Peaches and Cream Muffin-Cake #DessertChallenge

During my Summers on our sailboat as a girl growing up, I could easily eat my weight in peaches and cherries each and every day. Out in the sun, with the water still dripping from my hair, I'd (re)soak myself in juice by taking a (far too big) bite of one of Niagara's finest, continue the carnage all the way down to sucking the pit completely clean, then jump back into Georgian Bay to both clean off and continue frolicking. Back in those days, I loved peaches almost as much as I loved to swim outdoors, and for those few months it seemed like it was almost all I did.

I guess because I grew up (and still basically live) with peaches treated with the reverence of gold, I never really "got" the extra treatment others would give to the fruit. Peaches, strawberries and cherries were intensely seasonal, only to be consumed fresh and as local as we could get them - not dressed up with cake, pudding or even cream. Today, I still refuse to bake or cook with prime season fruit from local farms - I save those preparations for either out of season, imported or IQF produce. Generally, this works out well, since I can get a huge bag of peaches flash-frozen from last year's August crop at the farm stand for next to nothing, and my stepdad regularly brings home Costco crates of gigantic (but green-picked) California peaches. For these two versions of my precious fruit, I don't mind adding a little glitz - which brings me to this month's Behind The Curtain Dessert Challenge - Peaches and Cream.

While we were told that the "cream" didn't have to be literal, I still used two forms of creamy dairy to make this muffin-like cake. The first was a low-fat peach yoghurt, the second was rich, luxurious melted ice cream. Then, I added a third "creamy" ingredient that may be a bit unusual - pureed silken tofu! With a little fizzy lift (and some extra flavour and sweetness) from ginger ale and some texture from rolled oats, the cake portion holds the chopped peaches in a sweet embrace, infusing ever so slightly unripe fruit (which is much easier to peel, by the way) with a subtle flavour, while soaking up the extra "peachiness" from ripe, seasonal fruit if you choose to use it.

On Lady Behind the Curtain

Peaches and Cream Muffin-Cake
Makes one 9x13" cake, 24 pieces
3 oz silken firm tofu
1 cup low-fat peach yoghurt
1/2 cup melted vanilla ice cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp canola oil
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp allspice
2/3 cup ginger ale (not diet)
2 cups chopped peeled peaches

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, grease a 9x13" pan.
2. In a food processor, combine the tofu, yoghurt,ice cream, sugar, oil and salt. Puree until smooth.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and allspice.
4. Add the pureed mixture and the ginger ale and mix until combined.
5. Fold in the peaches.
6. Spread in the pan and bake for 1 hour, until tests done.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 131.9
Total Fat: 2.9 g
Cholesterol: 2.1 mg
Sodium: 22.5 mg
Total Carbs: 26.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
Protein: 2.9 g

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