There are parents that sew their kids’ clothes, carry them in an Ergo until kindergarten and take them to Disney World at least twice before they even reach 2nd grade, but if you don’t mind, please don’t tell my kids that such people are options, at, like, the Parent Store. I, in turn, will not tell yours that while I am decidedly none of the above types I insist upon making all our birthday cakes from scratch. It’s not completely selfless though; clearly I love baking them, challenging myself to get maximum excitement from minimal amounts of efforts (i.e. one-bowl cakes, regular ingredients, no special pan sizes, no fondant and ftlog stay away from Pinterest, Deb, or you’re going to be elbows deep in food dye at 2am again) and I love coming up with new flavors for them, especially fun as our family birthdays fall in June, July, August and September, prime time for fresh ingredients.
For my son, there was a chocolate banana monkey cake (1st birthday), a s’more cake (2nd birthday, in the cookbook), a roasted apple spice sheet cake (3rd) and then, on the precipice of my peach-loving son’s fourth birthday I told him all peaches and cream cake with brown sugar and the faintest trace of nutmeg we were going to make and he said, with the soundtrack of a needle scratching off a record, “No. Tchocola. Tchocola with tchocola.” I immediately realized that my husband and his “if it’s not chocolate, why does it even need to exist” mindset had infiltrated and correctly assessed that my free range in birthday cake baking was lost forever so I did the only rational thing: I had another baby. And she also loves peaches. And she has not yet been tampered with by our family’s chocolate-or-bust lobby. And last weekend, she turned one and I finally got to make that cake.
I’m sorry chocolate, you know I love you, but this cake is wonderful. Brown sugar, vanilla, a lot of peaches, sour cream and then the frosting, it’s the really easy kind that’s just butter and sugar that’s always despicably sweet, but I added sour cream to it instead of the usual milk and it was unbelievable, sweet but fluffier and nuanced. Like, I just remembered that I have a cup of frosting left in the fridge and wish I hadn’t.
I could say a lot of weepy, sappy things to say about babies and birthdays, but all I could really think about over the last week is how crazy it is that she almost wasn’t here. That there was this point, we’ll call it July 2014, when she wasn’t and we were bummed and then there’s this other point, we’ll call it July 2015, when we announced her arrival, and it wasn’t, like, divine intervention. Having help brings a whole extra layer of intentionality to it and also the awareness of how easily it could have gone another way, making us feel extra lucky to have this boing-boing-haired wild thing in our lives.
Thank you: For such a warm welcome to this new design, years in the planning, fretting, revising and then some. I have read every one of your comments and concerns (and please, feel free to leave more on the post at any time) and will be addressing them individually and letting the design/developer team know as the day goes on — do not feel ignored. I simply didn’t want to keep you from bigger things — CAAAKE! — while I did. There are many kinks that we are still working out but within a few days, most will be a thing of the past. It’s so fun to share this with you. I hope it makes the site easier for everyone to use, while (hopefully) keeping the clear/clean/easy-to-navigate/frill-free thing I’ve always liked.
One year ago: Chocolate Chunk Granola Bars, Oven Ribs, Even Better and Green Beans with Almond Pesto
Two years ago: Cherry Almond Dutch Baby, Blue and Red Berry Ricotta Galette and Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings
Three years ago: Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw, Peach and Pecan Sandy Crumble and Slow and Low Dry-Rub Oven Chicken
Four years ago: Cold Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken, Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt, Chopped Salad with Feta Lime and Mint, Flag Cake and Blackberry Gin Fizz
Five years ago: Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes, Skirt Steak and Bloody Mary Tomato Salad
Six years ago: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, Improved, Zucchini and Ricotta Galette, Sour Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble and Porch Swing
Seven years ago: Horseradish Potato Salad, Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes, Mediterranean Pepper Salads and Cherry Brown Butter Bars
Eight years ago: Sweet Cherry Pie, Project Wedding Cake
Nine years ago: Lemon Risotto, Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake, Everyday Yellow Dal, Classic Madeleines and Roseanne Cash’s Potato Salad
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Gingerbread Layer Cake, Feta Tapenade Tarte Soleil, Fudgy Bourbon Balls and My Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
1.5 Years Ago: Fairytale of New York Roasted Grape and Olive Crostini, Popcorn Party Mix, Parmesan Broth with Kale and White Beans and Coconut Tapioca Pudding with Mango
2.5 Years Ago: Gingerbread Snacking Cake, Rum Campari Punch, Carrot Soup with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas and Ethereally Smooth Hummus
3.5 Years Ago: Fromage Forte
4.5 Years Ago: Cinnamon Brown Sugar Breakfast Puffs and Scallion Meatballs with Soy Ginger Glaze
Peaches and Cream Bunny Cake
Source: Cake recipe is my own; bunny template and design from Cake Power
- 6 cups chopped peaches (from 6 to 7 large or 12 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups (340 grams or 12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (285 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
- A few gratings of nutmeg
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups (480 grams) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea or table salt
- 6 cups (780 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (455 grams or 16 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 1/2 cups (from 2 1-pound boxes) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
Cake layers
Frosting and filling
Make the cake: Line 1, 2 or 3 (if you have) 9×13-inch baking pans with parchment and coat the bottom and sides with nonstick spray. Don’t worry if you only have one pan, you can bake these one at a time. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
If desired, peel your peaches. A commenter pointed me to this life-changning peeler many years ago that works great for peaches, tomatoes and other thin-skinned fruits, or you can cut a small x in the bottom of each and briefly dip them in boiling water, after which their skins should slip off easily.
Cut peaches in half, remove the pits (don’t worry if yours weren’t “freestone” and are making a mess; the cake doesn’t care) and cut the halves into about 1-inch wide fingers, then cut the fingers thinly, creating flat square-ish slices of peach. I like this shape because it’s light enough to not sink but you know you’re biting into a peach when you do. Set peaches aside.
Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, nutmeg and eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl every egg or two. Add sour cream and beat to combine. Sprinkle batter with baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat to combine, then add flour. Mix only until it disappears, and carefully. If you’re using a 5-quart bowl as I was, it’s going to be very full at this point. Add peaches and (again, my bowl was nearly overflowing) fold them with a spatula in very very carefully.
Divide batter into 3 pans (mine clocked in at 39 1/4 ounces per layer) or 1/3 of it each into the number of pans you have. Bake cake layers for 23 to 27 minutes, rotating once for even color. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into batter portion comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes, then run a knife around the cake and flip it out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely. If you need to use your cake pan again, just wipe it out, coat it again with nonstick spray and pour another 1/3 of the batter in.
Make the frosting: Beat butter and powdered sugar together until very fluffy; add sour cream and vanilla and beat again. If frosting feels too firm, you can add more sour cream, 1 tablespoon at at time. This frosting gets soft pretty quickly (especially during summer peach season) so you might need to periodically put it in the fridge to keep it at a good consistency. Just don’t leave it in there so long that it hardens.
Shape and assemble cake: To make a bunny cake as shown, print the template from this page and cut out the face and ear shape. Lay it over the cake and use a thin knife to cut out four oval faces and 8 long almond-shaped ears. You will use two sets to make a miniature bunny smash cake. Arrange the first bunny layer on a plate. I do not attach the ears with anything more than frosting. Spread first layer thickly with frosting, place second layer on top and coat entire outside with a very thin layer of frosting. Place cake in the fridge or freezer so that this crumb layer firms up.
Repeat on a larger scale with the two sheet cake layers. Trim the tops so that they’re level, fill them thickly with frosting and coat the outside with a thin layer of frosting chill it.
Once the first frosting layer on the miniature bunny and sheet cake are set, cover more thickly with a final coat of frosting. Use another one-layer bunny face and ear set to decorate the sheet cake, frosting this too. I used a small star tip to pipe dollops of frosting around the edges of the ears and face, and around the bottom rim of the sheet cake. Tint a tiny amount of the frosting with an eye, nose and mouth color. If you don’t have a small round piping tip, you can just snip a tiny bit of corner off a sandwich bag. A jelly bean also makes cute eyes and noses. I covered the sheet cake with confetti sprinkles.
Chill cakes until you’re ready to serve. Don’t take it out more than an hour or two before needed.
CONGRATULATIONS! The first year is such a milestone, and she is delicious-looking. I agree, get your cake making done while they don’t have opinions. The only downside of making cakes is that after making TWO homemade cakes for two different parties, I tried to farm out the cake for the third party, and my 10 year old said, “but it’s a tradition…”
Do you have weights for the confectioner’s sugar in the frosting? I always weigh it if possible because volume measurements aren’t reliable. Thanks!
I can’t answer for Deb, but it’s my experience that how much sugar you use can vary so much depending on temperature, humidity, etc etc. Thus how much sugar you need on a hot, sticky summer day could be quite different from how much you need on a cool fall afternoon. I tend to just keep adding sugar until I reach the desired consistency. American buttercream is thankfully forgiving that way.
