Peachy Keen

Jan likes to think about what she's going to do with orchard-fresh peaches.

Jan likes to think about what she's going to do with orchard-fresh peaches.

 
I can’t stop eating peaches!
 
These gorgeous fruits symbolize the color of this time of year. In August everything around us takes on a golden hue. The light seems deeper and more yellow. Black-eyed susans, sunflowers, and goldenrod fill the fields.
 
Lush yellow peaches give us a literal taste of that glow. It’s not just their color that puts summer’s gold into our mouths. Their juice and their texture–not soft but not hard, just yielding–help our teeth sink into the season.
 
A couple of years ago a frost hit just as peach blossoms came out. It ruined the peach crop in local orchards. I remember feeling as though summer hadn’t really taken place that year. (I’m sure our peach growers felt this lack even more strongly!) Since then I’ve never been able to take peaches for granted. They are a special summer gift.
 
We are lucky enough to have several peach orchards in Franklin County, Massachusetts. I bought the peaches for this recipe at Clarkdale Fruit Farms in South Deerfield, where Tom and Becky Clark were proudly displaying photos of their sojourn at Woodstock40 years ago. The Clarks are wonderful orchardists–caring about their community and full of information about their fruit.
 
Of course, mostly I just eat the peaches (messy but SO GOOD). Company always provides an excuse to bake, however, so here is a simple cake that gently and richly enrobes the peaches.
 
Summer Peach Pound Cake
 
I gave some of this cake to a friend, Helen-Marie Goff. She reported that her children were disappointed that the cake had no frosting … up until the moment they took a bite of the buttery mixture! It is a lovely cake–rich, sweet, and very fruity.
 
Ingredients:
 
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 cups chopped fresh peaches
 
Instructions:
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
 
In a mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Beat in the baking powder and salt.
 
On a low speed blend in the flour until it is incorporated. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the fruit into the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
 
Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Then turn the cake out onto the rack and let it cool completely. Serves 10 to 12.
 
peach pound cake web

Tags: , , , , ,

11 Responses to “Peachy Keen”

  1. Mattenylou says:

    Peaches! My favorite fruit…. and that cake sounds yummy! I’ll have to pick some up this weekend.

  2. Cathy says:

    Tinky,

    I can’t wait to try this recipe! I love peaches and I have always made pound cake from scratch (is there any other way?!). My pound cake recipe is very similar to yours except for one ingredient. Does the juice from the peaches replace the milk? The recipe I use calls for evaporated milk (I have always used skim milk) – and I was surprised to see that your recipe doesn’t have any milk.

  3. tinkyweisblat says:

    I have actually made a very similar cake, also with milk. I like this version better, however. The butter taste comes through better (if we’re going to absorb the butter’s calories we should definitely get the full flavor!), and the fruit keeps the cake quite moist. On the other hand, if you’d like to post your recipe, please do! Maybe we can have a side-by-side taste test one of these days (as soon as it gets cool enough to turn the oven on again). Thanks, Cathy……..

  4. Cathy Cosby says:

    I made this cake last night! It was a lot lighter than I thought it would be! Can’t wait to try it tonight! Taking it to my parents house to have after dinner – if we can wait that long!

    Thanks, Tinky!

  5. Cathy Cosby says:

    It was delicious!!

  6. tinkyweisblat says:

    Thanks for reporting back. I’m glad it worked out!

  7. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.

  8. jules says:

    I stopped by our local farmer’s market this weekend to pick up some peaches, specifically for this recipe. Oh. My. God.

    I’m going to blog about it right now and will point our followers in your direction. I LOVE your site.

  9. tinkyweisblat says:

    Thanks for the support, Julie; I’m so glad you liked the recipe. I won’t even hold it against you that your pound cake looks better than mine……..

    Enjoy the end of peach season.

    Readers: Julie writes for “How Does YOUR Garden Grow?” which is listed under “Some Blogs I Read” a the right.

  10. E. Sheppard says:

    Peachy keen posting, as always!

  11. tinkyweisblat says:

    Jules and E., I’m sorry it has taken me a while to respond. I’m glad this combination pleased you; I LOVE it.