Summertime Brown Sugar White Peach Buttermilk Cake. A moist, delicious cake that takes advantage of my favorite summer stone fruit, the white donut peach.
A few years ago my husband bought a me a white donut peach tree. Also called Saturn peaches, they are little, squat peaches, that are so sweet and I can easily eat a dozen in one sitting.
Our tree grew from a 3-4 foot tall sapling to an almost 15 foot tall tree that is incredibly prolific. We are talking hundreds of peaches. Donut peach heaven.
I much prefer white peaches and nectarines to yellow. They are sweeter and juicier. I have had one too many yellow peaches that had no flavor. I hate that.
This summer has been insanely windy and we unfortunately lost two big branches off of the tree. The weight of the peaches combined with 50mph winds many days in a row, meant we had to pick all the peaches before they were quite ready.
Several boxes full of peaches in my kitchen means I need to make all the peach recipes NOW. I first made some peach jam and then moved on to this peach buttermilk cake. Next up is peach sangria.
This is such a simple cake that really highlights the tender, sweet peaches. I made the peach jam with vanilla bean and amaretto and loved the flavor so much I wanted to carry it over into this cake. It's a perfect summertime dessert.
I would say this could be a one bowl cake, but I like to mix the flour and other "dry" ingredients in one bowl then add that mixture into the big mixing bowl after everything else is creamed together. This way all the ingredients get distributed evenly for a better baked cake. As you can see this is a really easy cake to make.
I bake this white peach buttermilk cake in a springform pan ( same pan you would use for cheesecake), since it is only one layer. It is a very moist, almost pudding like consistency, so I serve it on the cake pan base. No need to transfer to a cake plate or platter.
The brown sugar and granulated sugar mix on top of the cake gives a nice crunch to the top as well as add a little more sweetness.
I let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then I run a thin spatula around the edge then pop off the side when its cool enough to handle and then cool completely still on the springform pan base. Let the cake cool completely before serving, the slices will cut easier.
If you are impatient like I am and cut while it is still way too warm they won't look as nice. But I am assuming most people aren't photographing the cake, just slicing and eating.
This brown sugar white peach buttermilk cake is amazing with ice cream. I have around 50 pounds of peaches in boxes and still more on my tree. Gotta pick the rest before the birds eat them all!
A few notes about this Summertime Brown Sugar White Peach Buttermilk Cake first:
- I used white donut peaches. Feel free to use any kind of peaches ( or nectarines) you would like.
- I didn't peel the peaches first. They are so small and kind of hard to peel, and the peach skins just melt into the cake. Donut peaches tend to have thinner skin than traditional yellow peaches
- I used amaretto in this cake, if you don't want to use any alcohol just use a tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of the extract and amaretto
- The brown sugar and white sugar topping is a must. Use twice as much white sugar to brown and sprinkle it liberally before baking.
- This cake takes around 50 minutes to bake. Its a very moist cake so it will still seem "wet" when done if you test with a toothpick. It will be set in the middle and a golden color when done. My oven runs hot so it was done at 50 but it might take a little longer depending on your oven.
- This cake is best made in a springform pan since it is so moist. You can bake it in a 9 inch cake pan ( spray with cooking spray then line with a parchment circle). Cool completely before inverting onto a cooling rack then invert again onto a serving plate. Its a pretty fragile cake this is why I keep it on the springform pan base
- This cake is best eaten same day. Keep wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container for a day at room temperature or 3 days in the refrigerator. Not sure how well it would freeze, we always eat it in two days.
Summertime Brown Sugar White Peach Buttermilk Cake
Ingredients
- Measurements are listed in cups, ounces and grams. Pick one not all three for your recipe
For the Cake:
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour 6.75 ounces, 193 g
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 6 g
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 8 Tablespoons butter softened ( 1 stick, 4 ounces, 113 g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar 3.5 ounces
- ½ cup light brown sugar 4 ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon amaretto liqueur *
- ½ cup well shaken buttermilk room temperature, (4 ounces, 120g)
- 2 cups sliced white donut/Saturn peaches divided (16 ounces, 450 g)
Topping:
- 2 ounces granulated sugar
- 1 ounce brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Deg F. Spray a 9” round springform pan with cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Set aside
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Mix in the extract and amaretto.
- Alternate adding in the flour mixture and buttermilk with the mixer on low. Fold in one and a half cup of the sliced peaches. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining half of cup of peach slices over the top.
- Whisk together the white and brown sugar for the topping, sprinkle it liberally over the top of the cake
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the cake is starting to turn golden, top is crackled and is set in the middle.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes, run a knife or thin spatula around the edges then undo the springform clasp. Remove the ring and cool cake completely on the cake pan base. At least another 30-40 minutes.
- Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream. Whipped cream would be good too.
Notes
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