Peaches and Cream Cake — This cake tastes like one big, soft, fluffy, peach muffin. It’s ridiculously moist, tender, and falling-apart soft!
Summer Peach Cake Recipe
This cake tastes like a big, soft, fluffy, peach muffin. But making a cake is so much easier than making individual muffins, and I’m all for ease.
The cake is a spinoff of my Blueberry Muffin Cake. I loved that little cake so much, and when I noticed a countertop full of ripe peaches and nectarines, I knew I had to bake them into a cake.
With 2 cups of fruit, and just over 1 cup of flour, this cake is very heavy on the juicy, succulent fruit, and it stays supremely moist. There’s also sour cream, buttermilk, and oil to help keep it tender and soft.
The crumb is light and fluffy like a delicate muffin with just enough density from the fruit to be so satisfying. It’s the kind of cake you keep chipping away at to straighten the rows.
This fresh peach cake is perfect for brunches, special events, or as a small everyday cake, which takes advantage of seasonal fruit.
You know, all that fruit you buy because it all looks so good at the store, and then all that fruit all ripens on the same day. And you’re left scrambling and wondering what to do with it.
Now you know what to do. Make this peaches and cream cake.
What’s in the Peaches and Cream Cake?
To make this simple peach muffin cake, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Oil
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh peaches
- Confectioners’ sugar (optional)
How to Make a Peaches and Cream Cake
The cake batter comes together in 5 minutes without a mixer. Nothing complicated, fussy, or time-consuming.
It’s standard muffin batter with a bowl of dry ingredients and a bowl of wet. Pour the wet over the dry, stir in the fruit, pour into a pan, and bake.
Baking times will range based on how juicy your fruit is, but I would estimate 35 to 40 minutes. Watch your cake, not the clock, when determining if the fluffy little number is done.
For me this was a sub 45-minute start-to-finish cake. The quicker I can get tender, falling-apart-soft cake into my belly, the happier I am.
Can I Use Frozen Peaches?
I used fresh fruit rather than frozen. If you use frozen peaches, there’s no need to thaw them first so long as they’re chopped up small. However, you’ll likely have to add about 15 minutes to the bake time.
Can I Use Different Stone Fruits?
Yes! I used one white peach and one nectarine, but feel free to mix and match with your favorites like apricots, plums, pluots, and plucots. I love all the fruit hydrids that come into season this time of year. I’m counting down the days to persimmons season.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes, I’m sure you could double the ingredients and bake the summer peach cake in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
How to Store Peach Cake
You can leave the cake on the counter for up to five days. I recommend storing it in an airtight container.
Tips for Making a Fresh Peach Cake
I didn’t peel the peaches before adding them to the cake batter, but you’re welcome to if that’s what you prefer.
Make sure your peaches are ripe and juicy. If they’re still a bit hard, the cake won’t be as sweet.
I dusted the finished peaches and cream cake with powdered sugar, but you could also top it with this lemon glaze, this buttery vanilla glaze, this browned butter glaze, or this vanilla cream cheese glaze.
Pin This Recipe
Peaches and Cream Fluffy Muffin Cake
This cake tastes like one big, soft, fluffy, peach muffin. It’s ridiculously moist, tender, and falling-apart soft!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup sour cream (thick, full-fat Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 medium/large ripe fresh peaches, diced small (1 3/4 to 2 cups, diced)
- confectioners’ sugar, optional for dusting or see glaze suggestions below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 6 dry ingredients (through optional salt); set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the next 5 wet ingredients (through vanilla).
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Lumps will be present and this is okay. Don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth.
- Gently and briefly fold in the fresh fruit.
- Bake until done, probably 35 to 40 minutes, but watch your cake, not the clock. Bake until center is slightly domed and set, golden in color, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. At any time your cake is beginning to look a bit too golden brown before you suspect the center will set up, tent it with a sheet of foil laid across the top. I baked for 37 minutes total, and at the 30-minute mark, I tented with foil. Baking times will range dramatically based on types of fruit used, how juicy it is, and how much water it releases into the batter.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Optionally, dust with confectioners’ sugar or a simple glaze. This lemon glaze, this buttery vanilla glaze, this browned butter glaze, or this vanilla cream cheese glaze are all excellent, quick, and easy options.
Notes
A note about the peaches: You can also use a combo of nectarines, apricots, plums, pluots, plucots. I used 1 large white peach, 1 small nectarine, 1 small plum, and did not peel them.
Frozen fruit: This recipe may be made with frozen fruit added directly to batter without thawing first, and you will need to increase the baking time possibly by as much as 20 minutes.
Storage: Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Adapted from my Blueberry Muffin and Buttermilk Pancakes Cake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 335Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 181mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 2gSugar: 48gProtein: 4g
More Summer Cake Recipes:
Blueberry Muffin Cake — This fast and easy cake tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven.