I do but I also just remembered I had to make a little extra frosting, only 1 3/4 cups worth, but it seems easier to just round the amount up and be better safe than sorry.
Love the new site, Deb! Congratulations!
Oh my goodness! Happy birthday, Anna. So glad to see this recipe – my daughter turned 1 last month and cared not for her (adorable) fox cake (made with your “best birthday cake” recipe). So now I have an excuse to make her another cake. ;)
I am fascinated by the idea of a fox cake. Did you freehand it or is there a template a person could download?
Deb – this is gorgeous and peaches are delicious. Could you use cream cheese frosting or would that be too much, do you think?
I definitely thought about cream cheese frosting and think it would work. Wouldn’t use the sour cream then. (And thank you.)
A friend introduced me to your blog while I was in the middle of grueling Ob/Gyn residency. It was a great mental escape to read your posts and try out your recipes. Flash forward 6 years and I look at this site after a long day of work delivering babies and taking care of my own two babies… Still such an enjoyable experience! Congrats on all the success!
I used a template, more or less. I googled “fox birthday cake”, found one I thought was cute, and went from there!
http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/make-furry-fox-cake/
I used Deb’s “best birthday cake” recipe for the cake, but as I only have 8 inch cake pans, I had enough batter left over for a few cupcakes. I halved one of those cupcakes and used it for the fox “ears”, rather than the fondant method suggested by the instructions. I took what I learned from Deb’s monkey cake and applied it to the fox cake. :)
sunny.xie@edgewell.com
This looks fantastic.
Question: Could I half the recipe and make one, slightly thicker 9×13 cake? I’m terrible with fractions, and don’t need three cakes… Thanks!
I was just wondering this as well. While I’m sure I could eat the whole giant cake, there are only 2 of us… Deb, I would love any tips on adjusting baking times for a smaller but likely thicker, cake.
You could or even 1 3-layer 8×8 or 9-inch round with the same amount of batter.
Sorry about the dumbness, Deb, but I don’t understand. How much cake does half a recipe yield? One 9-inch round layer or 3 layers? Thanks!
The 8″ square and the 9″ round are equivalent. So three of either will take a half batch.
thank you, Angela. As I terribly wanted to bake this, and in half an hour I should be at my friends’ house for dinner, with this very cake, I went ahead and made it as I had (mis)understood. I’m happy to inform you that half a recipe bakes into one very tall 10″ round. It domes nicely and browns very fast, so that after the first 40 minutes I stopped the fan and used just the bottom heating. The only downside is that it is still in the oven, after some 70 minutes, while I should be out of the door, like, right now.
I’ll be back with the taste test, if anyone is interested.
thank you, Angela. As I terribly wanted to bake this, and in half an hour I should be at my friends’ house for dinner, with this very cake, I went ahead and made it as I had (mis)understood. I’m happy to inform you that half a recipe bakes into one very tall 10″ round. It domes nicely and browns very fast, so that after the first 40 minutes I stopped the fan and used just the bottom heating. The only downside is that it is still in the oven, after some 80 minutes, while I should be out of the door, like, right now.
I’ll be back with the taste test, if anyone is interested.
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What a lovely cute cake! Your children are really lucky!
I am going to give this all time to settle in, but I find the large font, and the many ads disconcerting. I just looked at the newsletter page as well, and it too seems much larger ( and irritating.) I appreciate that all good things take time, but to scroll through comments now is a huge chore, even with the “split” of made vs. unmade. I used to love the comments, and read them religiously. One would think an old fogey such as me would like not having to run for her eyeglasses, but not so. I am initially very disappointed with many of the changes…but will see what happens in a month or two. This cake looks as cute as the birthday girl herself.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m sorry it’s such a big adjustment. We’re fine-tuning as we speak and will look at the comment organization. I simply wanted to move ahead with a new recipe in the interim as I haven’t published one in nearly 4 weeks!
I can’t help but agree with the font / size feeling very large and clunky and the side bar a bit wide. And I know you have to make the $ to make the cakes (and they are such good cakes!) but the masthead ad threw me when it expanded the first time. Eek. I do like the comment organization though, I think that’s really helpful.
The right side bar is bigger than needed, but goodness me I was so relieved when I saw the font choice! I’ve found so many blogs who’ve done makeovers in the last couple of years have chosen such fussy-hard-to-read fonts that I’ve actually given up following a couple of them because my eyes just couldn’t take it. I’ll resize a page happily if need be, but give me a happy easy-to-read font any day of the week!
Also, I get here through the RSS feed, and I love, love, (LOVE!!!) that the snippet shown in my feed has all the pics for the post, and that the words were all here. Made it much more exciting to click through :)
Regarding the font size, that can easily be adjusted by hitting “Ctrl” and “-” at the same time. Keep doing that until you get the font size that you like :)
Thanks so much for the kind suggestion regarding font size, it helps a little, but I think there is a lot of wasted space between comment paragraphs. I understand how phone users would find it way better, but I am a laptop person, and thus the frustration level.
I feel the same as Lauren. The compactness of the site before made it easy to see things at a glance, and with the larger font and more space, it is ironically harder to navigate quickly. (I think that your original layout, Deb, was spectacular, even more so for having done it yourself!) Nonetheless, I am waiting to see if I just need to let the new design settle in with me, so take everything I’ve said with a grain of salt.
Love the new site. Perfect font on my iPhone.
shining.yang@edgewell.com
This sounds absolutely amazing! Quick question: say I wanted to make a little less cake, because I don’t need a smash cake or a bunny decoration, and a 9×13 three layer cake is a little much for my little 3 person (albeit cake and peach loving) family. Looks like all of the measurements would be relatively easy to just cut by ⅓, but are there any pitfalls to doing so? Besides ending up with less cake, I mean.
None at all. The one-layer 9×13 is going to be thinner than a sheet cake usually is, just 1-inch tall. It could be divided over 2 9-inch rounds or 8-inch squares to make a smaller 2-layer cake.
This cake looks delicious and my husband loves peaches, so I’m looking forward to making this soon!
But really, what I’m commenting to say is- HER CURLS!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!! What a gorgeous little girl you have =)
shining.yang@edgewell.com
She is too cute with those red curls. Lucky girl! I have a no-chocolate person in the family, so when everyone else says “chocolate,” there’s one “VANILLA!” or “STRAWBERRY!” We’ll see whether it extends to peaches.
Making birthday cakes brings out the best creativity in us. The bar is high and low at the same time. Our kid will still love us, but if we nail it, we get to see them on cloud 9. Let me just say: Dora cake is a bad idea (risk of crying when the knife takes to Dora’s face) and pinata cake is tricky but impressive. Until you’ve cut about three pieces, at which point the architecture no longer has support and it falls apart.
Will be trying this cake on a smaller scale because, peaches. And for the record, I love the larger font. The smaller font was impossible to read on a phone which is what I use quite a bit for recipes.
Oh! What a gorgeous girl you’ve made! She looks pretty smart, too. Can’t wait to try the cake, thanks.
OMG I love this cake! I owe my father and me a birthday cake… This may bump the chestnut cream into autumn!
Chocolate has its place… but not ALL the time!!
Can’t wait to try it!
Love the three comment tabs and the two thingies where you can jump to recipe or comments. Very practical and thoughtful!!
Any ideas on non-dairy substitutes for sour cream? My little guy is turning 1 next month and can’t do dairy, but he would looooove a peach cake.
Amy — It might be best to do a straight classic buttercream here with Earth Balance or the like.
The best dairy free buttercream (IMHO) subs coconut oil for the butter – you melt the oil, then beat the sugar in. Pop it in the fridge for a few minutes and it will solidify to just the right texture. I was amazed!
When I need to use non-dairy sour cream, I use a brand called Toffutti. It’s really comparable to the dairy version & no one know when I substitute.
What about thick coconut milk/cream? Peach and coconut are a good combination.
Hi Amy, I also can’t do dairy anymore and my favorite sour cream substitutes are:
Kitehill plain almond yogurt with a dash of apple cider vinegar and/or lemon juice mixed in: http://www.kite-hill.com/our-foods/yogurts/
(can also do with Anita’s coconut yogurt, which is wonderfully creamy but has a bit more of a coconut flavor) – http://anitas.co/
cashew ‘sour cream’: http://ohsheglows.com/2016/03/13/cashew-sour-cream/
For cream cheese, Kitehill also makes an amazing almond cream cheese: http://www.kite-hill.com/our-foods/cream-cheese-style-spread/
(also, if you don’t already know about cashew cream, whipped coconut milk cream, and Miyoko’s creamery – they’re all awesome! Especially the Miyoko’s butter and mozz. I hope your little one isn’t allergic to nuts since all of these are nut-based!)
This gorgeous new site, that lovely peach recipe, and all I can think about is that baby’s hair.
Congratulations on surviving another first year of childhood. Your daughter is the cutest baby I think I’ve ever seen! The cake looks amazing too and I was so excited to see another little smash cake.
