Just Peachy

When life gives you lemons, you make lemon-aid...when a little old man gives you fresh picked peaches you darn well better find a good way to use them and not let them go to waste (finger wag, finger wag, finger wag). Lol...but seriously...a very sweet older gentleman gave me a generous armload of peaches a short time ago and I immediately thought of a recipe for peach pound cake I'd been wanting to try...but we ate them first. So with our appetite for fresh peaches growling we visited one of our local farms we are blessed to have in our area to gather more. Here's what I did with them...

Peach Pound Cake (Revised view the original recipe here)
1 c. butter (see note about substitutes)*
1-3/4 c. sugar
6 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. low fat peach yogurt
2 1/2 c. fresh or frozen peaches
(1/2 cup of the peaches can be replaced with any other fruit you wish blueberries and raspberries are sure winners but apricots or strawberries would be excellent too)

Directions:

[Note: If you're using fresh peaches you will want to peel them first. To do this drop them gently into a pot of boiling water for 30-60 seconds then put them directly into a bowl of ice water. The skins will slide right off.]

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the batter alternately with yogurt. Fold in the peaches.
2. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

As originally written the cake probably tastes pretty much like a standard pound cake but maybe just a touch heavy on the almond flavor. Although, almond extract is a traditional flavoring for pound cake, 1 tsp. is just too overpowering for my taste especially since peach should be prominent here. Adding fresh or frozen peaches is a great way to add some flavor and texture (and of course it looks very pretty) but if you really want peach flavor you're going to have to add something extra. That's were the peach yogurt came in. I've recently gone on a yogurt kick using it in the place of sour cream and mayo; if you haven't tried it please do you'll probably love it and it's so much better for you. I first thought I might just use plain low fat yogurt to replace the sour cream but decided I would need extra peachy-ness so I opted for peach yogurt instead. I cut back on the sugar because of the sweetness in the yogurt and because I love the combo of cinnamon and peaches in peach cobbler I added a tad here.

If you try it, I hope you enjoy and as always feel free to play with the recipe like I did, make it your own and have fun! :)

*Substitutes can be made but please be aware that the butter flavor is a prominent note in pound cake. If you do choose to substitute Margarine for butter always substitute STICK butter with STICK margarine 1 for 1, but the taste will not be the same. My preference if I use one is a blended Margarine like Land O Lakes Country Morning blend.