Key Lime Cake — An EASY and refreshing poke cake with plenty of zippy lime flavor that’s perfect for summer parties, picnics, and potlucks!! Everyone loves this tangy-and-sweet, light, and airy cake!!
Strawberry Layer Cake with Strawberry Frosting — Soft, tender cake loaded with FRESH strawberries and a sweet strawberry frosting!! An EASY strawberry layer cake that’s perfect for parties!
Orange Olive Oil Cake — A super soft and moist cake that’s made with olive oil!! Orange zest, orange juice, and Gran Marnier add tons of AMAZING orange flavor to this easy, no-mixer cake that’s unique, refined, and INCREDIBLE!!
Strawberry Poke Cake— This strawberry Jello cake uses just four ingredients and is a hit at parties and potlucks! It’s a moist, refreshing dessert you’ll definitely want seconds of!
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze — Almost more berries than cake in this soft, fluffy lemon blueberry bundt cake! The lemon glaze is plate-licking delish!!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache — The best zucchini cake ever!! Soft, moist, and you can’t even taste the zucchini! Tastes like a yellow bakery cake drenched in chocolate!!
Averie, wondering if you have considered adding a “jump to recipe” link under recipe name at top of post?
Thank for your great recipes and photos.
Yes I am getting a new website in January and it will have that!
I confess. The “detailed info was as much for me as for you * your readers. And I am making it again & will need to see what & how it turned out so great, esp with the SACO buttermilk thing. I been using it in other things & I am now a convert. i keep chasing your recipes, but I do not know how to come to your site and search on a specific ‘thing’, like pineapple or peaches. Clue me in?
Thought it was time to get back to you. Oh wow, this was soooooo good. Thank you! and I made my substitutions. I don’t think you’ve heard about Saco Buttermilk Blend. Neither had I until a year or so ago. It is truly a great product. I read about it on a post (NY Times) from someone I truly respect. Hope it is ok to link you. It was a side by side comparison.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/08/dining/test-kitchen-buttermilk-that-doesn-t-go-plop-plop.html
Anyways…I used the coconut oil instead of your canola oil because? I had it & you can only use coconut oil in certain kinds of things. Then when rummaging for vanilla, I found coconut extract, so there went an additional teaspoon along with the vanilla.
Turns out I had 2 peaches and a plum, a little more advanced than I thought, so I cut off the bruises and added the plum. And I also discovered I had 1/2 a bag of shredded coconut. I added a few handfuls to the wet ingedients & let sit 5 mins to rehydrate before I added it to the dry ingredients.
As for the Saco, I used that (2 TBSP) and 1/2 cup reg. milk. I reduced the baking powder to 1 tsp. This is all Saco adjustments ecept for the milk. They call for plain water, but I wanted the extra richness.
I baked it right around 40 minutes. And when it was done? OMG was it good, It had this incredibly delicate crumb to it. No coarseness at all. (TY Saco.) And the druit managed to set inside the cake as individual pieces, no running into a slushy mess. I was a very happy camper. I WILL make again and try with different fruits. I am addicted to blackberries & when they are in season AND on sale (darn expensive) I will def, give that a try with this recipe.
As for how it held up? Gone by Day 2, but the consistency had changed by then. It became dense, the delicate crumb gone. However, it was still sooooo delicious. And gone by day 2 is great. Living alone, I throw away too much food, cause the recipe made too much. 8 X 8 is perfect for me.
Thank you so much for a truly great recipe.
Thanks for the detailed feedback and glad this was a big winner for you!
Was looking for a diff recipe & came across this one. Which, as you said, solves the problem I have of 2 deliciously ripe peaches. :) However (oh I dislike that word) – ingredient list. I don’t want to buy sour cream & buttermilk JUST to only use a small bit of it. Soooo, going to try this with that buttermilk substitute thing? Where you replace the buttermilk & baking powder with this substitute b-powder & reg milk. AND, I need to buy coconut oil for something else. Sound ok to substitute the canola oil for coconut? Do I need to adjust the amount? Going to go with your idea to substitute the sour cream with a lil carton of greek yogurt. Going to the store within 2-3 days, and I am worried about all these substitutes. Will all these changes affect the outcome? I am not as confident in baking substitutes as I am with other type of cooking, so if you could get back to me soon? I know, I know, I’m sorry. Oh, and while we’re at it? How about in my special lil cast iron skillet which bakes breads & cake so wonderfully?
Canola oil is an ok sub for coconut oil, yes. And subbing sour cream with Greek yog should be fine. I wouldn’t do what you’re saying with the buttermilk and baking powder if you don’t want to buy it. I would simply pour 1/2 cup regular milk into a bowl and add 1 to 2 tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to it to curdle it, wait 5-10 mins, then proceed with the recipe using the curdled/soured regular milk. Good luck!
