Peach Pound Cake

By Jerrelle Guy

Updated June 24, 2026

  • Beatriz Da Costa for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susie Theodorou.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
2 hours, plus cooling
Rating
4(3,144)
Comments
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This recipe proves that the perfect summer pound cake takes no special equipment or skill to pull off. Once you’ve prepared the peaches, this is essentially a dump-and-whisk cake. Puréed peaches (plus an extra egg yolk) keep the cake from drying out. Diced peaches add bursts of fresh fruit, and a peach glaze lends another layer of flavor. Use sweet, ripe peaches for best results, but frozen work fine here, too. If you’re looking for a spin on classic peaches and cream, serve a slice with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 (9-by-5-inch) cake

  • 1 cup/230 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted and cooled to room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

  • 2 ½ cups/320 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

  • 3 medium, ripe, red-hued peaches (about 1 pound), pitted (see Note)

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 3 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, beaten

  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 1 cup/125 grams unsifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed

  • 1 ½ cups/300 grams granulated sugar

  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Dice 1 peach into ⅓-inch pieces. Pat the pieces dry with a paper towel and set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Add the remaining 2 peaches and the lemon juice to a food processor or blender, and blend on high until completely puréed. Measure out 1 leveled cup of the purée and transfer it to a mixing bowl along with the melted butter, eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk to combine and set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Completely scrape down the sides of the food processor, and make the icing using the small amount of puréed peaches still remaining: Add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar to the remaining peach purée in the food processor and blend on high until combined. The icing should be thick but thin enough to drizzle. Add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or a splash of water to thin, as needed. Cover and set aside until it’s time to ice the cake.

  5. Step 5

    In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine. Pour the peach mixture into the flour mixture, and whisk well until the batter is thoroughly combined, then fold in the diced peaches. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan, spread evenly to the edges, and bake until crusty and golden brown on the top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 75 to 80 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

  6. Step 6

    Stir the icing a final time and spread it on top of the warm cake, allowing the extra icing to drip down the sides. Cool the cake to room temperature. Slice and serve, or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store on the counter for up to 3 days.

Tip

  • Use the boldest-colored peaches you can find, as their skins will lend blush to the glaze. However, you can also peel the peaches, if you mind the specks of skin.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
3,144 user ratings
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Comments

Jane Eyrehead

Even though it is a sin to do anything with a perfect peach except eat it over the sink, I am a fool for pound cake and made this. It is indeed delicious. I used half the confectioner's sugar for the icing because that's all I had, and it was fine. I thought of adding some bourbon to the glaze, but left it alone and drank the bourbon. I served it with home made vanilla ice cream with sliced peaches, really gilding the lily there.

Fatima

Made this as written but omitted the icing. It was delicious. A little too sweet for me so next time I would put a little less sugar.

Susan Suter

If you blanche your peaches first in scalding water, let them sit in it for a few minutes and then rinse them in cold water, you will find that the beautiful red colour from the skin will transfer to the flesh, and as an added bonus, the skins pop right off!

Alicia

My fresh peaches were decidedly lackluster, so I roasted them first and also browned the butter before starting recipe. Also took others' advice and used a few more peaches than were called for. Used a GF bread pan (King Arthur) which has much higher sides than a conventional bread pan, so overflow was not a problem. The cake was tender and flavorful; I'd make again.

Tigerpiper

Spectacular. It was slightly more batter than my pan’s capacity which caused it to overflow while baking. This made it harder to get out of the pan and unwieldy. My loaf broke. Still delicious. I would consider dividing into two pans next time- I’d check for doneness earlier. But there would be more crisper surface area which was the best part anyway.

Laura Stevens

It was ok. Not very "peachy" flavor. Next time, note to self..instead of Vanilla extract, make it peach schnapps.

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