I’m officially kitchen-less and it feels so weird! I’m living in that limbo moment of time where I’m still in Salt Lake City, minus a house, and not quite to Charlotte, in a rental. All of my normal cake supplies and baking tools are packed in boxes, sitting in a storage unit, and I’m completely relying on my sister’s house for anything I might have forgotten that I needed during this month. So when it came time to make this peaches and cream cake, I knew I could count on my friend Natalie (and her kitchen tools!) to help me pull it all together. (She’s the person I started this girl’s night with too!) It was also a really good excuse to get together to make one more cake before I head east!
The recipe for this peaches and cream cake is adapted from this recipe by Cake by Courtney, with a few small tweaks.
Natalie has to stick to a gluten free diet, so we changed up our version so that she could actually eat the cake, but if you don’t want to go the gluten free route, you can substitute regular cake flour for the gluten free variety we used.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
Cake –
- 1 3/4 Cup Sugar
- 3 Cups and 3 Tbsp. Gluten Free Flour
- 4 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- 12 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, Softened and Cut into Cubes
- 1/2 Cup Peach Yogurt, Room Temperature
- 1/2 Cup Peach Nectar
- 4 Egg Whites, Room Temperature
- 1 Egg, Room Temperature
- 2 Tsp. Clear Vanilla Extract
Peaches and Cream Filling –
- 2 Cups Vanilla Buttercream
- 2/3 Cup Peach Jam
Vanilla Buttercream –
- 2 Cups Unsalted Butter
- 8 Oz. Cream Cheese, Softened
- 9 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Salt
Garnish –
- Fresh Sliced Peaches
- Blueberries (Optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray three 8-inch round baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottoms of each pan with sheets of parchment paper and then spray with cooking spray again. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites, the whole egg and the clear vanilla. Stir well and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the peach yogurt and peach nectar. Stir well and set aside.
In an electric mixer, combine all of the dry ingredients on low speed until mixed.
Add the butter into the dry ingredients, one piece at a time. Once all of the butter is added, mix in the peach yogurt and nectar mixture, on low speed, until combined well.
Slowly add the egg mixture, on medium-low speed, until the consistency is light and fluffy.
Divide the batter evenly among the three baking pans and smooth out the batter in each pan.
Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs when inserted into the center.
Let the cakes cool on racks for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans and placing them onto greased wire racks to cool completely. Once cool, you can level the tops if needed.
Wrap each of the cakes with plastic wrap and chill in freezer for at least an hour before using.
(Courtney adds a delicious peach compote to her peaches and cream cake, but when we made this cake, we omitted that and only added a layer of peaches and cream filling instead. Natalie has made this cake with the compote and it’s definitely worth adding, but for reference, this cake doesn’t have that extra layer. If you want to add it to your cake, check out Courtney’s recipe for the steps and directions).
Once your cakes have chilled, it’s time to make the buttercream and the peaches and cream filling, which go hand in hand!
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese for about 2-3 minutes. (Courtney’s original recipe calls for more butter and doesn’t include cream cheese, but we liked the added flavor the cream cheese brought to the frosting for this cake, so we switched the ingredients up a bit).
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Trust me when I say to use the mixer on LOW speed. If not, you’ll have powdered sugar covering your entire kitchen 😉
Bump the mixer up to medium speed and add the whipping cream, vanilla and salt.
Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat the frosting for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until the frosting is lighter. Set aside while you make the peaches and cream filling.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of the vanilla buttercream with the peach jam. Stir until combined and set aside.
To assemble the peaches and cream cake, place the first cake layer on a cake plate. Spread about a cup of the peaches and cream filling over the cake layer.
Carefully place the second cake layer on top of the first layer and repeat the steps.
Add the third and final cake layer top side down onto the second cake layer.
Pop the cake into the freezer for about 10 minutes to help set the frosting before frosting the outside.
Using a small amount of vanilla buttercream, apply a crumb coat around the entire cake.
Courtney covered her cake with the vanilla buttercream frosting, but we wanted more of a naked look to ours.
Mix 1-2 drops of orange gel food coloring to your buttercream and mix until well combined.
Add the buttercream to a piping bag and pipe around the outside of the cake.
Using a cake scraper, smooth out the sides of the cake, removing any excess frosting until you’ve achieved a smooth and “barely” there look. The original white color of the crumb coat and the orange top layer of buttercream will combine to give it more of an ombre look.
Add a layer of the orange buttercream frosting to the top of the cake and smooth the top of edges.
Using a round piping tip, pipe a small border along the bottom edge of the cake to finish.
Slice up some fresh peaches and add them to the top of the cake in whatever pattern you like. (We also added a few fresh blueberries for a little extra pop of color).
This peaches and cream cake is light, fluffy, and full of yummy peach flavor. It’s the perfect way to transition into fall and is easy to make too! It’s a great dessert to serve at the last few outdoor gatherings of the season!
