Fresh Peach Cupcakes

Morning lovelies!

First things first, I must apologize for the delay in between posts – gah! I have no real excuse except to say that it has been a crazy busy few weeks – but really, who isn’t busy right? I told you – I have no good excuses…. I fell behind – it was stupid… please forgive me 🙂

So last weekend I bought some local peaches from the Haney Farmers Market and they have got to be the best peaches I have ever had in my life. They were all so, so juicy, and just ripe with peachy deliciousness. When I cut into the first one and had a taste,  just to make sure they were good ;p} It was so dang delish I just wanted to eat the entire box.

Unfortunately I had plans for these peaches and I couldn’t just up and eat them until I was sure I had enough for leftover snacking. Sadly- I had no such luck and I ended up using all of the peaches I bought to fulfill a cupcake order. So basically the number one plan for this Saturday is to make a B-line for the farmers market fruit booth so that I can buy up as much as possible, chop em’ up and freeze them to use throughout the year when we are devoid of fresh peaches.

So I have a sweet and simple post for you all today with these Peach Cupcakes that I made for a custom order on the weekend that I really wanted to share with you before peach season bids us adieu – speaking of which, can you believe it’s almost the end of summer…. ? It’s crazy, I can’t believe we are almost in September!

So with no more explanation as to why these cupcakes happened, {because really, who needs reason when you have cupcakes} here is the recipe – I hope you enjoy.

Fresh Peach Cupcakes
Makes: 12 cupcakes

Things you need…

Vanilla Butter Cake
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh peach puree (about 2-3 medium peaches)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup of peach jam

Peaches & Cream Frosting
1/2 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
4-5 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup peach puree
1 tsp vanilla (or peach schnapps)

How to make… 

Peach Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees; line a cupcake tray with paper liners or grease with butter and flour.

Peel, core and chop 3-4 medium peaches. Place them into a food processor or blender and puree; Mix 1/4 cup of the peach pure in with the buttermilk and set aside.  Reserve the remaining puree for your frosting.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often to evenly beat the batter. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl before adding the second egg. Once all the eggs have been beaten in, add in the vanilla and beat on high for 1 minute.

In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add 1/2 of the flour mix to the batter and beat on low to just combine; scrape down the sides of the bowl. Next add in the peach buttermilk mixture and beat on low to just combine; scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until combined and there are no lumps in your batter- being careful not to over mix.

Evenly distribute the batter among your 12 prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until cupcakes are puffed up and the tops bounce back to the touch or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Peaches & Cream Frosting
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer that has been fitted with the whip attachment until fluffy and no lumps remain. Sift in 2 cups of the icing sugar and mix on low until combined.

Add in the peach puree and vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add in another 2 cups of icing sugar and beat on low to combine; set your mixer to high and beat until frosting becomes pale and very fluffy – about 2-4 minutes.

If your icing is too fluid, add in the 5th cup of icing sugar 1/2 a cup at a time until you achieve the consistency you need to frost your cupcakes. If at any point your icing becomes too stiff, add in a tsp of milk at a time to smooth it out.

Assembly
Once your cupcakes have completely cooled to room temperature, use a sharp pairing knife to cut a circle out of the center of each cupcake, angling your knife as you cut the circle so that you can pull out the center easily. Set aside the centers onto a plate for later. Fill each cupcake with about 1 1/2 tsp of peach jam. Take the reserved tops and press them back into the holes and gently into the peach jam.

Now you are ready to frost and you can frost your cupcakes however you want. I frosted mine with a rose pattern because I wanted to keep the look very simple and clean, but there are so many adorable ways to frost cupcakes, and they will look good no matter what you choose. For instructions on how to pipe the roses, see below…

Rose Piping
Place your frosting into a piping bag that has been fitted with the rose tip. Starting from the center of your cupcake begin piping and circle around the cupcake 2-3 times or until you reach the outer edge, keeping the frosting tip somewhat close to the top of the cupcake to create that rose look. Once you have reached the edge, relieve the pressure on your piping bag and gently pull off of the cupcake.

This is a super sweet and simple cupcake recipe that you can have whipped up in no time, but will make everyone smile when you present them. Not only are they so pretty, but they are so tasty with that combination of the fluffy, fresh, sweet peach cupcake, with the light peaches and cream cheese frosting. These cupcakes will dazzle anybody who loves peaches, and they are the perfect way to round off your summer fruit baking.

Happy Baking

KP xoxo