PS- the new site is fantastic!
I have been reading your blog since 7 years (I just thought about it earlier, when I went through a – short- mental list of blogs I have contiuously followed over the years)- and it’s funny to thing how much has changed since; while of course your recipes have remained wonderful and your writing has matured further (not to mention the great new site design :-)). I am not 100% sure what you were trying to say in the paragraph about your lovely daughter and how help adds a layer of intentionality- but it touched quite a lot inside me and gave me almost the same comfort that cooking many of your recipes does :-).
I was also confused by that paragraph. Sounds like allusions to fertility choices maybe, but that has not been discussed on the blog as far as I remember. (Thanks for sharing your life as well as your kitchen magic, deb! I don’t mean to pry or speculate.)
And I love the new comments section. Great to be able to have conversations with one another directly :)
You didn’t make this dish, please don’t select the ‘I Made This Box’!!
She’s so beautiful! Those curls!
I’d also like ideas on cutting down the quantity, since I might have to make one very soon without a special occasion, please.
I’d like to say Happy Birthday Anna, and also that I love the new comments section. Simple, straightforward, easy to read. Can’t imagine a problem.
Are you not going to hide a link to cute kid photos anymore?! I read through it twice to make sure I didnt miss a link. ‘Finding’ the hidden link of your cute kiddos is one of my favorite parts of each new post!
Of course I will! But this was really all about the kids so they made the front page.
Have to agree with Alyssa. This is one of my favorite things about your posts. I actually thought the link color was intentionally hard to pick out to make it a bit more of a ‘hunt’ but realized that wasn’t the case when reading your post yesterday about the updates. So happy for you Deb! Congrats on your beautiful family. :-)
Lol- I totally agree! I thought it was deliberate as well. And they were very very clever in the way you used a word for the link. It was a treasure hunt.
Hi Deb!
Would it work to used canned peaches (if fresh aren’t available) as long as you drain them well??
Hi Sarah, did you try it with canned peaches?? Thinking it would make my life a bit easier if they worked just as well…! Thanks
The cake sounds wonderful, and I have peaches to make it with, and sour cream too! But the reason for the cake, well, she surpasses it by far. I love her boing boing hair! She is beautiful, you are truly blessed.
Deb, this is wonderful! Congrats! :D Now to read the recipe. ;)
What a wonderful cake! I’m hoping to make it this weekend and am wondering if plums might work here as well? My one-year-old is allergic to peaches (le sigh..), but plums are ok. Also, what a beautiful site remodel!
Definitely! Would be delicious.
Thanks Deb!
The new site is gorgeous and I love the updates to the comments section. IMO, the new font style is much easier to read, so thank you for that. Now I need to go hunt up a reason to make this cake!
I LOVE the larger font. Earlier this week, I had just resigned myself to increasing the page size to be able to read it more easily and felt super old about it. Such a relief that it was obviously a *design* issue and not me, right? Happy birthday to your cute little redhead.
Seeing a beautiful, huge picture of this cake when I opened to your site today has sold me completely on your new design. The pictures are amazing and so clear!
I originally missed the smaller font, but that’s just because I easily get set in my ways at the age of 33. And seeing your answers after individual comments is easier to navigate. Love it!
Love SK 2.0, well done! No more command + to read posts, THANK YOU. Your children are so adorable. All the blessings and continued success, Deb (aka kitchen goddess/wizard/queen of sass), so good to see you back! BRAVO!!!
Your daughter has the most amazing curls!!
Just a side note on the new design. I really like copying recipes I want to make into evernote for storage. When I copy the ingredient list it completely looses its structure and basically just becomes one long sentence of ingredients. Would be great if that could be fixed. Hmm just tried copying it into word – bullet points still there. Able to copy it from there into evernote just fine. So this might be an evernote bug and not yours.
Just before seeing your comment, I “copied” into OneNote, although I use the “screen clipping” option. No issues with formatting in OneNote, i.e. the recipe looks the same in OneNote as it does on the web page.
It is likely not a bug anywhere. Some methods of “copying” will do a screen capture (kind of a snapshot of the published web page) and some will grab underlying formatting or try to and they can’t hence the long string. If Evernote has a clipping function that will likely work better than a traditional “mark and copy” (drag mouse to mark, Copy and Paste)
@Katrin …thought I used reply to you for the Evernote issue but ???
That hair! I love it so much — I. can’t. even! ( I have 4 nieces & nephews who are red heads/gingers and am partial to red hair.)
I don’t know why but this article filled me with so much hope that maybe I can have a family one day (having allowed myself to lose hope after reading a random silly article warning that if one is over 30 [which I am, 33, and not a day younger, single etc etc] that one may as well not bother trying because it’s probably too late and that kids should be taught this life lesson at a young age so as not too wait until they are too old, ahem, 30+). tl;dr so, to sum it up: thank you for writing this. Anna is adorable and congratulations to you and your family. Also cake looks delicious. It’s on the menu for this weekend!
Also, my first thought on your new site: stunning.
Laylay, don’t give up hope just yet. I had my first kid when I was 35. No problems at all with health or anything . Then 3 years later I had my second kid. 2 years later, the third. All healthy and cute ;)
All the best for you.
Aw thanks for this! I didn’t intend for my comment to sound so Debbie-downer so apologies for that.
:)
What would happen if I didn’t peel the peaches? I don’t love peeling most fruits!
It would be much prettier and pink-ish!
I am so glad I caught this comment-reply! Now I will be making my own Birthday Cake, a three layer 8″ with unpeeled peaches, for my 69th, next weekend. Your children are works of art! and I hate changes in the grocery aisle and in blogs, but your new design will grow in our hearts-very user friendly and I love your new logo! Mazel Tov to you on all your life’s progress!
@Jacquie Katz My 61st is mid-August and I have decided this will be MY birthday cake also .. bunny and all! Happy 69 to you!!
My peach-obsessed daughter is turning one in November, sadly long after fresh peach season. Could I use frozen? I’m firmly determined to make her first birthday cake, despite cake being the least reliable category in my baking repertoire.
(and I still love the new site! I pulled up your recipe for peanut sauce on my phone last night and I couldn’t believe how much easier it was to read!)
Did you try this? I would love to make this but have a bag of frozen peaches.
I have to confess that I was never really all that into the idea of peaches inside baked goods aside from pie. I can’t explain it…it might have been a texture thing. Like crumby baked treats with mushy fruit. Then I bought your cookbook, and read your description of how the fruit caramelizes in the peach pancakes, and thought “What have I been missing out on??!?!???” And I trusted you, and I tried it, and it’s fan-freaking-tactic. So, yeah. I’m a convert and I’m totally going to make this cake.
Mazel Mazel on a wonderful year for this beautiful family 😃
I love the peaches-and-brown-sugar vibe. How peachy does this cake taste? I’ve often found peach-flavored items to lose that floral peachy bouquet, and it’s kind of a mild flavor. What do you think?
The new web site is absolutely fantastic on my phone. I love how easy it is to read and navigate. Great job!
My hubby is also a “if it’s not chocolate, why bother” kind of guy, but this cake might actually convince him otherwise.
Anna is gorgeous and, like everyone else, the curls slay me everytime.
Have loved your site since pre Jacob and continue to enjoy every aspect of your cooking, family, travel and especially the way you write about it all. Looking forward to the new cookbook. As they say, “you go, girl!” Thanks so much for the daily bit of joy!
Oh, Deb! Your little girl is just adorable! All that red curly, curly hair and the chubby cheeks AND THEN she’s in a blue gingham dress! Squeee!!! The cake looks yummy, too! When our peaches are ripe (our tree doesn’t ripen until August!) I will be making this cake; although, apricots are ripe. . . :-)
I’m sorry to ask a stupid question not pertaining to the cake or your beautiful boing boing haired beauty’s bday (happy, happy day!) BUT….when you list what you have posted on that day in years prior, what do you mean by for those “on the other side of the world”.
Sorry if this isn’t the right pls e to ask, but I have dying of nosiness to know! :)
It’s winter in Australia! Seems mean to taunt them only with tomatoes and peaches.
Yes, “other side of the world” is fantastic! I’m in Tasmania and peaches are a distant distant dream right now. My heart gave a little jump of joy when I saw the heading. Thank you!
Ahh, so it is literal! That’s what I figured, but jus’ checkin’
Thanks for the reply.
They’re winter recipes, because it’s winter in the southern hemisphere right now :-)
By the other side of the world, Deb means the Southern Hemisphere. She’s being her usual nice self, because the seasons are opposite there so they can’t cook with what’s in season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are the opposite to NY.
So, peaches are 6 months away….they’re in the depths of their winter.
It’s the opposite season in the Southern Hemisphere! I’m moving back to Melbourne soon from Seattle, and I’ll be very glad to have easy links to recipes that use seasonal fruit and veg after daydreaming about what I can make 6 months from now :)
I’m not Deb, but I’m pretty sure they’re recipes seasonally appropriate for those in the southern hemisphere (so, winter recipes right now :)
Because the seasons are different, so here in Australia right now it is winter so Deb is giving us seasonally appropriate recipes for this time of year.