Hi, today I made your lightened up Alfredo pasta and this cake. Both turned out so well. In the past 2 weeks I made your blueberry oat bars, French cookie cake and the butterscotch cookies from your book. :) thx. P.S. would you ever consider tackling a French macaroon recipe?
Thanks for saying hi, Iram, and for trying ALL these recipes – even more amazing because you have two little ones!! So glad you’re happy with everything!
French macaroons…oh boy. I’ve tried. Over and over. I am convinced I’m not cut out for them, with any consistency. At least not enough to start recommending recipes to my readers. I wish I could nail them but they’re still one of those elusive treats for me!
Hello there, I was googling “Peach Cake” and yours seemed like the perfect recipe, if only for the ratio of peaches to cake! It’s in the oven baking right now, and I can’t wait! I love your blog and I bookmarked it for my nightly recipe hunt! Greetings from the Philippines! :D
Thanks for trying the cake and for reading all the way from the Philippines!
I tried this over the weekend and it is a great recipe! My boyfriend was seriously picking at it the second that it got out of the oven and continuously the two days or so it lasted – and there are only two of us!
I am so glad to hear you guys loved it and it only lasted 2 days! Love stories like that :)
Delightful!! I love peach muffins, so I would just love this cake!
I made this today. It was delicious! Thank you!
Thanks for trying it, Norma! So glad it turned out deliciously for you!
I’m in love! This recipe sounds amazing. I can’t wait until Colorado peaches are at their peak, they would be perfectly awesome for this muffin cake (although I’ll have to make a special trip from MN to get them…). Thanks!
Thanks for saying hi! And I grew up in MN! The only time of the year I ever miss MN is this time of year – summers there are just the best :)
I love the idea of a muffin cake! Awesome idea. :) Peaches are so refreshing this time of year.
yum.
I love cake, and love peaches. This is probably better than peach PIE!
it’s pretty hard to find good peaches down here in Nova Scotia though, don’t you hate when you bite into one and its like an apple? crispy and dry. that’s not a peach!
Officially obsessed with this!
I went grocery shopping this morning and 2 peaches cost US$7 here in Japan. I couldn’t pick it up… I love peaches and can’t wait to eat endlessly and make this muffin cake with them. Drooling here…
You could use frozen, too! I used frozen in the blueberry cake that I made that’s identical last week https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/06/blueberry-muffin-and-buttermilk-pancakes-cake.html but I know that when I travel out of the US, sometimes frozen fruit is just as expensive if fresh!
Beautiful. You should coin the phrase “Watch your cake, not the clock.” That’s a timeless piece of advice. :D
I get plenty of these PANICKED emails…WHILE the person’s item is in the oven baking, like I’m Live Baking Support and around to answer their question right then and there…but if I said, bake for about 30 minutes, they will write to me, It’s been 34 minutes and my toothpick isn’t coming out clean. I’m like..bake it longer then. Bake until it’s done.
But you’d be surprised how many of those I get. With writing my cookbook it was very hard to convey this but then I read the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook a few months ago and he says in it, point blank, many times trained bakers or those who go to pastry/culinary school are not giving baking times. They’re given recipes, but it’s their responsibility to bake item til…it’s done.
Fresh fruit is one of my favorite things to bake with. I can’t get enough of peaches and nectarines right now. Love that you piled them into this cake! It looks yummy and so perfect for summer.
And thanks for all your FB likes, tweets, pins, retweets, and overall support. Just wanted to say I always notice and thank you :)
I love peach desserts. Or breakfasts! I am waiting for peaches to get extra ripe around here to make a peach dessert for my cookbook. My favorite dessert ever! I can’t wait. This muffin cake’s texture looks incredible. Soft, fluffy – and not to mention full of summer flavor! I loved the sound of your pancake cake and this is just as creative – and yes, so much easier than individual muffins!
The whole time I was making this, I was thinking of you. I know you have some delicate, peach muffins from maybe like a year ago? And they have always caught my eye. But I opted for a cake because as you know…that’s way faster! The flavor of this cake, Sally, and for how EASY and fast it comes together to boot – is just a 10-star diamond in the rough. Sometimes you get lucky :)
This is amazing! I love it:)
Okay, call me crazy but I’m not a peach fan.. like at all. However, I am a fan of cake, muffins, sugar, and anything you make, so therefore, I’m willing to put my indifference with peaches aside and devour half this cake in about five minutes flat.
So very pretty! All of these pictures! I haven’t eaten sugar in 11 years and these pictures fill that void!
Oh dear me… I am a huge peach fan and the thought of being able to make a cake that tastes like delicious muffins in less time – win, win!
