A Year of Mindful Eating: Food stories that take you home: Peach Pound cake

When I saw a pic of @chocolateforbasil’s peach pound cake in the New York Times food section I had to cook it. I love peaches and I love cake so what could be better than combining the two? Besides, peaches are at their peak right now, and while they’ll be good until September, better to get going so I can cook this cake more than once.

Pound cakes weren’t a thing when I lived in Australia. Aside from an occasional fruit cake – a cake made with dried fruit such as mixed peel, raisins, glacé cherries, etc. – cakes were mostly round. I’m not sure if my mother ever tasted banana cake, and carrot cake would have horrified her, but she did make a delicious, round peach upside down cake.

Here pound cakes are available everywhere, including an Entenmann’s version, which as near as I can tell is equal parts sugar, flour, butter, and preservatives. By some miracle it’s light and fluffy and leaves no mark, that is, you eat a slice, and you can either eat the rest of the cake, or a full meal immediately afterwards, or both. I looked them up in my old Joy of Cooking and they only rated a paragraph. The only clue I found was that pound cakes are traditionally dense, but if I wanted a lighter, fluffier cake, all I have to do is separate the eggs.

Always a stickler for tradition (so long as it serves my purpose), I kept the eggs together and got at it. There is much to like about this cake. First it has peaches, second, it’s a cake, and third it is mixed by hand which has a big impact on the washing up. But there were some problems. I used my Pyrex loaf pan which I measured post bake. It is 8.6 x 5 inches. The recipe calls for a 9 x 5 inch pan. This has never been an issue before, but my instincts, which told me it was a bit full when it went in the oven, were spot on. A good inch thick layer spilled over the top and landed on my oven floor.

Next came the icing, a combination of ripe peach, a drop of lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar. Now this is seriously one of the most delicious frostings I’ve ever tasted. The problem, it never set. The recipe says make it in advance, which was strange in and of itself. My experience with icing is to always make it at the time it’s being used, the basic idea of glaze being that we must pour it on and shape it before it sets. According to the recipe, “The icing should be thick but thin enough to drizzle. Add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or a splash of water to thin. . .” Mmmm, still it didn’t set.

And here’s my point. This is not the first time that I’ve cooked something from the NYT because it looked and sounded delicious, but the recipe didn’t work. Makes me wonder if they have a test kitchen. Certainly, someone cooked this cake, there is a great pic of it. No wait, I’ve never forgotten that article in Harper’s Magazine in the 1980s deconstructing food photography. Maybe the cake was styled, rather than cooked? Oh dear. I want recipes that work. I want real authentic food that works for me and my family. I’m as much a fan of food porn as the next fat girl, and I have to say, the finish product was yummy, dense and rich, if missing its top. And the frosting never got old.

As my old mother always said, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This one is worth a go, but make sure your loaf pan is at least 9 x 5 inches and have some ice cream on standby. You might want to cover it in some of that no-set peach frosting.

I am just copying and pasting the recipe from the new York Times by Jerrelle Guy. All credit for it to her. here’s the link to the original: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021204-peach-poundcake?action=click&module=Collection%20Page%20Recipe%20Card&region=Our%2010%20Most%20Popular%20Recipes%20Right%20Now&pgType=collection&rank=1

Ingredients

• 1 cup/230 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted and cooled to room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 2 ½ cups/320 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
• 3 medium, ripe, red-hued peaches (about 1 pound), pitted (see Note)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, beaten
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup/125 grams unsifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
• 1 ½ cups/300 grams granulated sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, and set aside.
2. Dice 1 peach into 1/3-inch pieces. Pat the pieces dry with a paper towel and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 2 peaches and the lemon juice to a food processor or blender, and blend on high until completely puréed. Measure out 1 leveled cup of the purée and transfer it to a mixing bowl along with the melted butter, eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk to combine and set aside.
4. Completely scrape down the sides of the food processor, and make the icing using the small amount of puréed peaches still remaining: Add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar to the remaining peach purée in the food processor and blend on high until combined. The icing should be thick but thin enough to drizzle. Add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or a splash of water to thin, as needed. Cover and set aside until it’s time to ice the cake.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine. Pour the peach mixture into the flour mixture, and whisk well until the batter is thoroughly combined, then fold in the diced peaches. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan, spread evenly to the edges, and bake until crusty and golden brown on the top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 75 to 80 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
6. Stir the icing a final time and spread it on top of the warm cake, allowing the extra icing to drip down the sides. Cool the cake to room temperature. Slice and serve, or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store on the counter for up to 3 days.

Tip

• Use the boldest-colored peaches you can find, as their skins will lend blush to the glaze. However, you can also peel the peaches, if you mind the specks of skin.

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