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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!
Great cake. Light and moist.
Can you freeze the peach filling ahead of time?
That should be fine. The freezing may make the peaches soften up even more, but I wouldn’t expect that to be an issue.
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes.
That should be fine.
Really looking forward to making this! How much of the filling I make will go into the buttercream, I can’t see that it says anywhere and don’t want to guess!
Under the list of ingredients for the frosting, it lists 6 tablespoons of the peach filling. I hope that helps!
Let me tell you how amazing this recipe is ,,,,I made it yesterday for my 16 years anniversary and we loved it ..thank you so much for sharing
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
I love love this recipe! I made the cake and filling (with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting) and it was so so good! 10 out of 10 will make again! This will probably be a go to for me from now on!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
This is my third year at attempting to make this cake. The other two have been epic failures. I don’t know if I’m not cooking the filling long enough, or not making the icing borders wide enough. All I know is I’ve been baking 50 years and this is the first cake recipe has bested me. The taste is there, but the appearance is horrendous. It slips and slides all over the place. Approximately how long does it take to reduce the filling by half? My filling is cooking now, has been on for about 20 minutes and it doesn’t look nearly reduced enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And I am using fresh peaches.
Thanks!
My guess is that your buttercream isn’t thick enough to keep everything steady. I would take a read through my post on frosting consistency to get an idea of how thick you want it to be so that your cake layers aren’t sliding around. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/get-right-frosting-consistency/
I used this recipe with a different frosting and had no issues 😉
I’d also love to make this recipe into filled cupcakes, and would like some advise. Since you never answered Elise query on 6/21/21, I guess there’s not much hope for me another year later. 😂 I suppose I’m on my own for trials. The recipe sounds so delicious!
It can always be hard to say about cupcakes, so you’ll likely need to do some experimenting of your own. You may need more or less of something, but I typically would cut the recipe in half for about 12 cupcakes or so.
I am doing a 3 decker wedding cake. Will this cake recipe be sufficient texture and weight for this?
Assuming each tier has dowels to support the cake above it, it should be fine.
Can you use canned peaches?
I haven’t ever tried it with canned peaches, but I assume it would be OK.
can i reduce it to three layers?
Sure. That should be fine.
Can the cake be made and frozen to be iced and filled later?
Sure, just wrap it well before freezing and thawing in the fridge before using it.
Hey Aimen, you probably won’t see this since it is over a year later, but just in case someone else happens to have the same question: I made this cake with browned butter and it was amazing. I left the butter to re-solidify after browning it, as I wasn’t sure how melted butter would affect the final texture and such of the cake, and then proceeded with the recipe as written.
Made this cake for Fathers Day and it was a huge hit! Any thoughts on using for cupcakes? What would you recommend for bake time and how many cupcakes could you get from this batter mix? Thanks!
I was thinking of making them into cupcakes as well – would love to know how many it would make!
I typically would cut the recipe in half for about 12 cupcakes or so.
If I don’t want to use mascarpone cheese, is there another good substitute? Thank you!
You could use cream cheese or some extra butter.
Hi Lindsay! What type of milk should be used (whole, 2%, etc)?
I use 2%