Meatless Monday: Grilled Pound Cake With Peaches & Simply Marvelous Ice Cream

For my birthday my son bought me a copy of Andrea Chesman’s  The New Vegetarian Grill, Revised Edition: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals and I’m going to be using this book for several upcoming Meatless Monday posts.

I’ve been thinking about my Meatless Monday posts and I thought it would be a good idea to have a dessert to go along with the previous and future posts.  This post is inspired by Andrea’s recipe.  The recipe is her’s except I used a special ice cream instead of whipped cream.  If you are all interested in grilling meatless dishes I can’t recommend a better book to guide you.

Maple Grilled Pound Cake With Peaches

By Andrea Chesman

• 8 firm ripe peaches or 16 canned peach halves
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 8-inch pound cake cut into 1-inch slices

If you are using fresh peaches, dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds to loosen their skins.  With a sharp paring knife, pull away the skin and discard.  Halve and pit each peach.  If you are using canned peaches, drain well.

Prepare a medium fire in the grill

Combine the orange juice, butter and the maple syrup and mix well.  Brush onto the peaches and both sides of the cake slices.  Grill the peaches and cake slices until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side for the peaches and about 3 minutes per side for the cake.

Place a slice of cake and 2 peach halves on each plate.  Drizzle additional maple syrup over the cake and peaches, if desired.  Serve at once.

I wanted something different to eat with this dessert and I wanted something a little savory to contrast the sweetness in the maple syrup and peaches.  My friend Stephan Franklin has come up with a couple of great rubs and his “Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy” rub I thought would compliment this dessert.  But how to turn it into a dessert was the question.

The answer was:

Simply Marvelous Brown Sugar Ice Cream

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 3 cups half-and-half or light cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy Rub (more or less depending on your taste)

In heavy, medium, non-aluminum saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and brown sugar until thick. In another medium saucepan bring the cream and half and half just to a boil over moderate heat. Gradually whisk the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon about 6 minutes.   Do Not Boil.

Immediately strain the custard into a medium bowl. Stir in the vanilla and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 5 hours.

Pour the cold custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let the ice cream soften slightly before serving.

This ice cream recipe is adapted from a recipe on www.inmamaskitchen.com