Peach pound cake

Peachy fruit

Peaches are the perfect example of more promise than delivery: such a perfect fruit! So many lovely connotations: ‘everything’s peachy’, ‘peach and cream’, ‘you’re a peach!’, ’j’ai une pêche’ which means I’m lucky, or ‘peachy keen’.

Peach is an aphrodisiac

A beautiful fruit, featuring in many a Venus painting since it was considered a serious aphrodisiac by the Greeks and Romans. Known as Persian apple, it was probably a peach that features as the ‘apple’ given by Paris to the most beautiful goddess in the original beauty pageant.

Aphrodite got the crown (she cheated though as is widely known; having offered the most beautiful mortal as a trade-off to the judge), hence – aphrodisiac. That lady definitely left an impact on sexier foods.

Is it all so peachy?

But is it only peach skin deep? I think a ripe, juicy fruit is always delightful (seasonal, local, my mantra) but do we really enjoy that juice running down the chin? the stone that seems rooted into the fruit flesh no matter how ripe the peach is? the to peel or not to peel dilemma?

It doesn’t seem to be a smoothie material and it’s a very rare cake ingredient. Perhaps an odd peach Tatin is around, or a cheesecake featuring peaches and cream on top; other than that I find it a bit – sorry, peach – pointless.

What are peaches good for?

But when life gives you peaches, make a peach cake like this, heavily drawn on NYTimes Cooking recipe by Jerrelle Guy with a tweak of lower sugar intake and a Bundt tin. This is such a great idea I wish, obviously, I’d come up with it: puree the fruit and add it to the cake batter for the flavouring. I’m instantly tempted to do the same with strawberries or raspberries.

Peachy pound cake

The pound cake’s balance of ingredients tilts towards the fruit pulp replacing some of the butter and egg but it remains a buttery, tender and rich confection, no worry about that. And the peach fragments baked into the batter are just an adorable addition.