For the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are exactly opposite of what they are here. For instance, in Australia, July is smack dab in the middle of winter. :) Recipes from 1/2 years ago would be more relevant there than whole years.
Ha, I’m sorry to contribute to so much redundancy! I couldn’t see before posting that so many others had addressed Miriam’s question. Oops!
I think Deb does that because on “the other side of the world” it is a different season. So it is peach season here in America, but in Australia it is their winter, so stews and “cold weather” recipes would be more appropriate. Hope that helps!
Happy birthday to the dear little bunny! It’s been a joy to share the past year with her.
With this recipe, I’m looking forward to expanding my repertoire of peach treats beyond cobbler… and to being able to use the “I made this” tab :)
Boy does that looks good. And congratulations on having a little girl with curly red hair – this 55 year old little girl with curly red hair loves to see the next generation.And what a fine example!
As a child I preferred cherry pie to birthday cake so your kids are onto something with the peaches.
Happy birthday to your beautiful girl! I think I’ll have to make this as an unbirthday cake as my little one has a February birthday :-)
I love your website, your recipes and stories! Thank you for sharing!
I’m in SC and peaches are everywhere now. Can’t wait to try this.
I also love the new design. And that boing-boing haired little beauty is precious!
Those red curls!! <3 The cake looks good too.
A thought came to me when I saw the batter – could you puree the peaches and fold them in that way, or would you think it’d throw off the consistently too greatly? Just thinking of this as a potential way to get the peach flavor in every bite of cake as well as where my mind goes when I’m spoon-feeding a 7-month old.
Definitely considered this but feel the peach flavor is more muted that way. If you’d like to try it, I’d use a lightly cooked peach sauce (like an applesauce) in place of all or some of the sour cream.
One comment – at least on my phone, your answers to questions only show up in the ‘All’ tab – so your answers to questions aren’t showing up in the ‘Questions’ tab. I imagine that’s a system glitch?
The same here on desktop version. I’m using Firefox 47.0 for mac.
(I have nothing else to say about the new site because I missed the update annouce. Will most definitely check everything out with a bit more of attention asap. Thanks for listening/reading!)
I believe so, but we are going to look into it. Thanks for letting me know!
In this week of such sad world news, this was the one thing that made me cry with joy. What better reason to eat cake than to celebrate such a sweet life. I’m so glad you have her. Her smile was a gift to me this afternoon. (And thanks for the wonderful recipe, as ever.)
She is beautiful and the cake looks great and I love your update more and more!
Lovely cake. Beautiful children. Thanks for your ever reliable and delicious recipes.
I was already getting weepy from your words about Anna and then that last joyous photo put me over the edge. I won’t be using the skip to the recipe function unless I have already read your post several times.
Deb, welcome back and a double mazel tov: Anna’s first birthday, and your new website roll-out. Count me among those who missed you. Your timing with this cakde is perfect. I have just finished harvesting and freezing about 15 lbs of peaches (not to mention all those I gave away to anyone who would take some). My grandchildren will be returning home to Calif from their annual summer in Japan with their other grandparents, and they are looking for some new peach deserts. This will perfectly serve all our tastebuds.
Question – you call for nutmeg, and here in California we are taught that whenever baking with stone fruit, the complementary flavor is almond. What would you think of adding a touch of almond extract to the recipe. Thanks, and welcome back!!
I am sure it would be delicious with almond. And thank you.
Just knew it would be a bunny cake.. Almost as adorable as the birthday girl herself . I love the new font, because , EYES! I love that that the links are bright , easy to see, red. But pop ups right over your daughter’s sweet squooshy,
Smooshy, frosting face… Not fair. Will we have to sign in each time we comment? The old format seemed to remember.
Typo in last sentence of directions “don’t take it hour…”
Overall , just peachy! 🍑🍑
She looks like a wee peach herself, totally adorable! And the cake looks good too.
Where I live in Africa, plain yogurt is about 4x cheaper and much much more available than sour cream. A direct substitution usually works pretty well, but I’d love any insights–especially if you think it would work with frosting.
Just add it a spoonful at a time for the frosting and keep tasting to make sure you like where it’s going.
Is the last little section supposed to say, “don’t take it out (it currently says “hour”) before an hour…”?
This looks wonderful! Thanks for posting this. Your little Anna looks so wonderful in her birthday outfit and that fiery red hair of hers!!! The Peach Truck comes to town here in a week. What better way to use peaches than a peaches n cream cake!!
Thank you, now fixed!
Love everything about this post! Wonderful to have a smile on my face so early in the morning. Thanks for sharing your family amd these great recipes with us.
Love the new and improved (didn”t think it could be) and your beautiful little red head. I have one who is 34 and it has been an exciting ride.
So after looking at this for the second day in a row, I think it is a great change. People like the same thing that they are used to, but this is really good. Easy to read and easy to navigate- it all makes sense once you get accustomed to the fact that there is change. I am looking forward to more summer recipes!!
I did encounter a broken link for an Instagram picture, but as you said- bugs are being worked out. Have a super weekend.
Deb had her Insta hacked last year and had to start over, losing all her previous photos. That’s probably why the link didn’t work.
Congratulations! Beautiful, peachy-keen 1-year-old, yummy-looking bunny cake!
My comment is that your newsletter came with so many ads that I could barely make out what was your newsletter. I am not sure about this new format you are using to share your blogposts.
I second that. In fact, the only content I found was one headline.
Sorry for the trouble; something went wrong with the email this morning and we’re not sure what yet (I’m sure just an accidental setting change) but we’ll get to the bottom of it. Thank you for letting me know.
Sorry for the trouble. Something went wrong; we haven’t figured out what yet but we will get to the bottom of it. I’d never intentionally send out a useless page of ads (I hope everyone knows). Thanks for letting me know.
I agree with sherrybella above. When I got your email it had so many ads I had a hard time finding the link to get to the actual post. Maybe you could make that more prominent. Love that we can just read posts from people who actually made the recipe!
Sorry for the trouble. Something went wrong; we haven’t figured out what yet but we will get to the bottom of it. I’d never intentionally send out a useless page of ads (I hope everyone knows). Thanks for letting me know.
Hello! Love the comments section. The ads threw me for a sec but I’ll adjust. Do you ever sing songs from the musical, “Annie,” to your beauty? With those red curls she’d be wearing an “Annie” costume at least for one Halloween. Happy Birthday to your sweet one.
Laylay, I have three children, and they came at my ages of 31, 33 & 39. Healthy pregnancies, healthy babies. Magazines, or wherever you read that ghastly article, have to make money. Don’t overly heed the “expert” guidelines. Good luck.
Your cakes are really stunning. But I’d love to see the crumb more than anything else….please through in more pics of a cut piece.
Here you go!
Hmm, I don’t seem to see a pic where the cake is cut. Love to see those wonderful moist crumbs!
Here you go! It didn’t make the (sorry, I had to) cut.
oooh, yummm! I plan to make this for my daughters 4th Birthday.
Love the new site,loved the old one ,love the “blather”
You are an amazing cook,get so many great ideas from you!
Love the ice cream sandwiches, so easy to pass out to company!
Your daughter is adorable!
I cannot wait to try this recipe when peaches are available here next month. I do have to comment on how gorgeous your daughter is! I love, love, love her hair. Congratulations on your beautiful family and thank you for creating such amazing recipes.
Can someone please give exact measurements if you want to bake just one 13×9 cake? I know exact measurements are important in baking and I don’t want to mess up the recipe. Thanks for your help!
Yes!
CAKE
2 cups chopped peaches
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup each granulated and light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A few gratings of nutmeg
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
FROSTING/FILLING
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
Scant 3 tablespoons sour cream, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Her hair makes me cry. So gorgeous! Happy birthday!
Thank you for another amazing cake recipe! This one just may take the top spot on my favorite list from the Roasted Apple Spice cake.
Love the new design as well!
I noticed a difference when printing recipes, that the SK label is gone…was just a nice touch to immediately know where I’d gotten the recipe. There’s also a small typo in the very last line: Don’t take it ->hour<- more than an hour or two before needed.
Happy birthday, Baby! Nice job, Smitten–thanks for sharing. And perhaps some divine intervention, n’est ce-pas?
I just want to know where the picture of the cut cake is! I want to see the layers in action. ;)
Photo right here — wasn’t the best quality (I had to shoot with… flash, shudder, because our living room light is no good) so I left it off the front page. It’s got a great crumb, not dry at all.
I’m so glad you had another baby so you could share this recipe with us! Yummm… PEACHES. If i wasn’t in my pj’s, my kids weren’t alseep and the hubs was home, I’d run to the store to get some just to make this cake! Monday is another day. Thanks for sharing such amazing things with us!
