Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

My Dad tells me that when I was a baby, my parents called me "Peaches and Cream." I was born with peach fuzz on my head and my skin was creamy white. I often call my son "Sweet Pea." Thank goodness it has nothing to do with his skin or hair being a pale green - scary!

Groom 3.0 requested more cupcakes with fruit. Dutifully listening to his request, I decided to give these seasonally-inappropriate peaches and cream cupcakes a go (with canned peaches) so that they could be in the running for Bride and Groom 3.0's May wedding.

The petite slice of peach perched on the rim of these cupcakes makes me happy. It's so bright and cheery! Truly, I could skip the cupcake entirely and just eat a bowl of peaches -perhaps with some cottage cheese. But, this is a cupcake blog, so cupcakes it is - airy vanilla cupcakes with hints of peach, topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting accented with peach jam.

Peaches and Cream Cupcake Recipe

To make these peaches and cream cupcakes, I used the vanilla sour cream cupcake recipe from Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington with peaches and cream blended in. If you don't want to make a peaches and cream recipe to blend into the cupcake, you could mix in peach jam instead. While I have not tried it, I think that the peach jam would give the recipe a stronger peach flavor.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 C flour
  
• 1/2 t baking powder
  
• 1/4 t baking soda
  
• 1/4 t salt
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 C sugar
  
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 C sour cream
  
• 2 C peaches and cream blended into a mush (see this peaches and cream recipe) or 1 C peach jam (try to find high quality jam with lots of real peach pieces or, if the season is right, make your own peach jam)

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes, or until light and creamy.
   
3. Add the butter and vanilla and beat on low speed for about 1 minute, or until well blended.
4. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed until blended.
   
5. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth and well blended.
6. Mix in peaches and cream or peach jam.
7. Divide batter evenly among 12 cupcake liners.
   
8. Bake at 350 F for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are firm.

Vanilla Peach Buttercream Frosting

• 3 C confectioners' sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 t vanilla bean paste
• 4 T peach jam (try to find high quality jam with lots of real peach pieces or, if the season is right, make your own peach jam)
  

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
2. Add vanilla bean paste and continue to beat for another minute.
   
3. Mix in peach jam until just combined.