I love peaches and love that this recipe doesn’t require a mixer!
5 minutes and no mixer involved? YES and YES! I also have a huge box of peaches to use up too!
Averie this looks luscious and just perfect for the season. I’ll be making this one! :)
thank you, Sahara! And I hope you and the family are doing well! I think about you often! xoxo
Looks delicious Averie! And I love these photos!! They are so pretty and happy! Like edible sunshine :)
Edible sunshine <-- love that :)
Hey girl! I’m totally with you that cakes are just so much easier to make than muffins. You only have to pour the batter once and you only have one pan to clean rather than 12 little muffin tins.
Peaches and nectarines are so tasty right now, so I’m sure this cake is chock full of flavor. I just finished off a bowl of my 5 minute quinoa cereal that was topped with a sliced nectarine. It was so amazing!
Great seasonal cake girl! I hope you have an amazing 4th of July! xoxo, Jackie
Your quinoa cereal sounds so healthy! I wish I could say I ate that kind of thing for breakfast. Coffee, breakfast of champions around here :)
Fluffy Muffin Cake? Seriously!! All of your recipes sound and look so good! I am loving peaches right now too.. the perfect summer dessert!
I love this little muffin cake! It looks so moist and loaded with fruit. I never liked peaches until I tried one in Israel a few years ago, and now I can’t get enough!
There’s nothing better than ripe peaches, nectarines, apricots – love all the stone fruits!
These pictures make me think of summer so much! And if it tastes like one yummy peach muffin, I’m in!
Great recipe, thanks!
When you mentioned the ratio of flour and peaches I was sold! I adore peaches, like, they are one of the highlihts of summer. This cake = the perfect way to use them up! And, uh, those donuts are also calling my name . . . I feel a pinning party coming on!
Thanks for pinning!
I’m obsessed with peaches right now, and I love all fluffy baked goods!
Cannot have enough peach recipes for summer!! This is one gorgeous cake, Averie. And I love the idea of using this recipe as a base to swap in different fruits throughout the year!
I love having a versatile batter that I can just swap fruits or add-ins into and out of, based on what I have. And this batter has done the trick for me!
Wow great job Averie, that cake looks incredible! Thanks for sharing :)
Looks great, Averie!
Anything called a Fluffy Muffin Cake is a win in my book!
Peaches are so good right now! This cake sounds delicious and perfect for a summertime dessert!
I’ve been on a bit of a mango and raspberry kick lately–but stone fruits and melons are looking good too. I don’t think I’ve ever had peach cake before–but this one looks like the perfect one to try first…and I would love it with some vanilla cream cheese glaze!
A mango and raspberry kick sounds so good! But yes this cake was sooo good. Peaches are just…the best when they’re ripe and seasonal. And with a vanilla cream cheese glaze, mmmm, so good. I didn’t want to deal with the shiny, reflective nature of a glaze for the photos so used confect sugar but yeah, your idea, go with that :)
I have peaches on my brain lately and plan to pick some up this week to grill. I should have waited to read this after my run b/c now I’m hungry LOL.
Lol that’s funny. I know how it is when you see something before a run, it’s ALL you can think of!
White peaches in Japan mark the start of summer days …Your cake is a celebration of the summer season, too=) Thank you for the recipe.
Speaking of Averie Cooks recipes, I adapted your Oreo Ice Cream for my Mini Baked Alaskas. I’ve featured your yummy recipe and linked to your site at NinjaBaking.com =)
Again, many thanks!
I go back and forth between whether I prefer baking muffins or cake. Muffins bake faster which means I can eat them sooner than later, but a cake is sooo much easier to make!
And this cake doesn’t even take that long. The clincher though for me is that it’s so moist! Way moister than I can ever get muffins!
Looks beautifully delicious!
First a pancake cake and now a muffin cake! I bet this tastes wonderful!
How weird. My post that goes live in less than six hours is peaches and cream! LOL! I guess we were thinking a like!
This is beautiful Averie! The cake look so moist. YUM!
You know what’s funny is that I always publish at 12:01 am pacific but decided, what the heck, I’ll hit publish early tonite (b/c I was curious about the google reader thing and how that would all shake out). Can’t wait to see your post!
Oh, Averie…I just love how you’re turning pancake and muffin recipes into easy breakfast cakes for summertime baking ease! Perfect flavor combo and beautiful photography as always! Have a very happy 4th of July celebration with the fam! xo
Thanks, Stacy! I love these little cakes. Soft, tender, moist and EASY!!
I know exactly what you mean about evening out the cake… ;) I love anything peaches and cream, and this looks like it could qualify as breakfast, too. So pretty!
Oh any time I can work cake into breakfast, Im all about it :)