Peaches & Cream Cupcakes

Hey guys!

The other day I happened upon the most delicious peaches. I could have just enjoyed they like any normal person as a healthy snack, but being me my first instinct was to come up with something to bake them into! So today I'm sharing what I came up with: peaches and cream cupcakes. If you want to know how I made them, then just keep reading!

First, I started with the peach filing that would be going inside of the cupcakes. Here's what you'll need:
-1/4 cup butter (1/2 of a stick)
-1/4 cup dark brown sugar
-1 teaspoons cinnamon
-5-6 large peaches, peeled and diced
-2 teaspoons corn starch

Now, here's what to do (pictures of the process are down below):

1. First, I started by melting the 1/4 cup of butter in a large sauce pan on medium heat. The melting will take 1-2 minutes depending on how cold your butter was to start out with. (Medium heat is key as to reduce splattering)
2. Once melted, let the butter simmer for another 3 minutes until it starts to smell like pancakes- because that is the smell of browned butter. Once your butter is a light amber color and smells vaugley like pancakes, go ahead and add your brown sugar. 
3. Mix your browned butter and brown sugar untilevenly combined and it has started to caramelize, 2-3 minutes.
4. Toss in the cinnamon and stir until it is incorperated.
5. Now it's time to add your peaches! Once you add them to the mix, let everyone get to know each other while stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat, and mix in the 2 teaspoons of corn starch to thicken your delicious peachy filing.
7. To make your mixture easier to put into the cupcakes, take a potato masher (or a fork if you don't happen to have one) and smoosh your peaches into smaller pieces. 
8. Ta-da! You're done! Let it cool until it's time to fill your cupcakes.

For the cupcakes I used my classic vanilla cake recipe, with a few adjustments. I subbed out half of the white sugar for dark brown sugar, added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and added 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. I did this out of personal preference and for the sake of experimentation, but it did turn out exceptionally delicious so I suggest you do the same to your favorite vanilla cake for this particular recipe. 

Once your cupcakes and filing have both cooled, it's time for them to meet! I used a small spoon to scoop out and make a small well in the middle of the cupcake, and then filled it with the peach filing. Once I was done with that I topped them with a rich cream cheese buttercream, and the result was a match made in heaven! If you're not one for cream cheese frosting then a classic vanilla buttercream would work as well, but I recommend the cream cheese as it adds a richer, creamier touch to the overall cupcake. These cupcakes are so much more than "just peachy"!

Happy Baking!
​Emily B