You have to try this Tipsy Peach Cake, it’s amazing! Peaches are in season and they are everywhere right now. Clearly, my next treat had to bring peaches to my “bench”. The term “bench” refers to a bakers work surface or countertop. Also, why we call a bench scraper…well you see where I am going there.
How did I settle in on a Peach Cake this week?
One of my favorite peach treats is this Peach Coffee Cake that you can get from Wegmans bakery. If you don’t recognize Wegmans Food Markets, an incredible grocery store, then you are not from upstate New York. This Peach Coffee Cake is a light, fluffy, peachy cake. My inspiration started here. After researching a bunch of different recipes and combining a few different techniques I think we have a winner.
I really wanted to bring the Peach flavor forward.
After trying a few different techniques claiming to be the best I loved Cooks Illustrated’s recipe the most. It called for marinading our diced peaches in a mixture of lemon juice, sugar and Peach Schnaaps! Then we will roast them in the oven to really concentrate their flavor and dry them out some. This way they won’t make our cake soggy with their juices. I felt like this was a great technique that totally worked and I’ll totally use it going forward any time I am baking a cake with a juicy fruit.
There were a couple of things I didn’t like about their recipe. They added almond extract to the cake batter which I felt was overpowering and even though almond is usually a really nice compliment to a peach flavor I felt it really took away from what I was trying to accomplish here. We are going to sprinkle a little almond finishing sugar on top instead. It’s just enough almond flavoring and it helps create a crispy top.
They also toss the roasted peaches in some panko bread crumbs to help the diced peaches from “sogging” up the cake which after trying it both ways, I feel isn’t necessary.
What makes this cake a TIPSY Peach Cake?
Marinading the peaches in Peach Schnaaps totally gave me the idea to turn the left over juices into a boozy glaze. It’s just enough sweet to top this fresh peach flavored cake and some of that crispy crust will still come through. This cake has it all going on. You are going to love it.
Step by Step
Tipsy Peach Cake
Ingredients
- 4-6 fresh peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2" wedges (2-2½ lbs)
- 6 tbsp peach schnapps
- 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup (67g) sugar
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup (150g) King Arthur all-purpose flour or any all-purpose flour
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup (110g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- 1 cup (112g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with foil
- peel and slice your peaches into ½" wedges
- combine 24 peach wedges with 2 tbsp of peach schnapps, 2 tsp of lemon juice, and 1 tbsp sugar and set aside
- slice the remaining peach wedges into 3pcs each and toss in a bowl with 3 tbsp peach schnapps, 2 tsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp sugar, let sit for 10 min
- drain most of the liquid from diced peaches, place on baking sheet in single layer and roast 20-25 min until juices around the edges of the peaches turn dark and peaches look "dry"
- after removing roasted peaches from the oven reduce temperature to 350° and let diced peaches cool @20 min
- melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in a microwave and let cool
- combine flour, baking powder, salt and set aside
- whisk together ⅓ cup sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until well combined about 1 minute
- slowly whisk in butter until completely incorporated
- add sour cream and vanilla and combine well
- add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine well
- spray and flour a 9" springform pan and fill with ½ of the batter
- top batter with cooled diced roasted peaches in an even layer
- spread gently the remaining batter over peaches
- with peach wedges make a circular pattern on top of cake batter (SAVE THESE JUICES IN THE BOWL)
- take 1 tbsp of sugar and ⅛ tsp almond extract and with a fork combine them well (it doesn't seem like ⅛ of a tsp would be enough but I promise you it is)
- sprinkle over top of cake and bake 60-65 minutes (until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean in the center) cool 10 minutes then remove the sides of pan
- add the last 1 tbsp of peach schnapps and 1 cup of powdered sugar to your peach juices from your wedges and combine (this should make a thin boozy glaze)
- pour glaze around outer edge of warm cake and spread sparingly over the middle (do not let glaze pool in the middle of the cake)it is ok for the extra glaze to run off the sides of cake we want a thin layer here, we do not want our cake to get soggy from the glaze, cool completely