Grilled Peaches and Pound Cake

I was watching Cash Cab the other night and one of the very first questions in the episode was – what dessert is named due to its ingredient list with 16 oz of butter, 16 oz of sugar, 16 oz…etc?

Do you know?

I did, but only because I recently had a discussion with a friend just a few months ago about a traditional recipe.

This led me to yelling, “Pound cake. POUND Cake. POUND CAKE!” at the couple on TV who couldn’t seem to come up with the answer.

So ever since then I’ve had pound cake on my mind. Not the original recipe that makes a load of cake, but perhaps a modified version that we could handle in our house.

This weekend when we decided to grill some more peaches I decided it was my opportunity to slip in a little pound cake.

If you’ve never grilled peaches before, it is super simple. Just half and remove the pit. If you want to you can sprinkle them with sugar on the cut side, or you can do this with sugar or honey after they grill, or you can leave the sugar out all together. That’s what we did this time, just straight peaches.

Place them on a hot grill, cut side down for 3 to 5 minutes and you have warm, juicy peaches perfect for dessert.

I modified a standard recipe for the pound cake using Demerara sugar and white whole wheat flour. It baked up wonderfully. We served it with the peaches and drizzled the whole thing with some coconut milk.

Grilled Peaches and Pound Cake

½ to 1 peach per person, grilled using instructions above
½ cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups raw cane sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup milk
Coconut milk for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar, cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and almond extract and mix well. Beat for 3 to 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually alternate between mixing in the dry ingredients and the milk. Mix just until smooth.

Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack about 10 minutes, remove from pan and serve warm or allow to cool completely. Makes 10-12 slices.

Plate one slice of the cake with one or two peach halves and drizzle with coconut milk to serve.