so, this weekend was way crazier than I anticipated when I posted my daily deal roundup on Thursday.  I thought I was in for a relaxing weekend, but ended up running from event to event from Friday to Sunday.  The boyfriend and I spent Friday night in after he had a minor tummy procedure; while we were fairly exhausted (he from the sedatives and me from taking care of the poor, sedated sweetie), we were in need of an easy-to-assemble sweet treat to follow our healthy dinner of grilled chicken and salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette (I promise I will post that recipe!  I was so hungry I devoured it before even thinking to take a few photos).

The supermarket was sampling a lemon poundcake, and while it is generally against my religion to  purchase mass-produced baked goods… this light and airy treat caught me in a moment of true weakness: too exhausted to even begin to put together a recipe for the cake I sampled, I gave in and grabbed a loaf.  I knew I had to pair it with a fresh topping to contrast with the stock flavor of the cake, so I went straight to the fresh fruit section to see what was particularly delicious looking/smelling.  (Quick Tip: smell EVERYTHING!  If the produce is not fragrant, don’t buy it).  The supermarket just so happened to have local tree-ripened peaches that smelled like pure bliss, so I grabbed a few of those along with a red plum and a pluot, which smelled equally amazing (a pluot is a cross between a plum and an apricot; it’s flesh is usually about the same color as that of a red plum, but the interior is closer in appearance to the interior of an apricot).

This was my quick-and-easy fifteen minute creation:

Griddled Poundcake with Greek Yogurt Fruit Salad

The boyfriend certainly enjoyed it.  I took the leftovers to my grandma when we visited her on Saturday, and she gave the recipe her blessing as well!  See below for the deets.  Let me know if you have any questions about substitutions or variations on this!

Griddled Poundcake and Fresh Fruit

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf poundcake (homemade is always best, but in this instance, I used store-bought lemon poundcake)
• 3.5 oz 2% fat Plain Greek Yogurt (I used Fage; that’s half of a single-serving cup)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large yellow peaches
• 1 pluot
• 1 red plum

Instructions:

1. Slice poundcake into half-inch slices and set aside
2. Cut all fruit into half inch pieces and divide in half, placing each portion into a separate bowl (each bowl will contain 1 peach, 1/2 pluot, and 1/2 red plum)
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3.5 oz Greek yogurt to one portion of fruit.  Fold  gently to fully coat all fruit with the yogurt and vanilla.  It should look like a potato salad, but instead of starch and veggies, you’ve got delicious stone fruit.
4. Place a medium nonstick skillet (I used an 11.5″ pan) over medium heat for 1-2 minutes (just until the pan heats up)
5. Add 3-5 slices of pound cake to the warmed pan, and cook just until toasted on each side.  I do this in a dry pan because the cake already has so much fat in it that it would be too heavy for my taste if I added butter to the pan.  That said, you should absolutely experiment and figure out what you prefer!
6. Assemble a slice or two of cake per plate and top with some of the fruit and yogurt mixture, as well as some of the plain fruit mixture.  Dig in, and enjoy!

This recipe is extremely versatile.  For instance, if you can’t find a lemon poundcake, just grab a regular poundcake and consider adding a tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lemon and a few turns of lemon zest to your fruit salad mixture.  Even better – bake up your own homemade pound cake.  I’ll post my own recipe in a few weeks, but if you’re looking for a good one right now, definitely check out this one by Ina Garten, or this one by Alton Brown.

In my opinion, the sweetness of the fruit combined with the vanilla extract is plenty to eliminate the tartness of the Greek yogurt; however, if you know you have a distaste for Greek yogurt or your fruit isn’t as sweet as you like, try adding honey to taste.  Additionally, if you want a richer dessert, you could half the yogurt and add 1/4 cup whipped cream.  You would definitely want to fold this into the yogurt and then fold that mixture into the fruit (very gently!).  If you’re a big fan of fruit salad, you can skip the fresh component altogether and just use 7 oz of Greek yogurt and 1 tsp vanilla with all of the fruit, or the aforementioned half-and-half yogurt and whipped cream combination.

Not a fan of the fruits I used?  Try your favorites and let me know how it turns out!  I personally think this would be terrific with berries (on their own or combined with cherries), or apples and pears with an additional 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

Happy Baking!

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