This was a smittenkitchen.com recipe for cupcakes. I made some slight adaptations (based on some of the suggested comments) to make it a cake. David and I had 3 peaches left over from the produce stand that we stopped at earlier in the week. I recommend getting some fresh peaches from the nearest farmer’s market or produce stand. These peaches tasted so go and really were a nice addition to the cake. Keep in mind that this needs to be stored in the fridge as there is cream cheese in the frosting which is not room temperature stable.
Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
These cakes are extremely light, airy and moist, nothing like the dense cake recipes more traditionally used as cupcake bases. Personally, I consider this a very good thing. You know what else? Sans frosting, they’d make great breakfast muffins — just dial back one of the sugars by a generous quarter-cup and maybe even swap half of that flour with whole wheat. You could also chop in some pecans, but don’t blame me if nobody in your house wants to share.
Makes 24 to 28 cupcakes
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt
3 large peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped smallish (I went for a 1/3-inch dice)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 28 muffin cups with paper liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition, and then the vanilla. Gently mix in the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the peach chunks.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes for five minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cake version: I used 2 9-inch cake pans that I greased, floured, and lined with parchment. I still set the oven at 350 degrees. I baked the two cakes together on the middle rack for about 30 minutes. I think that my oven is a bit on the hot side, so they may need to go a bit longer.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Cornstarch? Let me explain: Quick buttercreams and cream cheese frostings are generally made by whipping fatty ingredients (butter, cream cheese, yes please) with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar works in a way that granulated sugar does not because it is mixed with cornstarch, which both keeps the sugar from clumping in its packaging and thickens the frosting. Brown sugar is not only more damp than granulated and powdered sugar, it’s missing that cornstarch thickener, so I added some to help the frosting set up. It’s still a bit thinner than traditional cream cheese frosting but the flavor leaves the stuff you’re used to in the dust. And for me, that’s all that matters.
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens back up a bit, about 30 minutes, then spread or dollop on cooled cupcakes.
David: I thought the cake was really light and good. The peaches were sweet and really tender. I thought it was great. I would give it an A.
Carla: I think I did my talking at the beginning. I liked it because it was so light and fresh tasting. Delicious. A
milehigheating 