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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.
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!
No surprise, Sue, another winner here! This peach cake was fabulous, and everyone loved it. Our son, though, a 40-year-old skeptic, looked at the 3 desserts we had all brought, pointed to this cake and said, “What’s that?” I said, “It’s fresh peach cake off your (used to be ours), peach tree.” “Huh,” he said. Then he tasted it. Sounds of ecstasy ensued. When we were cleaning up he put his hand over the plate and said, “Don’t take that home!’ Nothing more need be said about this wonderful cake, and of course, don’t even get me started about this frosting! Thanks for another wonderful recipe I will be making forever.
The best I can say about this recipe is that it was just okay. The icing was good but beyond that, the cake lacked peach flavor. I used Jumex peach nectar and more peaches than the recipe even called for (by accident, my peaches were a lot bigger than I realized until I started chopping them). Someone else mentioned adding a box of peach Jello and that’s a good suggestion (as well as what was done in the original recipe that this was adapted from)–maybe it would give it more flavor. Otherwise it kind of tasted like a box yellow cake mix with homemade caramel frosting. There’s nothing wrong with that and the recipe wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what I was expecting and hoping it would be.
Sorry this wasn’t a hit for you Abby. I worry about the jello giving the cake an artificial flavor, which is why I left it out.
Loved this cake! Super yummy and moist. Instead of peach nectar I used juice that came off of the peaches to create a 1/2 cup of liquid. I also added a small peach jello to the dry cake mix. I did not use any food coloring. The frosting was to die for! Perfection!
Hello Sue,
Should the cake be cooled before frosted?
Thank You
I add the frosting after the cake has cooled somewhat, but it can still be slightly warm.
I had this at a friend’s house. Delicious! Wondered if it can be adapted to cupcakes? If so, any suggestions?
I think the cake would translate fine, but the frosting would be the issue.
I’m glad for comments because I was also wondering about whether the cake was warm or cooled before adding the frosting. My cake is done and cooling and looks amazing! I think the frosting was perfect but I didn’t know if it should have been just to a boil or a roiling boil like when making jam. But it seems and looks divine! I know it is going to be amazing. Peaches are my favorite. Thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
I’ll clarify those points in the recipe, thanks Judy!
This cake was delicious! Do leftovers need to be refrigerated or can it stay out at room temp?
Just stumbled across this recipe and can’t wait to make it. Going to buy the ingredients I’m missing tomorrow!!
I am addicted to anything Peach Ginger so am thinking about adding some finely grated ginger to the cake batter. The frosting will, literally, be the yummy icing on the cake. WOW!
What is peach nectar, and where do you get it?
It’s peach juice, and you can find it with the other juices in most supermarkets Rita.
It’s found in the “international section” in my store, in the Mexican section.
It doesn’t say to cool cake before adding frosting.. should the cake be cooled or the frosting applied right after its taken out of the oven?
You’ll take the cake out of the oven, and then make the frosting. Pour the frosting directly over the cake, which will be still warm.
I had everything but the peach nectar, I substituted peach schnapps instead and the fresh peaches I used were extra juicy. It was amazing!!