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This Brown Sugar Layer Cake with Peach Filling is made with layers of moist brown sugar cake, fresh peach filling and peach mascarpone frosting! It’s light, delicious and so flavorful – such a big hit!
This post is sponsored by Domino Sugar, but all opinions are my own.
Peaches are a favorite fruit around our house. Not only am I and the hubs a fan, but my dad has always loved them. Recently we introduced the boys to solids and peaches was one of the first fruits they tried. It only seemed natural that they loved them! Along with bananas, peaches are now their favorite.
This is definitely a good time of year for falling in love with peaches too. The Georgia peaches have been totally amazing and the boys have been spoiled by their freshness and flavor. I feel like I need to buy a truckload and freeze them so we have them all winter. If only the boys were old enough to try cake, I know they’d have loved this cake as much as the rest of us.
Aside from the fact that we’ve been having quite a love affair with peaches lately, the inspiration for this brown sugar layer cake also came from Martha Stewart and her show on PBS, Martha Bakes, where she shows viewers how to make beautiful desserts with lots of tips and tricks for doing it yourself. She demonstrates updated twists on classics and fresh, fun flavors. In fact, Domino Sugar is sending one lucky person to New York to meet Martha in person! Enter for your chance to win a trip to attend a live taping of the show, plus take part in an exclusive meet-and-greet. How fun is that?!
So how do you make brown sugar layer cake?
To get started with this cake, you’ll make the fresh peach filling. I used about 5 cups of chopped peaches, a little cornstarch for thickening, lemon juice to compliment the peach flavor and, of course, Domino® Light Brown Sugar.
Domino® Sugar is perfect for use in baking with its exceptional taste and quality. You can just tell as you open the box and bag of sugar that it has such a beautiful, soft texture and moisture to it. It’s the gold standard for taste and performance, so it’s perfect for producing baked goods that are moist and flavorful. It certainly makes this cake even better.
The ingredients for the peach filling are combined in a large sauce pan and heated until it begins to boil. You’ll want to mash the peaches at that point, then let the mixture continue to simmer until it’s reduced by about half. It’ll continue to thicken up a bit as it cools, but overall isn’t a super thick filling.
While the filling cools, make the brown sugar cake layers. Again, we are using Domino® Light Brown Sugar to give this cake some intensely delicious flavor and moisture. The brown sugar is creamed together with butter and some vegetable oil until light and fluffy – a very important step for adding air and lightness to the batter and final cake.
The eggs and vanilla extract are then added, followed by milk and some dry ingredients, including a little cinnamon. The small addition of cinnamon helps bring out the best flavor in this cake and is just the right amount!
Once the cakes are baked and cooled, you’ll want to make the frosting. This frosting is SO good! It’s made with some butter and mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar and some of the peach filling. The mascarpone flavor really comes through and is such a light, lovely compliment to the peaches and brown sugar cake.
One thing to be aware of is that mascarpone cheese can be a bit finicky. I add it to the frosting when it’s still a bit cool, but not cold. If you let it come to room temperature, it could actually end up being a little too warm. When mascarpone gets too warm, it’s very soft and hard to work with and can be hard to get it to firm up again.
The brown sugar cake layers are baked in two 8 inch pans, so you’ll want to cut those each into two layers, for a total of four.
To build the cake, spread roughly a 1/3 cup of frosting on top of the layer of cake, then pipe a dam of frosting around the outside. The filling is added inside the dam and then the next layer of cake is added. If you find the frosting to be a little soft, place it in the fridge to firm up a bit, and then continue building the cake.
The whole cake is finished off with the remainder of the peach mascarpone frosting and then topped with some fresh sliced peaches and a little brown sugar crumb topping, which also brings in the lovely brown sugar flavor as part of the decoration.
This Brown Sugar Layer Cake with Peach Filling was a big hit! My dad’s birthday happened to be the week that I made this cake and as I mentioned, he’s a big peach fan. It was the perfect cake for him and the whole family just loved the cake! The peaches are delicious and the cake is wonderfully moist and flavorful, perfectly complimented by the light mascarpone frosting. I can see this a cake we’ll make for more birthdays and I hope you get the chance to try it too!
