Featured comment:
“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
Add The View from Great Island as a Trusted Google Source
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.
I’m making this peach cake today! Just cut up peaches. I can’t wait. Peaches are my favorite and the icing sounds amazing. Wish me luck!
Marcia
I was intrigued by your recipe, which I made today. It was a hit in this house, and I Thank You for sharing it.
Loved the Caramel Icing, and how moist the cake turned out. The peaches shined through, and this will be one of the recipes I make during peach season. Your contributions are always something I look forward to!
Thanks Claire, I love that icing too!
Where do you get peach nectar?
You can find it in the canned and bottled fruit juice section of your supermarket.
I found it in the world foods section with Mexican foods.
Could i mince or puree the peaches? I don’t want chunky cake, but I love, love peaches! Also could it be a sheet cake instead?
I would mince but not puree for this cake.
Could this be made gluten and dairy free?
You could definitely use a gf cake mix, but I’m not sure how to adjust the frosting to be dairy free.
Use DF butter, or ghee if it’s just the lactose issue, and use full fat coconut milk or coconut cream in place of the heavy cream. I use that frequently, especially for whipped cream.
I’d love to know how it came out, Jennilyn. There’s usually less mix in a GF cake mix box than a regular cake, and the whole time I was reading, I was wondering how meticulous I needed to be to adjust for that.
Is this 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar and then sift it or is it 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar after it has been sifted?
I measure first, then sift.
Hi there! I’m using a Gluten Free yellow cake mix, so do you think I should do anything special, since GF cakes are really dry!! Also, I’m wondering what I can use for the nectar? I couldn’t find any, but I did buy a large can of peaches in its juices, do you think the peach juices will work? Thank you dear!??
The peach juices should work fine Annette, and I think the peaches will add extra moisture to your cake. Hope it turns out well!
I have to bake GF too & I always add a box of pudding to the cake mix. Just the pudding powder, don’t add milk or anything to it. This works wonders, takes care of the dryness & you can never tell that it’s GF! Give it a try!
Annette try king Arthur’s gf cakes. They are moist and so so good. Usually comes with more cake than a regular box of cake mix though, so be aware of that.
Hello! Should the cake fully cool before putting on frosting? Thank you!!
I do let the cake cool, but it doesn’t have to be literally room temp, it can be a little bit warm.
I made this recipe last week and it was a hit with my family! Kroger had wonderful yellow peaches which I used and even though I didn’t peel them they worked. I used Jumex (blue can) peach nectar which I think I found at Walmart. The brown sugar icing was too good and when I make this recipe again I may try a confection sugar + peach nectar glaze. Definitely a great recipe.
Can you use frozen peaches
Sure, I think they’d work fine.