Peach Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting and MY SISTER WROTE A NOVEL, BUY IT!

A delightfully peachy cake made from a cake mix and a packet of Jello, of all things! There are real peaches in the cake, which makes it super moist (ok, and a lot of oil). It is topped with a rich brown sugar frosting!

GUYS! I’ve been waiting for this day for years. YEARS. (I actually just stumbled on an old blog post of mine from 2013 where I talk about this day.)

It’s also super rich. The cake is sweet and the frosting is even sweeter. It is the same super fudgey frosting that goes on top of Nana’s Famous Fudge Brownies, except I left out the chocolate and used brown sugar instead of white. The result is an ultra decadent, caramel-y icing.

I think it’s an amazing combo. Brown sugar + peaches, HELLO. But if you think it sounds overwhelming, you could swap out the brown sugar frosting for the cream cheese frosting that goes on the Blackberry Cake. (Omit the coconut extract.)

I brought this over to my friend Sarah’s house today and she told me that she hates Jell-O and hates box mixes but she loved this cake. WIN!

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 1 (15 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 2 (3 ounce) boxes Peach Jell-O, not made
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil*
• 1 (16 ounce) bag frozen peaches, do not thaw**

FOR THE FROSTING

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ice water (for an ice bath, not to go in the recipe)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9x13 inch cake pan.
3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the cake mix, 2 boxes of peach Jell-O, 4 eggs, and the cup of oil.
4. Open the bag of frozen sliced peaches. Cut each slice in half so they are a little more bite size.
5. Use a sturdy wooden spoon to fold the peaches into the cake batter.
6. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan.
7. Bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes. Check the center of the cake with a toothpick; if it comes out without batter it is done. (very moist crumbs are ok.) The edges will be quite brown.
8. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack.
9. While the cake cools, make the brown sugar frosting. In a 2 quart pot, add butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream.
10. Stir together over medium high heat until it reaches a boil (bubbles all the way across the top). Set a timer for 1 minute and stir frequently.
11. Remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla.
12. Prepare an ice bath. Set the pot of frosting in the ice bath (don't get water in the frosting!!) Let the frosting cool in the ice bath, scraping sides occasionally, until the frosting is room temperature and much thicker. See photos.
13. Use a hand mixer to beat the frosting for about 3-5 minutes, until it is thicker but still pourable.
14. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.
15. This keeps on the counter for a day or two, but after that I would put it in the fridge. Good luck keeping it around that long!

Recipe Notes

* I like to use light tasting olive oil, but you can use any vegetable oil.

**I've never tried it, but I think this would work fine with fresh or canned peaches. Just make sure they are drained VERY well. I wanted to try the recipe with fresh, but it's May and they just aren't available yet!

Recipe Source:thefoodcharlatan.com