And don’t forget to visit www.marthabakesnyc.com to enter for a chance to win a trip to New York City and meet Martha Stewart! One lucky winner will attend a live taping of Martha Stewart’s Emmy®-nominated cooking show, Martha Bakes, plus take part in an exclusive meet-and-greet with America’s most beloved expert baker and teacher. Sweepstakes ends September 12, 2018.
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Brown Sugar Layer Cake with Peach Filling
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 55 minutes, plus cooling time
- Yield: 12-14 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Brown Sugar Layer Cake with Peach Filling is made with layers of moist brown sugar cake, fresh peach filling and peach mascarpone frosting!
Ingredients
Peach Filling
- 5 cups peeled and chopped peaches (about 4–5 large peaches)
- 1/3 cup (75g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Brown Sugar Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (337g) packed Domino® light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) milk
Peach Mascarpone Frosting
- 1 1/4 cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 9 cups (1035g) Domino® powdered sugar
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese, cool, but not cold
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp peach filling (above)
Brown Sugar Crumble
- 6 tbsp (50g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp Domino® light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, sliced
Instructions
1. To make the peach filling, add the chopped peaches, brown sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice to a large saucepan. Heat slowly over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken and boil, then mash to break down the peaches.
2. Continue cooking over medium-low heat and let simmer until the filling is reduced by about 1/2, then remove from heat to cool. The filling will have thickened a bit and will continue to thicken as it cools, though it’s not meant to be a super thick filling. Set filling in the fridge to cool.
3. To make the cake layers, prepare two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
5. Add the butter, brown sugar and vegetable oil to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
6. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
8. Add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter will look a little curdled, but that’s ok.
9. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
10. Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
11. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
12. When the filling and cakes are ready and cooled, make the frosting. Place the butter in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
13. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
14. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix until well combined and smooth.
15. Add the salt and peach filling and mix until well combined and smooth.
16. Add the remainder of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
17. To put the cake together, cut both cakes in half lengthwise so that you end up with 4 layers of cake total. To do this, I use a long serrated knife.
18. Place the first layer of cake on a cake plate or cardboard cake circle and top with about 1/3 cup of the frosting. Spread the frosting into an even layer.
19. Pipe a dam of frosting around the edge of the cake and then fill it with roughly 1/3 of the remaining filling.
20. Add the second layer of cake, then repeat another layer of frosting and filling.
21. Add the third layer of cake, then another layer of frosting and filling.
22. Add the final layer of cake on top and then add a thin crumb coat of frosting to the outside of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until firm and sturdy, about 1-2 hours. Set the remainder of the frosting in the fridge and take it out about 30 minutes before you’re ready to continue, so it can soften a bit.
23. Frost the outside of the cake with the remainder of the frosting, then finish it off with some sliced peaches and brown sugar crumble, if you like. To make the brown sugar crumble, combine the flour, brown sugar and butter in a medium-sized bowl and use a fork to press the butter into the dry ingredients until it all forms a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle the mixture over a lined cookie sheet and bake at 350°F (176°C) for about 5-8 minutes, until the crumble pieces starts to brown around the edges. Remove and set aside to cool, then add to the cake.
24. Cover and refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. I recommend setting the cake out for about an hour or so before serving so it’s not quite so cold.
Notes
NOTE: The frosting on this cake is thinner than most frostings I use for layered cakes. Be sure to use the full amount of powdered sugar and don’t add additional moisture, or it will be too thin for layering and holding the filling in place. One the cake is layered together and the crumb coat added, be sure to refrigerate before moving on, so that the frosting firms up and everything stays in place.
NOTE: If you are new to baking, a crumb coat is a very thin layer of frosting spread across the top and sides of an assembled layer cake before it goes into the fridge to chill. The crumb coat catches any stray crumbs and then holds them in place. This is super helpful when frosting the outside of the cake so that everything looks nice and smooth.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 858
- Sugar: 92.9 g
- Sodium: 262.7 mg
- Fat: 41.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 117.6 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
- Cholesterol: 151.1 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
I’d love to make this for my son’s birthday tomorrow as he requested a layer cake with peach filling and loves mascarpone (who doesn’t?). BUT I’m thinking the 9 cups of powdered sugar in the frosting has to be a typo?! Especially given the comment that it was way too sweet. I don’t recall ever using more than 2-4 cups for a frosting and even your own berry layer cake with mascarpone frosting only takes 1.5 cups. Recipe sounds delish otherwise!
