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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
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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.
For the Brown Sugar Peach Cake… Is peach nectar the juice that comes from the peaches while cutting them? How do you go about getting peach nectar. How does this cake freeze? We have a good crop of peaches and I’d like to make this cake but I’d like to save it for a later time if I can. The cake sounds wonderful and I can’t wait to try it. Thank you.
You can buy peach nectar, or peach juice, in the grocery store, Barbara. I haven’t tried freezing the cake, so I can’t say for sure, but it should work. I’m envious of your homegrown peaches!
Thanks for your reply. I’ll see if I can find peach nectar or juice when I shop.
I just made this today, still in the oven after 40 minutes and not cooked yet! I know it’s not my oven temp and I did it exactly as written. Icing made is delicious but hoping the cake finishes cooking soon. Any ideas? I used chopped frozen peaches from my harvest a few weeks ago.
It could be extra juicy peaches, Cindy. As long as the edges are doing ok, longer baking won’t hurt it. You may need to rewarm your frosting so you can pour it over the cake when it’s done. (Remember, moist crumbs are ok, the toothpick doesn’t have to come out dry.)
Hi–
A friend gave me 6 fresh peaches yesterday & a few mins. later, I found this recipe. I didn’t have a yellow cake, so I used the Duncan Hines white that I had & instead of making the frosting, I drizzled the juice from the 2 large cans of peaches that my sons had eaten over the cake & served the cake with Kool Whip. Yummy
Nice, your version sounds super easy, too!
(If you get to this in time…) Does this cake need to be refrigerated? I’m making it late tonight to serve tomorrow night. Thanks! 🙂
No, the cake can stay out for at least a day.
Your cake looks simply gorgeous Sue! I love the idea of adding peach nectar, such a great tip. thanks for the shout out!!
This cake is amazing, Karen, thanks so much for the inspiration!
Has anyone tried in a fancy bundt style pan? I’m looking for a party desert and thought it would look pretty drizzled with icing- if it didn’t stick.
I’m not sure this would be a good choice for a bundt, J, because the fruit makes it very moist, moister and softer than most bundt cakes.
Do you need to let the cake cool completely before icing?
No, you really don’t Joanne, but I wouldn’t frost it straight out of the oven.
Thanks! I have it cooling right now ??
Mmmmm!
I cannot even describe how perfect this is, the fresh, bright peaches against the rich, amazing frosting… it’s wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this! My mom and I will definitely be making the Pecan Praline Pumpkin cake as well! Thanks again, and God bless!
Thanks Sarah, what a great comment to end the day on! If you like this then I’m pretty sure you’re going to love the pumpkin cake 🙂
You had me at peaches and brown sugar! This is one dreamy summer cake! 🙂
I made this cake and Used nectarines instead of peaches..I made the fabulous frosting.. This recipe gets a 5 star thumbs up..Miss Great Island is a lady I always read .. Thank-you for sharing
🙂