This peaches and cream cake celebrates the fresh peaches of summer! A rich almond cake base gets a generous topping of vanilla whipped cream and plenty of cinnamon sugar peaches. This no-frills cake will be a sure showstopper at your summer soirees!
Ingredients
This almond cake is one of my favorite snacking cakes. A little extra brown sugar in the cake pairs lovely with the brown sugar in the peaches. Let’s look at the key ingredients in this cake.
Almond Cake
- Almond flour. A super-fine or fine ground almond flour will have a smoother texture than an almond meal.
- All-purpose flour. All almond flour would give a very heavy cake. So we’re going to lighten things up with some plain flour too.
- Brown sugar & granulated sugar. All brown sugar would be a little dense for the cake, but a mixture of the two is a good flavor balance.
- Almond & vanilla extract. A little extra almond flavor (but not too much!) and vanilla for richness.
- Whole milk. Makes the cake nice and moist and rich.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peaches
- Fresh peaches. Have to use fresh peaches here, no exceptions. A just-ripe peach, but not a mushy one, is the sweet spot.
- Brown sugar. Brown sugar mixing with the natural peach juice will create a lovely syrup as it sits.
- Cinnamon. Just a little cinnamon goes a long way. You don’t want to cover the taste of the peaches, just oomph them a little.
Sweetened Whipped Cream
- Heavy whipping cream. Make sure it’s actually heavy whipping cream - no half & half or whole milk will do here. The fats in heavy whipping cream are perfect for, well, whipping.
- Confectioners’ sugar. Just a little sweetness in the whipped cream. The peaches are already sweet, we want to balance that.
Making Almond Cake
This peach almond cake is an easy, classic cake made with what is called the creaming method. What is the creaming method, you ask? It’s what we call a cake made by whipping butter and sugar first - or creaming them together.
Even though this is a simple cake, there a few best practices to review:
Cream butter and sugars well. You can see in the first image below that the butter and sugars are really light and fluffy. Let the mixture whip for several minutes on high because the more air you whip in, the more airy the cake will be.
Add remaining ingredients on low. After whipping the butter and sugars, your mixer should never be on high again! Adding the eggs slowly allows them to emulsify well and prevents splitting. It’s also why we only add one at a time.
Alternate adding flour and milk. For the same reasons as above, I recommend to alternate adding your flours and milk in three additions. Flour-milk-flour-milk-flour.
Making Peach Topping
The good news is, peaches are absolutely beautiful, delicious jewels that look impressive with next to no effort.
To make them shine, we’re going to stir together just a little bit of cinnamon and brown sugar to make quick macerated peaches.
Macerating means we will let the natural juices in the peaches mix with the brown sugar to create a syrup. As the peaches sit, they will get slightly softer so make sure you don’t use mushy peaches to start. Just ripe is best.
For the whipped cream, the key is to not over whip! Light, fluffy cream that barely holds on the whisk is the goal. If you keep whipping, you will end up with clumpy cream (or even butter if you really let things go.
Top the cake just before serving!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely! Nectarines, plums, or even berries are all great swap options.
The almond cake base can definitely be made in advance and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days covered or wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. The peaches can be made the day before. However, the whipped cream and topping the cake should be done just before eating.
The easiest way to serve is to keep the peaches on the side for cleanest slicing. If you want to make a showstopper centerpiece, you can place the peaches on top like I’ve done here and just slice deliciately.
Peaches and Cream Cake
Equipment
- 8" cake tin or springform pan
Ingredients
Almond Cake
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- 120 g almond flour finely ground
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 113 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 80 g brown sugar packed
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- ¾ cup whole milk room temperature
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peaches
- 3 medium peaches, pit removed and sliced into 1/4" slices*
- 26 g brown sugar packed
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 juice of lemon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Sweetened Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 15 g confectioners' sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Almond Cake. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Spray 8" cake tin with baking spray, or grease and flour, and line bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.180 g all-purpose flour, 120 g almond flour, 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand-mixer in a large bowl, whip butter and sugars on high until light and airy, about 5-7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.113 g unsalted butter, 75 g granulated sugar, 80 g brown sugar
- On low, add eggs one at a time, then add extracts, mixing until fully incorporated.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons almond extract
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk in three additions. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk and repeat until all ingredients are combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in any last streaks of flour. Mixture will be very thick and slightly grainy in texture due to the ground almonds.3/4 cup whole milk
- Transfer batter into prepared cake tin. Smooth top with knife or offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out with some crumbs, but no wet batter, about 40-45 minutes.
- Brown sugar cinnamon peaches. While cake bakes, mix together peach ingredients in bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Stir occasionally until syrup thickens.3 medium peaches, pit removed and sliced into 1/4" slices*, 26 g brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 juice of lemon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sweetened whipped cream. Just before serving, whip ingredients for whipped cream in a large bowl with a whisk on high until soft peaks form.1 cup heavy whipping cream, 15 g confectioners' sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- When ready to serve, removed cooled cake from tin, top with whipped cream. If desired, spoon peaches on top of whole cake or individually on plates using a slotted spoon.
Notes
- *Skin of the peaches can be left on or removed if preferred.
- Peaches can be made a day ahead of time. Store in the fridge if letting macerate for more than an hour.
- Top cake right before serving.
- Store un-topped cake at room temperature in air-tight container for up to 2 days.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.
Perfect Peach Desserts
Want to celebrate the summer with the best peach recipes? Look below for more options:
- These fresh peach crumb bars are scrumptious shortbread bars topped with spiced peaches.
- Cool things down with this easy, no-churn peach cobbler ice cream.
- Keep the almond and peach vibes going with this peach frangipane tart with blueberries.
