I love pound cake. I love peaches. I love cooking and baking with buttermilk. Need I say more about my Peach Buttermilk Pound Cake? Not really. It’s a Peach Buttermilk Pound Cake, y’all! But then at the same time, I could elaborate volumes upon volumes simply on the amazing nature that is a pound cake! Oh, the dilemmas of Southern culinary literature! I digress...
Buttermilk is my “go to “ baking liquid for cornbread, biscuits, pound cakes and cakes too. There’s chemistry involved with the acidity and dairy quotients but I shan’t bore y’all with that. I just know that buttermilk is awesome. Instead of further elaboration on buttermilk and its baking prowess, I’ll tell y’all why I love it in this cake in particularly – the zippy tang. It is not strong but there is a slight undercurrent that keeps the cake from being too sweet. A perfect pairing with sweet to tart peaches!
So take it from this Farmer, the cake is a fun one! Serve it up for your family, friends or just indulge in the whole “thang” yourself! Enjoy, y’all!
Peach Buttermilk Pound Cake
Recipe from Dinner on the Grounds – Southern Suppers and Soirées
Photography by Maggie Yelton
I adore this cake. The base itself is a classically delicious cake with hardly a parallel. Seasonal additions such as peaches are marvelous. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, pumpkin puree, pecans, pears, and apples all meld well. For this Georgia boy, peaches are my favorite.
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2-3 tablespoons vanilla extract
finely grated lemon zest, optional (not needed if peaches are tart)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3-4 peaches, peeled and chopped (the firmer the peach, the better they hold up in the cake, but a soft peach practically dissolves and gives a bit more flavor – baker’s choice!)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a tube or Bundt pan and place it on a baking sheet; set aside.
Using a mixer on medium speed, beat the batter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, if using.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, scraping down the bowl as needed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with peaches.
Bake about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. Run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen and then turn out onto a cake plate. I usually flip the cake again so the side that was the top in the oven is, once again, the top side.
James T. Farmer III was born and raised in Georgia, where he continues to live and work as a landscape designer. He shares his love of food, flowers and photography on his blog All Things Farmer.