I am overwhelmed with your gorgeous daughter and her wonderful fire-red ringlets! I have wimpy strawberry blond waves, but all I want is red ringlets.
Love the new site. Congratulations on EVERYTHING (cute kids included)!
I don’t think anyone has asked…how is this cake without icing? I’d like to make half the recipe in a 9×13 pan and leave it just as is. Is this possible?
Erica, I’ve just posted my go at this wonderful recipe in a 10-inch round (halving everything) without frosting.
With a cake this tall, the crumb was delightfully moist and tender, and no one actually missed the frosting. With a shorter cake, I do not know.
Thank you, thank you! I just bought a ton of amazing peaches at a SF farmers market this morning, and will be trying this out in the next day or so.
here we are!
I halved all ingredients and baked this in a 10-inch round. It domed beautifully and after some 80 minutes (40 at 180°C/350°F fan assisted, 40 at the same temp but with just the bottom heating), it was ready in all its towering glory.
It was a pain to wait for it to completely cool down, because the smell was so good, and we ended up eating it while still lukewarm (after more that 3 hours). Even so, it was delish: soft tender crumb dotted with sweet peach morsels, imbued with the subtle butterscotch-y flavour of muscovado sugar (not very light brown, but that was all I had on hand). I suspect today it will be ever better, but alas, I left it all at my friends’ house.
btw I used no frosting and no one felt it was missing. Yes it was a bit rustic looking, but the frosting would have made it taste too sweet, imho. Next time I could probably serve it with some vanilla ice cream or a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream/greek yogurt.
definitely thanks, Deb, for a keeper!
Yeah, intentionality. And the help of 20 assorted medics. As we head for a second round of IVF I’ll be bookmarking this cake in case we ever have a kid with a summer birthday, thanks Deb!
Deb,
I found SK in your first year; as a bride, I was searching “newlywed blog” and disappointed on how snarky and bitter all the results were. But then I searched “happy newlywed blog” and found you! I know you’re not a relationships blog, but I’m glad the wording matched whatever you had written about that week — especially since my husband and I both love to cook and both love NYC.
I noticed the cherry almond Dutch baby is celebrating its “anniversary” on here. That has become a staple in our house – especially (but not only) at brunch!
Congratulations on the birthday, the redesign, and having success at what you love!
hahaah this is such a sweet post. The secret is saved.
Happy birthday sweet pea! What a doll!
Love the new design, Deb. Especially love that it’s formatted to my phone. Also like the different tabs for comments. What a great idea.
I hope I didn’t miss it, but I do think it would be awesome to be able to go straight to make a comment at the end of reading a post, rather than having to scroll through all previous comments to get to the bottom.
I’ll keep reading either way :)
Excellent redesign, pleaded but unsurprised as your site has always been impressively useable I thought!
A couple things though:
* this post has so many uncharacteristic grammatical errors It seems likely you accidentally published the draft…!
* I’m reading on mobile and though I usually read thru all the comments, i do not see a way to post a comment w/o manually scrolling down to the comment box, which I sometimes do first, before reading. Your site has a lot of comments! I may be missing it due to unfamiliarity…!
PS!!! I understand the need for spam control but I do deeply dislike having to sign into WordPress to comment, for too many reasons to list here!! (Mainly, it eliminates anonymity which I cherish!). The ONLY reason I’m doing it now is because I love your site and want to be able to comment freely, as before! Thank you!
…would also be nice to have an ‘edit comment’ feature…heh
Also, on mobile, commenters names are way outsized in comparison to comment text…beyond a style choice, it appears.
Thanks — it does look rather big!
It’s not quite peach season here in Eastern Ontario, but we still have local strawberries and rhubarb so I used those instead. Made one third of the recipe and used two 9″ layer pans. Worked beautifully – done in 27 minutes. Because of a whole cow allergy, I used goat yoghurt in the icing which is delicious! Thanks, Deb!
I love that I had a baby right after you so that I can copy all of your ideas! My son turns one later this month and I think we’ll try this. My 4 year old daughter says, “It looks so good, I just want to eat it from the picture!” I agree!
I’m a long-time reader and in the midst of all the redesign and birthday fun, I just want to say that for myriad personal reasons, it warms my heart that you shared your gratefulness for your lovely daughter with us. It is rare that we acknowledge the heartache that so often lies below the surface of family building (I felt deep pangs of sympathy over that “we are bummed too” back in 2014) and I appreciate your generosity in sharing a bit of your lovely family with us for all these years.
Also, the peaches are currently delicious here in New Orleans and I can’t wait to make the cake!
We made this cake for my son’s first birthday today. It was delicious! I let the chopped peaches sit for a bit to release some extra juice, then added that juice (maybe 3-4 Tbs) to the icing.
We made a three-layer cake with 9″ round pans and a two-layer cake with 4″ round pans for the birthday boy. There was still plenty of batter to make some snacking cakes.
Thank you for the recipe Deb!
As a huge peach fan, and a person who thinks that adding “and cream” to just about anything is a huge improvement, I’m super looking forward to trying this cake. I have a question regarding the flavor, though: a few years ago, you posted a recipe for peach cupcakes with brown sugar frosting (which I love!). How does the flavor of this compare to those? (If you remember– I don’t want to assume you’ve made them recently…)
Those are a bit fluffier, more muffin-like and less layer cakey. I do prefer this one for the cake. For the frosting, if that was your favorite, no reason to change it here. But we did love the nuance of the sour cream against the very sweet frosting.
I’m wondering why the cake instructions mix in the leaveners before the flour? Why wouldn’t you mix the b.p., b.s., & salt with the flour & fold it in all together (like a quick bread)?
Because this is how I make cakes in one bowl. Works the same, saves on dishes.
For those looking to have not quite so much cake around, I made a 1/2 batch of the cake batter and baked it in one 9×13 cake pan for 45 minutes. A 1/4 batch of the frosting recipe made enough to thinly coat to top of that single-layer cake.
I did the same (1/2 batch, 9×13 pan, ~40 minutes baking time) and it worked out well! I still want to try the frosting but so far we’ve been eating it plain :-)
Our baby girls are one day apart; mine turned a year on Monday. Happy birthday to Anna! Her red curls are one of the most delicious things on this site.
I’m noticing several duplicates in the comments. Not sure if that is a bug, or if the same people really posted it twice. Definitely will need to adjust a little to the new look. The ads are different, but they were always there before, they just hang around a little more this time (they don’t scroll with the content). Still WAY better than most of the other food blogs I read. And your girl is simply adorable! So glad she loves peaches – this is going on the list of “to make” items!
Congratulations! On both occasins – Happy birthday to the little one! She must be a joy. And I’ll raise a glass to the beautiful new design. I really like it and so far so good on the practicality of it. Well done.
Adorable, boing, boing, beautiful. Love the sweet thing, the cake and the decorated part!
Deb, I love the new web design. Love the cake, love the baby, and the baby’s hair. Your recipes are a big part of how I cook (spatchcocked chicken AGAIN last night, my husband can’t get enough of it). Thanks for all you do for us.
Has anyone made this with blueberries instead of peaches? Just curious because my son’s a blueberry lover and his first birthday is August. I’d love to swap the fruit, but I’m curious to know if I’d have to make any other adjustments to the recipe.
BTW, Deb, I LOVE having a questions/I made this section in the comments!!!!
I love the new look! Well done.
Happy birthday to your sweet girl! My girl just turned 11, and I am not really sure how that is possible?
I won’t be making this for her birthday party because she requested your hot fudge sundae cake. However, this will be baked in my house very soon. xo
Made one-third order of the recipe to make 18 cupcakes and it turned out great! Cake was very moist. Was not too crazy about the frosting, I actually prefer the brown sugar frosting recipe from the peach cupcake recipe, but found that these tasted great plain too :)
Made it yesterday and it was so delicious.
My family loved it:-)
Thanks for sharing!
You sure make cute babies! Happy birthday to your sweet peach. :-)
Happy first birthday, Miss Anna Banana! She’s a little doll.
I find myself saying over and over that children are a blessing, but having worked at Perkins School for the Blind for two years, I really and truly “get it” now. So many families are a mixture of modern medicine and small miracles – touched and thrilled to hear the story of how you are now four.
A new blog design, a handmade cake, and the finishing touches on a second book. My hat off to you, Deb. You must have 31 hour days – that can be the only way you get it all done. :)
Huge congratulations!
Can you please share where you bought those three white/wood chairs in your party picture? Thanks so much!
They’re Wegner Wishbone chairs
You’re daughter is so incredibly cute. Congrats!
It is like you read my mind! I have already made one practice peach cake for my son’s first birthday next month, but now I know the search is over. Thanks so much for sharing and love the site makeover!
This sounds DELISH!!! I have my birthday in July and always have a bday pie. Peach-blueberry is my favorite, yet I must try this cake recipe. Happy Birthday, little Anna-Imp!
What do you all do with the cake that you take off to level the cakes? I made another of Deb’s cakes and had lots of delicious cake left over after leveling. I zip locked it and froze it. Now I’m just waiting to hear of a way to use it. Any ideas?
