Georgia peach pound cake

Thursday, August 07, 2014 9:33 AMJust add peaches Buttery pound cake a real treat By Lisa Boykin Batts Times Life Editor I love peaches. In fact, I’ve probably had at least two a day for the last month. I’ve bought more than my share from local grocery stores but was thrilled when my cousin Martha Cayton brought me a small basketful from a favorite South Carolina peach farm recently. They were so good! This year, I’ve been enjoying them two new ways. For breakfast or bedtime snack, I fill a small bowl with granola, slice a peach over the top and add some milk. Yum, yum, yum! I also have followed Martha’s suggestion and eaten fresh peaches with vanilla Greek yogurt topped with granola. I’ve mixed in fresh blueberries when I’ve had them. Martha said the treat was like eating a sundae; and I agree! I’ve taken this to work with me several times, and I love it for a mid-morning snack. But I went a less-healthy route this weekend and made a delicious peach pound cake. There are many versions of this cake on the Internet called Georgia peach pound cake. It’s a basic pound cake recipe, rich with butter and plenty of sugar, with fresh, diced peaches mixed into the thick batter. There’s nothing complicated about this easy recipe. Just make the batter, spoon it into the Bundt pan and bake. The only twist is the pan preparation. The recipe says to grease the pan with 2 tablespoons of butter, then coat with 1⁄4 cup of sugar. I don’t always follow this step in recipes and use a non-stick spray instead, but this time I buttered and sugared as instructed. The cake came out of the pan just fine and was nice and buttery on the outside with a little bit of a crunch from the sugar. I did, however, decide to take the 2 tablespoons of butter out of the 2 sticks the recipe calls for in the batter. That meant I had 2 tablespoons less in the cake batter, but I promise you it is not missed! The three peaches I cut up also added up to 21⁄2 cups of peaches, which is more than is called for, but I added it all in. The only other change I made was in the sugar. Each time I measured out a cup for the 2-cup sugar ingredient, I made sure it was a scant cup. I made this cake Saturday night, and I’m sitting at my desk now, on Monday, nibbling on it. I really think it’s better today than it was warm from the oven. The dense texture and buttery flavor are the traditional pound cake traits we all know and love with an unexpected, but delightful, burst of peach mixed in. lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810 Peach Pound Cake  1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, divided* 21⁄4 cup sugar, divided 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cup all-purpose flour, divided 1 teaspoon baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 2 cup chopped, fresh peaches Grease a 10-inch tube pan with 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle pan with 1⁄4 cup sugar. Cream remaining butter; gradually add remaining sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well. Combine 23⁄4 cups flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating until well blended. Dredge peaches with remaining 1⁄4 cup flour. Fold peaches into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Yields 16 servings. Georgia Peach Council  * I used a total of 1 cup (or 2 sticks) of butter. I used 2 tablespoons of butter to grease my Bundt pan and used the rest for the batter. I also cut up 3 peaches that yielded around 21⁄2 cups of peaches and used them all. I also used a little less sugar than called for.