Summertime means ripe and juicy peaches, and nothing quite says summer like these Peach Bourbon Cupcakes! Moist peach and bourbon-infused cupcakes topped with a real peach and bourbon buttercream!
So I realized I am severely lacking in the peach-flavored treats department on my blog.
Peach lovers everywhere: I’m sorry.
Peaches admittedly aren’t my favorite fruit, so I tend to overlook them. But I know they are the favorite fruit of no less than 9 million people in the world, so I’m doing this for you.
Plus, any excuse I can get to enjoy bourbon while eating dessert is a win in my book.
These cupcakes came to me after I discovered the magic of freeze-dried fruit with my Raspberry Lemonade Gooey Bars. Freeze-dried fruit is real-fruit that’s been, uh, freeze-dried (duh) so it has all that amazing fresh fruit flavor packed into little crunchy fruit bits. And nowadays, they have like, every type of fruit freeze-dried for your convenience. I seriously saw everything from mangoes to pineapple to even blueberries.
In the past, I’ve attempted to make peach cupcakes but the only peach flavoring I could use was peach Jell-O. Which, no offense to Jell-O, is delicious but not what I was going for. And the peach buttercream was always lacking. Enter: freeze-dried peaches to the rescue!
The peach cupcakes are made with ground up freeze-dried peaches and chunks of real peaches mixed in for a true peach flavor. The buttercream is swirled with the freeze-dried peaches and a splash of bourbon for a nice little kick. Bourbon and peaches should be together from this point forward. Let’s sign a petition!
And while we’re petition-signing, let’s dive into these magical cupcakes!
Peach Bourbon Cupcakes with Peach Buttercream
Author: Hayley Parker, The Domestic Rebel
Recipe type: Cakes/Cupcakes
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18-20
These Bourbon Peach Cupcakes are phenomenal! True, fresh, real peach flavor comes through in both the moist and tender cake and the fluffy buttercream! And a splash of bourbon never hurt anyone ?
Ingredients
- FOR THE CUPCAKES:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup peach nectar or water
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 cups freeze-dried peaches, ground to a fine powder in a food processor
- 1 can peach halves, drained
- 2 Tbsp bourbon, optional but recommended
- FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp bourbon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup freeze-dried peaches, ground to a fine powder in the food processor
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 3&1/2 -4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- Fresh peach slices for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with about 18-20 paper liners; set aside. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, oil, peach nectar or water, brown sugar, bourbon, and freeze-dried peach powder with an electric mixer until combined and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add in the peach halves and beat for about 30 seconds to break up the peaches into pieces.
- Portion the batter evenly among each muffin cup, filling about ¾ of the way full. Bake for approx. 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely.
- For the buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, bourbon, and vanilla extract until creamy, about 1 minute. Add in the freeze-dried peach powder and one cup of the confectioners’ sugar, beating until combined. Alternate adding in a little of the heavy whipping cream and the remaining confectioners’ sugar until frosting is light and fluffy.
- Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and top with a fresh peach slice, if desired.
3.5.3226
Moist and tender peach cupcakes bursting with real farmstand peach flavor and topped with a bourbon-infused peach buttercream. These cupcakes are HEAVEN!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
Want more peachy goodness?
This post is not sponsored by Maker’s Mark – they sadly don’t know I exist. I just love their bourbon in this recipe!
