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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.
I am excited to try your recipe here soon! I have a question: for the cake mix, I have a gluten-free yellow cake mix by King Arthur Baking, do you think it will work instead of a regular cake mix?
Yes, it will work fine!
Can frozen peaches be used?
Yes, they’ll work fine.
Made this recipe & used well-drained canned in juice peaches since the only fresh peaches available now are like rocks. Followed recipe exactly & it was a hit! The frosting is scrumptious – too sweet for some in my family but I thought it was perfect. It has been suggested to use the juice from the canned peaches but the nectar had the strongest peach flavor so that’s what I used. Thank you for this tasty recipe Sue!
Hi Sue
Can canned peaches with the juice and leave out the nectar or water except to make the juice 1/2 cup?
Thank you
Yes, that’s fine.
Hi! I just tried this recipe today, the cake was good. I substituted the yellow cake mix for a Lemon cake mix. The frosting was extremely sweet though. I am so glad that I didn’t add all the frosting. There was enough to save a bowl full of frosting.
The peaches mix very well and are enjoying in the cake.
I made this. Stayed exact with the recipe. Turned out FABULOUS!!!!
Do you let the cake cool completely before adding the frosting?
No, it can be warm, that’s fine.
My family LOVED this cake. However, it was a little too moist for me (like completely soaked). I used fresh peaches and wasn’t too concerned, but it didn’t turn out how I think it’s meant to. Help? ??
I bought some fresh peaches this weekend and decided to try this recipe. Followed the exact recipe and it’s perfect! Soooo delicious! Those complaining about icing being too sweet-This is like a sheet cake icing. If that’s too sweet for you find a different recipe.
This didn’t turn out the best for me, the only change I made was to sub whole buttermilk for the cream. The frosting didn’t set up quickly when I poured it on like the recipe stated it would and most dripped down to the sides and it is all just too sweet for my taste. The cake is drowning in the frosting and is now soggy. Maybe it will taste better chilled. I know this is probably my own error due to all the other great reviews so if I make it again I’ll go buy some cream!
I had to come back and update. I tried the cake earlier when it was still warm and then tonight tried it again, it is much better once completely cool. My frosting was still not the texture I wanted but it did taste yummy!
Thanks for that update Kara 🙂 I’m not sure why your frosting was more runny, but maybe a little less liquid next time. And I pour the frosting on the cake in the pan, so it stays on top.