrapper flat. Place a rounded teaspoon of the meat in the middle. Dip a pastry brush into the egg wash and brush the wrapper around the meat.
4. Fold the wrapper over the meat, lining up the corners to form a triangle. Press the wrapper together, but don’t press on the meat. As you’re pressing the wrapper, push out big air bubbles inside. Now that you know how to do it, make 31 more won-tons.
5. Have an adult cook the won-tons in a pot of simmering water on the stove. Put several in a large pot and simmer for about five minutes. Use a skimmer to lift them into a colander to drain. Add shredded carrots to a small plate. Set won-tons on top and serve with soy sauce.
6. Have fun eating your wonderful wontons!
Editor’s Note: This post was inspired by the live blogging at DooF-a-Palooza 2011.
The DooF Kids’ Food Blogging Program was founded by DooF Culinary Creative Director,
Laura Martin Bacon — and is continuing its DooFy action at Chow Bella Kids under the expert supervision and guidance of Elaine Smit. For more of Elaine’s work, please visit http://www.chowbellakids.net
One of our favorite moments at DooF-a-Palooza 2011 was the Ready, Set, Bag competition between Marketing Manager Perri Kramer, from our wonderful event sponsor Whole Foods, and Vivek Khuller, a Silicon Valley CEO who, to my knowledge, had never lost at anything! This competition had EVERYTHING: emceed by Bay Area culinary great Joey Altman, and judged by filmmaker Justine Jacob, whose documentary, Ready, Set, Bag was the inspiration for the competition, it was a true nail-biter, with a shocking and unexpected result, and a fine example of sportsmanship by all the competitors.
For more information about Ready, Set, Bag, visit readysetbag.com
Give up? It’s my best buddy and fellow culinary explorer, ZeBot Planet-DooF!
Why is a fuzzy zebra from outer space hanging out in farmers’ market vegetable bins, artisanal cheese shops and specialty spice racks?
Because he’s on a DooFy mission to explore colorful new ways to jazz up the freshest recipes in the galaxy – and have tons of fun doing it!
Spice up your life with colorful seasonings like these: they add amazing flavor to just about EVERYTHING!
ZeBot has beamed himself down from our DooFian galaxy to team up with me for the biggest-ever culinary exploration of Planet Earth.
We’re cruising around the planet in our space-and-time-traveling GastroPod on a quest to learn about food from every possible perspective: from flavors and recipes to science, history and culture.
Recently, we visited the Fancy Food Show in Washington, D.C., where we discovered some of the most amazing foods on the planet.
The fungus among us (a.k.a. "mushrooms") offer a galaxy of delicious possibilities!
On Planet Earth, it's usually specially trained dogs or hungry pigs who hunt for truffles -- but DooFian zebras can find them too!
How does ZeBot feel about olives? "OLOVE them!" he says (punnily, as usual).
Say "cheese," ZeBot -- it has TONS of calcium!
A close culinary encounter with another creature from outer space!
Of course, when it comes to healthy, great-tasting food, ZeBot and I are in search of ALL the answers.
As any kid will tell you, the best way to find answers is to ask lots of questions — and one of a DooFian’s favorite ways to do it is with riddles.
Here’s an example:
“Some people think I’m a vegetable, but I’m really a fruit. I taste great raw in salads or on sandwiches, or you can cook me to make pasta sauce or ketchup. Who am I?”
For the answer to this and other edible riddles (plus some cool recipes), check out our latest DooFy adventure on Planet W-S:
Tomato or tomahto? Fruit or vegetable? Once again, DooF tackles the big questions in this latest DooF on Wheels source to table journey, this time in quest of green, red, yellow, striped and even pink tomatoes. Walk among the vines as Farmer Joe of Terra Bella farms in Pleasanton explains how striped tomatoes evolved then follow him to the Pleasanton farmers’ market where tomato experts large and small, including a rare Australian tomato shepherd, bark out their responses to our Doofy questions.
DooF took another backwards journey from the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market in San Francisco, where apples are sold, to DeVoto Gardens, which grows over 50 varieties. In this video, the DooF kids find out what kinds of apples the people at the market like to eat then get to taste some amazing and lesser-known kinds of apples that most people have never heard of.
Did you know that there was such a thing as a Hawaiian apple? And it tastes just like, well, watch and also learn how an apple a day (or eight of them) may actually keep the doctor away.
This market was hosted by Lauren and Alexa from DooF, and as you can tell from the video,
included a musical soundtrack by a very talented steel drum player. We visited with many
kids and families on this day, and especially engaged many in the 60-second challenge
to arrange all of the parts of plants (from seed, to flower, stem, and root) in their correct
order for a prize!
This market was sunny and warm and we had lots of young visitors stop by. The wheel
of food and 60 second garden challenge were a big hit and our participants, especially
their parents, were very excited to find out the prize for playing was a healthy
applesauce or juice.
by Elaine (a grown-up) with Ty, age 8 & Emily, age 7 1/2
A perfect ripe peach has few equals! Last year, while creating fun great tasting recipes using peaches for our kids cooking camp, I discovered Peach Melba.
The ingredients are simple, just peaches, simple syrup infused with a vanilla bean and lemon
juice, drizzled with fresh made raspberry sauce. Oh, yes and don’t forget the vanilla ice cream – from scratch if you are cooking with us.
Simmer peaches in simple syrup for a few minutes with some lemon juice and vanilla bean.
Let the peaches cool a bit before handling them.
The raspberry sauce was so easy to make and fun. The kids love pushing the raspberry mixture through the sieve.
Our Recipe for Peach Melba
The Peach Melba was such a hit last year we just had to bring it back for the kids in our summer cooking camp this year. It amazing how a few simple ingredients create such big flavor.
Ingredients
Peaches:
3 cups water
3-1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 peaches
Raspberry sauce:
3 cups raspberries
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
To serve:
1 large tub vanilla ice cream
Directions
1. Put the water, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla pod into a wide saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Bring the pan to the boil and let it bubble away for about 5 minutes, then turn the heat down to a fast simmer.
2. Cut the peaches in half, and poach the peach halves in the sugar syrup for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side depending on the ripeness of the fruit. Remove them to a plate with a slotted spoon.
3. When all the peaches are poached, let them cool a bit and then peel off their skins. Set aside.
4. To make the raspberry sauce, crush the raspberries, confectioners’ sugar, and lemon juice in a blender or use a potato masher and have some fun mashing the raspberry mixture in a medium sized bowl.. Push the mixture through a sieve to remove the pits and pour the puree small cup.
5. To assemble the Peach Melba, allow 2 peach halves per person and sit them on each plate alongside a scoop of ice cream pour some raspberry sauce over each serving.
Peachy Keen: A Kids’ -Eye View
I Made Peach Melba by Ty, age 8
First we cut the peaches. Next we boiled the peaches with lemon juice. Then we took off the skin. Last we ate it. I liked it!
What I think: It is very good. You have to try it!
Editor’s Note: This post was inspired by the live blogging at DooF-a-Palooza 2011.
The DooF Kids’ Food Blogging Program was founded by DooF Culinary Creative Director,
Laura Martin Bacon — and is continuing its DooFy action at Chow Bella Kids under the expert supervision and guidance of Elaine Smit. For more of Elaine’s work, please visit http://www.chowbellakids.net