Cake pops!
Trifle seems the most obvious use, but cakepops are an option too, I guess.
How about cake pops? Or I saw a local café toast brioche and cake crumbs and use it as a topping for sorbet/chocolate mousse to add a textural dimension
She is insanely cute and looks like you! Also, I bet this would be pretty great with brown butter frosting from Little Flower’s cookbook.
This is so cute and adorable I can’t even!
Hi Deb,
Perfect timing, my son’s first birthday is this weekend and I am going to attempt to make a cake. My daughter is two and this is the first time I am going to bake a cake for one of my kid’s birthdays. I am quite nervous. I was thinking of just baking two 9×13 cakes. So, just to complicate things even more, can you provide the weighted measurements for that? Can I layer one on top of the other then just frost the whole thing? Also, I only have one pan. Should I just refrigerate the batter while the first cake is baking? Doesn’t something happen with baking soda or baking powder when its mixed with liquid which is why you cant make a batter and let it chill in the fridge overnight? Thanks Deb!!! Congratulations again.
Wonderful photos! And the cake looks amazing! I love your site (both new and old) and I love
Your comments – they get me smiling every time I read them! Thank you!!!
Peaches and cream is a perfect cake for a peaches and cream baby!
Just to clarify regarding the bunny layers, the smash cake is 2 layers, and the bunny on top of the sheet cake is just one layer, correct? Instructions say to cut out 4 oval shapes and 8 ears, so I’m wondering where the other bunny layer goes…
Only ONE layer is cut up to make a two-layer bunny smash cake and the raised bunny decoration on the sheet cake. (You’ll actually have enough from that cake layer to also cut out a 4th bunny with ears, good to keep on hand if one gets messed up along the way or if it’s a twin birthday and you need two bunnies on the sheet cake.) So, the sheet cake is two layers. The layers are only one-inch thick; it would be too thin with just a single layer. Hope that clears it up.
OMW! Your daughter is SO big. I’ve missed some updates lately, I guess, because what a big girl! So pretty. So girly. Love that hair!
Hi Deb! I’ve loved reading your blog for a few years now and can’t wait to try this cake! How far in advance can I make it? I plan to serve it on Saturday night but I’m wondering if any steps can be done in advance (ideally on Thursday morning!). Thanks!
I always make cake layers as far in advance as I want and freeze them. I trim them frozen (much easier) and even frost them. Just make sure you give it 6 hours in the fridge (for a thick cake) to ensure it’s defrosted. In general, I find cake layers to defrost very quickly, however, when working with them at room temperature and the 6 hours is a very conservative estimate.
hi deb.. i have loved your website for years.. you saved my life in uganda where there are no available graham crackers, cheese crackers, good marshmallows, granola bars- the list goes on.. would these work as cupcakes?.. i am looking to make a portable version for a picnic- what would the measurements be? thanks!
Why, Deb, why? Why must you post this haunting recipe when I have a dish full of ripening (starting to wrinkle even) peaches? I have a job that I would like to keep, but all I can think of is “well, I would only be an hour late if I started now…”
Hi Deb, I’m making a 2 layer 9 inch round cake (chocolate, because chocolate)–using this frosting recipe, would I halve it for that size cake or make the full amount? Thanks!
You should be fine if you halve it.
Oh, Deb, the new design is just fabulous.
Can use it on my iphone with even my old-lady eyes!!!!!
Can print out recipes (before, I would highlight, copy, and paste in a word doc, then mess with the type — it came in justified and teeny teeny tiny — and then print it out.)
So so so nice. I’ve been a part of huge web redesigns, and you did everything right, as far as I can see.
And oh that red hair!!! Enjoy her now — kids grow up so fast!
I have some peaches that are aging quickly in this tropical weather and want to end their days in a simple cake (maybe along with a couple of overripe plums on the counter?). The photo of the batter being spread in the pan is most appealing.
While the frosting, sprinkles, and decorations are adorable, I would like to make your lovely but too-large/fancy-for-us cake in one 8-inch or 9-inch round or 8×8 or 9×9 square pan with no frosting (but maybe a little ice cream or gelato on top–vanilla and/or blueberry or lemon or cinnamon or raspberry swirl?).
Would it work to cut the batter recipe down to about 1/3 of the ingredients given? The amounts would make it easy: 1 1/2 cups or teaspoons becomes 1/2 cup or 1/2 tsp, 6 eggs become 2 eggs (hey–how’d they do that?), 1 tbsp of vanilla becomes 1 tsp, etc. I’d replace the 2 cups of sour cream, which sounds festive and yummy, with 2/3 of a cup of plain yogurt (it’s not a birthday at this end), and for the about half of the 2 cups (instead of 6 cups) of white flour, I’d use half white whole-wheat flour and/or substitute a little almond or oat flour, or even buckwheat flour, for about 1/4 cup of it. Thoughts?
P.S. The amused, adoring look on big brother’s face is my favorite part of your photos in which they are together. SWEET!
Marcia — You could 1/3 for a thicker (prooobably 2-inch but I haven’t tested/measured) 9-inch round or 8-inch square. And yes, it’s not accidental that it divides evenly! I tend to begin cake recipes with a “square root” so to speak of 1 small layer and build it from there. Half white whole wheat or another flour would probably be good, but when I’m nervous, I stick to a 1/3 swap for the first audition. And thank you! She totally didn’t know what the big deal was about and kept looking at her brother for guidance. It was so cute. (I’m not biased at all. Nope.)
Made a batch as cupcakes and they were great! I used 1/3 recipe of batter and 1/4 recipe of frosting. This resulted in 13.6 cupcakes (12 cupcakes and one Very Large Cupcake cooked in the 6 oz pyrex dishes I use for everything.) I realized I did not have enough powdered sugar and a late night trip to Gristedes downstairs was all together too much effort. I subbed an equal weight of 1 tsp cornstarch + brown sugar and it came together just fine.
The standard cupcakes baked in 23 minutes, but my oven tends to run a bit hot.
Just wanted to say how much I appreciate the larger font (old eyes), the printable recipes, and the discrete nod to having help in building your lovely family. A lot of anguish goes on behind the scenes and this culture is so silent about it, so thanks for shedding a little bit of sunlight on it.
do you think this would do well as cupcakes?
Absolutely.
Made this with nectarines and peaches tonight! I made 1/4 of the recipe as a test for the big birthday party in a couple of weeks.
I didn’t have sour cream and couldn’t wait to go to the store, so I used non-fat plain greek yogurt. I also used cake flour just to see what kind of texture it had. It was really delicious but I don’t know what effect the flour or yogurt had. We didn’t even add icing. It was incredible. Thanks for another great recipe!
I am NOT a cake baker. But I keep trying, and every time I am tripped up by the whole thing about how far in advance I can make the cake and have it still taste good (I’m a bread baker, if it wasn’t baked off the morning of, it’s not fresh enough). How many days could I keep this in the fridge before serving, do you think?
PS: Thank you for linking the answers to the questions in the question section!!
Love the new blog format! Much easier for my aging eyes, and I just love the look in general.
Hi Deb! Love this post and I am really excited to use this recipe for my friends baby shower next weekend! I was going to bake the cakes today but realized the peaches I also bough today weren’t as ripe as I would like, does that matter? Should I wait a few days?
Thanks!
You should be okay, so long as they’re firm but sweet and not like greenish-level unripe.
Hi Deb,
Congratulations on your little babe turning one! It looks like you had quite the celebration! My little girl will be one later this month and I am going to make this cake (in a kitty version) for her birthday party. I did a trial run, and it was delicious. I refrigerated the cake overnight and, obviously, went in for another piece that next morning. It still tasted great, but the peaches had turned blue in some spots. It didn’t look like mold and it happened so quickly, I’m wondering if you have an idea of what went wrong.
Thanks for your help!
This can sometimes happen as a reaction with baking powder or baking soda. I’ve read that it can help to use an aluminum-free baking powder, if you don’t already. I use one, FWIW and did not have that issue with this cake, but again, it’s just a guess.
Thanks! I’ll try that.
Such a cute cake! My baby loves peaches, and I think I’ll make this for her first birthday in a few months. Can I ask what else you served at the party? I’m trying to think up a good menu for the birthday baby and her mostly adult guests that won’t have me in the kitchen the whole time…
Despite reading all the comments I am still confused about converting to a round cake.
If I want to make either a 3 layer 9 inch or a 4 layer 10 inch how much of the recipe do I use? Full recipe? 2/3? Half? Does the baking time change? Thanks in advance!!
You could use the recipe as written to make 6 1-inch (i.e. thin) 9-inch round layers (or 3 2-inch, but that’s very tall in total) or 4 10-inch slightly thicker layers. Not sure about baking times, in general, more than half what’s written but not the full amount as for a larger layer unless much thicker.