It’s not a typo. Standard american buttercream frostings use a fair amount of powdered sugar like that, but you can certainly reduce it – you’ll just end up having less frosting. The reason the Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake uses less powdered sugar is that it’s whipped cream. The volume comes from the whipping of the cream. In this frosting, it’s not whipped so the volume comes from the powdered sugar. If you reduce the powdered sugar, but still want the same volume of frosting, you’d have to increase the other ingredients.
I made this last week for a birthday party – it was delicious, definitely a unique flavor of cake that nobody had experienced before. The peach filling was incredible, in fact, I was eating by the spoonful to make sure it tasted okay 😉
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can i use a canned slice peaches instead of fresh peaches? Thank you.
Yes, canned peaches should work fine.
That should be fine.
Hello, first, your cake looks gorgeous! Second, I was wondering if I don’t use Domino’s sugar (powder and brown sugar), will the cake be always good? I don’t think we have this brand in Canada… Thanks!
Yes, that should be fine. Thanks!
Do you peel the peaches?
Yes, the peaches are peeled.
Tried this cake and it is delicious. My layers turned out thinner and a little dense. Maybe over mixing. My one problem is that the frosting, however delicious, is too sweet. Any suggestions?
So glad you enjoyed it! I’m not sure about the sweetness. I actually find this to be one of my less sweet frostings. You could try adding a little salt to cut down on it a bit.
Can the butter be replace in the frosting? I want to make it, it looks yummy
I supposed that depends on what you’d replace it with.
can I use Cream cheese in the frosting?
The flavor will be a little different, but you can.
The instructions say to prepare 2 – 8 inch cake pans, then farther down you refer to 4 cake layers…how do you get 4 layers from 2 cakes??
Step 17 – you cut both layers in half horizontally so that you have 4 layers.
I love to use cake flour for the tenderness in a cake. I know to add 2 Tablespoons of cake flour per cup of all purpose flour. But if I weigh the flour–which I have recently gotten into doing–do I use the same grams? In other words, does cake flour weigh less than all purpose flour? I have fresh peaches to make this cake.
I have used cake flour before in a similar version of these cake layers and used the same weight of cake flour.
Does anyone know if i can use cake flour in this recipie?
I have used cake flour in similar versions of this cake, so I think it should be fine.
Thank you so much
I look forward to making this very soon summer needs to leave so my kitchen won’t be so hate
I hope you enjoy it!
I meant to say hot lol not hate oops and thanks
So happy for this cake featuring fresh peaches, especially since my cousin owns an orchard! Love how you plated it on a scalloped stand and let the brown sugar crumble fall in to the scallops…just gorgeous! I can’t wait to share the recipe with my family (I will give all the kudos to you).
Thanks Lin! I hope you enjoy it!
Cake looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing! Can we use frozen peaches for filling?
Frozen peaches should be fine. I’d just let them thaw and then pat them dry before using.
Could I use regular butter cream with the peach filling? X
Yes, that should be fine.
WOW! This is gorgeous! I absolutely adore how beautiful all of your pictures are – I can never get pictures of my cakes that beautiful and well-lit! ♥♥♥
Thanks so much Caron!
Do you know if this stays fresh in the fridge? For how many days? Sometimes butter cakes get too dry…but I’m guessing this may be balanced out by the moisture of the peach filling plus the little bit of vegetable oil?
Yes, it does. I actually baked/cooked everything on a Tuesday, put it together on Wednesday and served it Friday for my dad’s birthday and it was still very moist and a big hit. I normally would say to only make a cake a day or two in advance, but couldn’t do that this time and it still turned out great.
Hi! Planning on making this for a 1 year old’s birthday this Saturday who loves peaches! I’m a little nervous about getting it all done on Friday so was planning on going this route. I’m assuming it should all just be stored in the fridge once made and before I’m ready to assemble? I’m pretty new to baking, so I’m always double checking all of my decisions!!
You don’t need to refrigerate the crumble and the cakes would be fine at room temperature for about 24 hours, but more than that and you might want to refrigerate them. And yes to refrigerating the filling and frosting. I hope you enjoy it!