Easy No-Bake Peaches and Cream Cake Recipe

Food|No-Bake Peaches and Cream Cake? Yes, Please.

Peaches and cream, always a dream

Tiramisù, that layered Italian dessert of espresso-soaked ladyfingers, whipped cream and mascarpone, is perfect as is. It is also perfectly riffable: I have Hetty Lui McKinnon’s hojicha tiramisù on my must-make list, and the Thai restaurant near me serves a Thai tea tiramisù that I think about each time I walk by.

There is a shallow bowl of fuzzy, fragrant peaches on my kitchen table right now, which means the tiramisù to turn to is David Tanis’s no-bake peaches and cream cake. Instead of coffee, you dip your ladyfingers in a syrup of white wine, sugar, brandy (or rum!) and almond extract; commenters helpfully recommend using a regular simple syrup instead for those avoiding alcohol. Lemon-zested ricotta, sliced peaches and crème fraîche lightened with whipped cream softly stack to form layers. And like a tiramisù, this is a great make-ahead dessert, a glorious thing to pull from the fridge on a late-summer Sunday.

Today’s specials

Classic mentaiko spaghetti: I keep at least two packets of mentaiko spaghetti sauce mix in my pantry at all times; when the craving hits for a salty, funky, umami-bomb pasta, nothing else will do. But every once in a while I grab a package of mentaiko sacs from the freezer section of my Asian grocery store to make this lush (and easy!) dish from Kenji López-Alt. You can watch him make it here.

BBQ chicken: A (probably unnecessary) reminder that a big batch of Sam Sifton’s BBQ chicken on the weekend pays off huge dividends during the week. His recipe calls for your favorite barbecue sauce; here’s a classic one from John Willoughby, a gochujang BBQ sauce from Tory Miller and Elyse Inamine, and a hibiscus version from Millie Peartree.

Corn salad with tomatoes, feta and mint: A five-star Mark Bittman classic for peak corn and tomato, because it won’t always be peak corn and tomato season.