Summer Peach Poundcake

Well, after a long break from the blog, I’ve decided it’s time to come back. While the world is on fire, I needed a bit of a break - I mean… didn’t we all? The time has been used wisely to listen, learn, converse, and contemplate. Returning to baking is where I feel at ease and now is the time.

Peaches. Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches (not so much) for free. And what are we doin’ with ‘em? POUNDCAKE. My suggestion for this poundcake would be to get the pinkest/rosiest peaches you can find, since they will give you that lovely blush color in the end. Also, pick a peach that is super ripe right now and make this immediately. Other than ensuring your peaches are super pink and ripe, this is easy breezy, friend. Enjoy and welcome back.

Summer Peach Poundcake

Slightly adapted from the folks over at the New York Times

230 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and allowed to cool to room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

320 grams (2 1/2 cups) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

4 medium, ripe, red-hued peaches (a little over 1 pound)

juice of 1 large lemon

3 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

125 grams (1 cup) powdered sugar, plus more as needed

300 grams (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325℉ and ensure the rack is in the middle section of the oven. Lightly butter and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan, and set aside.

Dice 2 peaches, skin on and pitted, into 1/2-inch pieces. Pat the pieces dry with a paper towel and set aside for now.

Pit the remaining 2 peaches, roughly chop, and add the peach pieces and the lemon juice to a blender or a food processor - blend on high until completely puréed, scraping down the bowl a couple times (peach will fly everywhere in the vessel). Measure out 1 leveled cup without scraping the edges of the vessel (mine was just short of that, but it’s okay!) of the purée and transfer it to a mixing bowl along with the cooled melted butter, eggs + egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Now you can completely scrape down the sides of the food processor and make the icing using the small amount of puréed peaches still remaining. Add the powdered sugar to the remaining peach purée in the blender and blend on high until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. The icing should be somewhat thick but thin enough to drizzle. Add a splash of water to thin, if needed. Ultimately, you’re looking for something sightly thicker than maple syrup. Cover and set aside at room temperature until it’s time to ice the cake.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine. Pour the peach/egg/butter 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, spreading evenly to the edges, and bake until crusty and golden brown on the top and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 75 to 80 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring carefully to a wire rack placed over a rimmed cookie sheet.

Once the poundcake has been transferred to the wire rack, stir the icing a final time and pour/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!