I made this in 2 layers. GIANT cake!! I froze the layers, then defrosted and frosted (ha) them 24 hours before serving. It kept fine in the fridge all frosted and put together. I used a 1/2 recipe of frosting and only used it for the middle and top, leaving the sides bare, but after an addition of extra sour cream, I loved the frosting and would have loved more of it. It was a hit.
I just made this and it’s delicious. Unfortunately I have end-of-season peaches, so they were not as juicy as this recipe called for. The cake still came out nice. The batter is thicker..like a muffin batter, but it comes out moist and light.
I made this gluten free with my own GF blend.
I did not use the cream cheese icing as I don`t care for cream cheese icing. I can see that making this cake very sweet. Instead, I made an Italian Meringue Buttercream and added a bit of homemade peach jam to it. It was light, fluffy, with just a hint of peach flavor.
Excellent recipe! Thank you!
Possible to replace the peaches with strawberries? If so, any adjustments to consider? Thanks!!
Can’t say for sure without trying it but they should work *about* the same.
Thanks! I will report back any interesting findings.
Hey Michelle, just checking in to see how your strawberry substitute worked? I’m planning to try that as well as I can’t get my hands on fresh peaches now. Thank you!
It’s November here. I want to make this for my boy who is turning 1 tomorrow. I only have home frozen sweet peaches. Can I use them? Any thoughts?
Yes, go for it.
I am so sure your kids loved this cake. They needed no chocolate with this adoralbe cake. It sounded delicious.
[…] to tell me how much we are alike, not sure what that’s about… Both kids got serious birthday cakes and for once, my husband did alright too. I got to go on a surprise birthday trip to Mexico City […]
[…] me how much we are alike, not sure what that’s about… Both kids got serious birthday cakes and for once, my husband did alright too. I got to go on a surprise birthday trip to Mexico City […]
Made this for my nephew’s 1st birthday with 30 people in attendance. The cake was a hit with both adults and the peach loving babe. Thanks for the recipe and inspiration!
I’m going to make this cake for my little girl’s 1st birthday that’s coming up in March, bunny and all. The cake looks so good & I figure the bunny will go well since it’ll be close to Easter :)
But I have a question about the food.!!.
Being a first time mom/child birthday party host, I was wondering about the food you served during Anna’s birthday party.. or if you have any suggestions/tips. I’d appreciate any help.
Happy to help! We served bagels and lox from Russ & Daughters. :) Are you planning a brunch or lunch? Adults and kids or mostly adults? I can make suggestions if I know more.
Ahh! You’re the best.
It’ll be lunch with some kids but mostly adults. So what is easy to make in large quantities, super delicious, and can be made ahead? Lol. Thanks so much Deb ❤
Pasta bakes? Pretty ones? I love making a big pot of chicken chili with the works because it keeps well. A giant quiche? A few? I love assemble-your-own spreads, like these chicken gyros or this steak salad, the parts deconstructed. I also like the same with a giant cobb salad (which doubles as awesome finger food for the littles). Hope that helps get you started; many more ideas where that came from!
Perfect!!! Thanks so much for the ideas. The quiche and gyro salad are actually some of my favorite recipes on the site. Really appreciate it!
I am so excited you posted this recipe! I used the monkey cake for my son’s first birthday, and I was trying to think of something not chocolate based for my daughter. I felt so lucky coming across this recipe! Can’t wait to try it.
What would be the temp and minutes, if you wanted to make cupcakes?
I didn’t test it as cupcakes, however, same temperature and usually cupcakes bake for about 20 minutes, safest to start checking in at 17-18.
When I was in high school, I made a bunny cake using two round pans. One round was used for the bunny head and the other round was used to cut two ears from 2 sides and that left a remaining bowtie in the middle. Unfortunately I can’t draw in the comments but think about it and you will figure it out
OMG!! THOSE GORGEOUS CURLS!!! I can’t stand it! TOO cute!!
raymond.woo@edgewell.com
This looks great! Could it be made as a round layer cake?
This recipe can be halved to yield 3 1-inch thick 9-inch round or 8-inch square layers.
Really want to make this, but that’s a lot of cake. Could I half the recipe for a 9X13 pan?
This recipe can be halved to yield 3 1-inch thick 9-inch round or 8-inch square layers.
Hi–I’d like to make this for my daughter’s birthday and don’t have much time to test it out beforehand. Is it a light or heavy cake? And has anyone frozen it and felt it was still good?
I made the roasted apple one for my husband’s birthday and it was good but not great and quite heavy. Just wondering about this one since it is also fruit based,
I’d say that the cake itself, because there’s so much fruit in it, has a heaviness to it but it’s not overly sweet, mostly moist. The roasted apple is similar but it might be a bit heavier because the layers are thicker than these.
I wasn’t sure if you’d get back to me so I couldn’t help myself but to make one layer. It’s delicious! I’m not sure how this serves more than 20. Would it be too much to make it into a 3 layer 9×13? I haven’t frosted so was thinking that might make it too rich.
It’s written as a 3-layer 9×13 so you can follow it to get that. The reason is ends up serving so many is that, as with wedding cakes, you’re going to want a much smaller slice of this 5-6″ tall cake than you would from a single layer or a 2-layer round cake. Glad it was a hit!
One more question–if I make them today and her birthday is Saturday, should I freeze the cake? I’m going to frost Friday night and was wondering if the cake will stay moist for a day before frosting or do I really need to freeze it?
While it will definitely stay moist at room temperature — with this much fresh fruit, it will barely dry out even in more time — I use the freezer because it basically stops time from the moment the cake is baked. It’s also easier to trim and shape. But, you should be fine either way.
rosie.wong@edgewell.com
ivy.jiang@edgewell.com
I made this for my daughter’s 1st birthday this past weekend and it could not have been a bigger hit!!! I just wanted to mention that it being April in Denver, I had to use frozen peaches and it was delicious! And I had to add some fresh strawberries to one set and that worked great as well. I made the full recipe and also a 2/3 recipe for a giant 9 layer cake. I ended up going through 2 full batches of frosting. One thing: The bunny template that says to print at 8×10 was HUGE. I could only fit two bunny faces and two ears on a 9×13. Thankfully my husband is a graphic designer and fixed the template and all was well. Thank you for all your amazing recipes!
What do you mean you could only fit two faces? There’s only one bunny face on the cake. I’m going to make this and I think I may have to use frozen peaches now. Good to know it still tastes good.
I see you meant two faces to cut out.
This cake is great! I was planning to make it for my twins’ first birthday in 2 weeks and so I did a trial run for my own birthday yesterday. I halved the recipe (probably should’ve done just a third or even less, since it’s just me and the hubs – now we have 90% of the cake left – should I freeze it?) and baked three generous 8in round layers for 35-40 min. The cake is really moist but, despite including 3 cups of very ripe and juicy peaches and apricots, the fruit flavor wasn’t super strong (I was thinking peach jam between the layers might be a fun switch-up?). Half of the frosting was too much but I put it all on anyway. I’ll definitely make this again, but I’m not sure I’ll make it for the party, even though the quantities seem perfect for a 9×13 and two smash cakes… Thanks for the recipe!
Long-time super fan first-time poster! Had to share the great experience with this cake. Looked everywhere for a strawberry sheet cake without geletin and finding nothing decided to swap fresh local strawberries for peaches here. Used a half recipe and a 10×15 jelly roll pan to serve a crowd. Worked perfectly and was the best cake I’ve ever made! Baked for about 20 minutes and topped with cream cheese frosting. Thank you for such reliably fantastic recipes that always fit the bill!
Hello there! I was wondering if substituting blueberries for the peaches would be as tasty? If so, would there be any other adjustments you would recommend? (More or less sugar, vanilla v. almond extract?) Thanks!
It should work just fine, I don’t think it needs a different amount of sugar; use 6 cups.
ivy.jiang@edgewell.com
I made this as cupcakes for my daughter’s third birthday. They were very good. I liked how the cake was moist and flavorful. I loved how the peaches were identifiable and delicious, but I wanted one in every bite. Maybe in the future I would chop them just a little smaller to distribute them more evenly. The frosting was too sweet for my taste (or I used to much of it per cupcake), but the kids were into it. I’m not the biggest fan of the very slightly gritty mouth feel of frostings made with powdered sugar blended into butter, but I knew from reading the recipe exactly what I was getting into (in other words, this is not a fault of the recipe, it’s just a type of frosting I keep making because it’s so easy, but I don’t love). For those looking for the conversions, I made 2/3 of the cake recipe and made 38 cupcakes. I also made 2/3 of the frosting recipe and used all of it to give each cupcake a generous swirl of frosting. If I’d been spreading with a spatula, I would have had some left over.
Made this today for the family, reduced everything by half for three 8″ rounds instead of the three 9×13 layers. Changed nothing, would make it again in a heartbeat. The frosting is very loose, even in my cool Canadian house, but very tasty. I also left one layer plain for my T1D husband to sample, who proclaimed it the best thing he’s had in a while, and “whyever would you need frosting?!”
sunny.xie@edgewell.com
Just did a test run of the bunny smash cake for my niece’s birthday this weekend. Her parents don’t want her to have a lot of sugar just yet, so I made some modifications that I thought I’d share.
