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“Sooooo good! Used canned peaches (in fruit juice) and it turned out so great. The icing is amazing. What a yummy, easy summer treat! Thank you!” ~Katie
my brown sugar peach cake is packed with Southern charm
Since the highlights of this cake are the juicy fresh peaches and the Southern caramel icing, we’ll take a logical shortcut and use a good quality yellow cake mix as our base. Nobody wants to be stuck fiddling with measuring cups and spoons while everybody else is out having fun, so this just makes sense. My preferred brand? Duncan Hines.
Cake mixes are forgiving and doctoring them is easy ~ I used less liquid to account for the pound of fresh peaches we’ll be adding, and subbed peach nectar for water. No biggie.
what you’ll need for this peach cake
If you keep a yellow cake mix in the cupboard you can whip this thing up in no time. It fits in a standard 9×13 pan and it serves a crowd.
- 15-ounce yellow cake mix
- I think Duncan Hines is best.
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- any neutral flavored oil is fine.
- peach juice or nectar
- peaches
- butter
- cream
- brown sugar
- vanilla
- confectioner’s sugar
a cooked caramel frosting makes this peach cake extra special
The frosting is equally as easygoing, and I think you’ll be surprised to see how straightforward it is to make. I stir up some butter, brown sugar, and cream in a saucepan, just until it comes to a boil, then stir in some vanilla and powdered sugar. The whole lot gets poured right over the top of the cake.
You have to work quickly, the frosting sets up almost immediately. When you slice it into pieces you’ll get that crackled effect that signals yummy caramel. If you refrigerate the cake, the frosting will become deliciously fudge-like. Be sure to take a spoon to the pan and grab yourself a taste of the hot frosting. Nirvana!
This made a great little breakfast cake the next morning, too; the cake is not too sweet, the peaches are juicy, and the frosting, well, the frosting is amazing.
a few tweaks made this peach cake perfect!
I adapted this recipe from The Food Charlatan. The original uses 2 boxes of peach jello, which I omitted. I use fresh rather than frozen peaches, and I substitute peach nectar for the water, which gives a more natural peach flavor. The frosting I use here is the same one from one of my favorite cakes, my Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake, it’s easy to make and delicious!
more summer sheet cakes
- Mint Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Blueberry Zucchini Snack Cake with Lemon Buttercream
- Caramel Apple Sheet Cake
- Lemon Velvet Sheet Cake
- Classic Yellow Sheet Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Brown Sugar Peach Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9×12 baking pan
Ingredients
- 15 ounce yellow cake mix, (I like Duncan Hines)
- 3 large eggs, or the amount specified by your cake mix
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil, or the amount specified by your cake mix
- 1/2 cup peach nectar or peach juice
- 1 lb peeled and chopped peaches, (about 3-4)
- drop orange food coloring, optional
brown sugar frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut in pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Blend together the cake mix, eggs, oil, and nectar and food coloring, if using, until well combined. Fold in the peaches and turn the batter into a lightly sprayed 9×12 pan. Bake for about 28 minutes, or until done…you can check with a toothpick, it should come out without batter clinging to it, but moist crumbs are fine.
- Put the butter, cream, and brown sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Take off the heat at add the vanilla and the sifted sugar. Whisk until well blended and the little lumps of sugar have disappeared. Put it back on a low heat if necessary.
- Pour the frosting over the cake, trying to get it evenly coated on the first try, because it will set up quickly and you won’t be able to spread it without cracking the surface.
- Let the frosting harden at room temperature or in the refrigerator before cutting.
Your pecan praline pumpkin cake is my favorite cake! I’m going to give this peach twist a try next week for my birthday 🙂 I think I’ll add some pecans on top too… yum yum!
Oh my gosh that pumpkin cake is my favorite too, even though I probably shouldn’t pick favorites 😉
That cake looks delicious. I love peach cake. And the icing looks amazing.
Thanks Jeff, it was a hit in this house, I can tell you!
Making this beauty today, can’t wait..I absolutely love your recipes. I’ve been following you forever. I even love the name
Sue, I made this cake yesterday for a friend who just got out of the hospital. I liked the recipe so much, I made one for my family and one for her. The cake was so easy, and peaches are perfect this time of year. The frosting tastes amazing. I want to put it on everything. Your recipe says 1 pound of peaches. It was really 2 full cups. The cake is so moist. the frosting so perfect. I’ve had it for dessert and breakfast so far. Love it.
I always love these quick reviews on a recipe Sonja, and I’m so happy that you liked it. Did you taste the frosting warm from the pan? Amazing. And I had it for breakfast the next day too 🙂
Having friends for dinner this weekend and I’m making this cake! That brown sugar frosting is everything!
that icing would be great on anything, and you’ve chosen a mighty fine cake that’s definitely worthy of it!
That icing is the stuff of dreams!! Looks so delicious Sue!! Pinned 🙂
This is dangerous! It is always great to have a cake mix recipe up your sleeve. And that frosting? I’d put that on everything-including my fingers!
Abbe I scraped that pan CLEAN, it was sooooooo good.
Can I use canned or frozen peaches? Cannot find peach nectar, what can I use to substitute?
You can used frozen peaches, Deborah, and I assume you can use canned, just drain them well. I’m surprised you can’t find the nectar, most stores have it, but you can use water, or apricto nectar if you can find that.
If you use canned peaches use the liquid when you drain the peaches. Goya products which is sold in most supermarkets carry peach nectar.
I love all the Goya nectars, that’s the brand I used. Good tip about the drained peach juice.
Definitely a keeper recipe, love the frosting and a cold fudge like cake sounds like the perfect way to celebrate peaches. Love this………..
My frosting turned out very grainy. Followed directions. What did I do wrong? Cake itself was great-very moist.