I totally omitted the sugar from the cake, and I think it still works beautifully. It’s a bread-ier texture, but the peaches sweeten everything nicely. Instead of buttercream, I used unsweetened whipped cream as the frosting, which also worked great.
I plan to make 2/3 of the recipe for a sheet cake for the adults and older kids, and 1/3 of the recipe without sugar for my niece. Can’t wait to try the sugar-full version!
[…] (recipe from smitten kitchen) […]
If I want to make this a normal sized cake (for 6+ people) can I make a third of everything and bake it in three 9-inch layer pans, and should it be baked at the same temperature and for the same amount of time? Thanks!
Same temperature, less time
Just wondering if you think canned peaches would work fine? We’re on the other side of the world, so no peaches here yet… Thanks Deb!
I always shy away from making comments mostly because the answer is always in the comments but I didn’t find the answer about using frozen peaches. I try to use what is in season but I can’t get away from this cake it’s just too cute and I think I want it to be summer. I hope I didn’t miss the answer. I’m going to make this cake this weekend for my daughter’s 1st birthday. Thank you for the recipe Deb. I’ve had my eye on it all year!
I haven’t made it with frozen peaches but would think that you could. I don’t think you need to defrost them first.
Really? That would make my life easier and this is baby 3 so… thanks!
Hi!
Can I use apricots instead of peaches?
Hi Deb, Love love love this recipe, unfortunately no fresh peaches at this time. Can I substitute peaches with strawberries? Would that work? Thank you!
Siva, I’m curious if you had any luck with the strawberry substitution! Was thinking of trying it too since they’re coming into season now.
Hey Inna, I ended up making the monkey (banana) cake for my lil one’s 1st. I tried to shape it like the bunny and let’s just say it looked like a 3 yr old made it 🙈
I hope you try the strawberry version, good luck 👍🏼
I halved the recipe and made this with mangoes instead of peaches, as they’re in season right now in India. Also, did not have access to sour cream, so I used yogurt with the water drained off (hung yogurt). Made it in a 7×7″ square pan (2 layers) and had enough left for 8 cupcakes. Baked for 40 minutes in my oven. It turned out delicious!
[…] Peaches and Cream Cake from Smitten Kitchen (my version will feature fewer bunnies, […]
This cake is such a crowd pleaser! It has such a tender crumb and delicate flavor. I made 1/3 of the recipe and baked it in a 10-inch bundt pan. It was done in about 45 minutes – ended up slightly shorter than I wanted but not a deal breaker. The cake tastes great by itself but I topped it with a mixed berry + ginger glaze to make it a tea-time centerpiece. Thanks for a perfect summer baking recipe, Deb!
I’ve been eyeing this adorable cake for my daughter’s bday for a couple years and finally going to try it! The peaches I’m planning to use look much riper than yours pictured. Is that going to be a problem? Should I adjust the liquid ingredients to accommodate?
This post… hands down, is possibly one of my all-time favorites from our sweet & funny, perfectly mixed & positively posted, “Smitten Kitchen” baker, blogger, mother and writer! First of all, I’d just like to say that your recipes are always pitch-perfect! I love (and appreciate) the fact that I can make ANY recipe from your books or blog… and know that they will turn out perfectly & never let me down. I’ve been baking/cooking long enough to know that this kind of perfection takes work & dedication to your craft. And I don’t have that kind of time, patience or energy! So, “thank you”!
Secondly! Your comical timing and delightful sense of humor is truly the ‘icing on the cake’ for me! Your blog (and books) are as much fun to read as they are to make! Your love of all things kind & good (and good to eat) are always shared with such honestly & love and sprinkled with a healthy dose of comedy! I can always count on plenty of chuckles as I read each post! You give us all something fun to smile about! You’re the bees knees in my book!
Keep up the good work!
Best wishes from one of your many fans! Lauri
i’ve been waiting for the right time to make this and did it yesterday for a friend’s birthday camp-out. i turned them into cupcakes for easy transport. i subbed buttermilk for sour cream in the cake and yogurt for the sour cream in the frosting because that is what I had on had. they were delicious! i think the baking time was between 20-24 minutes. they were so yummy and i cant wait to make them again! i also love when you share these glimpses of your family life and the humanism behind the scenes. i remember tearing up reading this a few years ago and did so again yesterday when i read the recipe again.
This cake is awesome. I made it for my daughter’s first birthday back in 2016 and just made it again for her 4th birthday. Everyone raved about it, kids and adults. Can’t say enough good things about this and all other smitten kitchen recipes. 👏
I made this for my daughter’s first birthday last weekend. I decided to cut the sweetness of the frosting by filling the cake instead with a layer of peach curd I made from leftover peaches as well as a layer of unsweetened whipped cream. I have never received more glowing praise for a cake! My husband, who hates cake, had seconds! Another hit from Deb. Thank you!
Made the recipe as shown but when I printed out the template it was so big it would only make one oval and one ear from a 9×13 inch pan.
Making this for my son’s first birthday tomorrow. If i am not frosting until tomorrow, do i leave the cake layers out or put in the fridge?
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I really really really wanted to make this as beautiful as the photos shown as I wanted something special for my two year old’s birthday. 4 hours into cooking the three layers, I decided to halve the frosting and just frost the three layers into one single cake. No outside edge frosting and no pretty little bunny :( but it looks delicious! Plus a bit less sugar for the toddlers coming over. Let’s see.
Hi Deb, this was a super sweet and sentimental little snippet of your life. Planning to make this for my almost-one-year-old’s iso-birthday next month. As there’s only going to be the 4 of us, can I half (quarter??) the recipe?
Yes, absolutely. And thank you.
To save you the math conversion acrobatics I had to do… I made 1/3 of the recipe in an 8×8 square which resulted in two perfectly-sized layers – was more than enough (but not TOO much) for my family of 4. Happy bday to your little one!
I have had my eye on this cake for years and finally made it for a birthday! Small crowd so I made 1/3 of the recipe and baked it in an 8×8 square pan for ~25 min – made two nice even layers that way. Supremely yummy!
Hi Deb! First time poster…Flavor of this cake was great, but mine came out very, very dense. I used all the same ingredients and proportions. I tried very hard to not overmix…can you tell me what i may have done wrong?
I am making this cake for a baby shower that happens to be outside (in the summer), and was wondering if your swiss buttercream frosting (from the wedding cake recipe) might hold up better than this sour cream butter cream frosting? Or do you think this one would be just fine? I’m just trying to decide what frosting holds up best in higher temps. thanks!
I made this for my peach-loving 8-year-old’s birthday this year and he loved it. While cream cheese icing has been rejected, this sour cream version was a hit. Since the pandemic started I’ve taken to running granulated sugar in my blender to make powdered sugar, and have used that for icing. It is slightly grainier than packaged icing sugar, but works well enough for us even without the corn starch. This time I added some brown sugar to the blender (inspired by the peach cupcake recipe here) and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipes! All of our celebration cakes have come from this site since the 8-year-old was born.
I’m going to make this for my family on Easter, and I was wonder if it has to be refrigerated or if it will hold up ok if its not?
Thanks,
Jovie
So I took some liberties – I wanted an “everyday” type cake, so I made 2/3 of the recipe, and baked it in a 9×13 Pyrex as a single layer. After I poured the batter in the pan, I topped it with a pecan streusel – 2 T diced butter, 2 T flour, 1/4 c brown sugar, pinch of salt, and 3/4 c chopped and toasted pecans shmooshed together with my fingers in a bowl, and then sprinkled across the batter. It took about 50-55 minutes to bake. After the cake cooled, I made a 1/4 recipe of the brown sugar frosting from the peach cupcake recipe and thinned it with milk until I could drizzle it across the top. So… the same cake in essence, but riffed into something more suitable to tote into the office. If anyone else is drowning in an impulse purchase of a crate of peaches, let this be something you use them for. It was amazing!
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I made this and it was delicious. I used a third of the cake ingredients and made two 9 inch rounds. The cake was very tender. I froze it before frosting to help it stay together. I made half the frosting recipe and it was just enough for the double layer cake, with none leftover for extra flourishes. Will make again for sure.
[…] Ribbons with Pesto and White Beans4 years ago: Grilled Pizza and Confetti Party Cake5 years ago: Peaches and Cream Bunny Cake6 years ago: Green Beans and Almond Pesto and Very Blueberry Scones7 years ago: Sticky Sesame […]
Could I substitute strawberries instead of peaches to make a birthday cake in June?
Sure!
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[…] Pesto and White Beans5 years in the past: Grilled pizza and Confetti party cake6 years in the past: Bunny cake with peaches and creamHe’s 7 years previous: Green beans and almond pesto and Very Blue Scones8 years in the past: […]
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