Peaches 'n' Cream Cake

Like Kara said, we had a family party on Friday night to celebrate some birthdays. I love birthday celebrations, cause that means CAKE! This Peaches 'n' Cream Cake came about after I saw this one......I've obviously changed things up quite a bit with using peaches instead of raspberries and using my own recipes for the filling and frosting, but the construction is the same and the layers of cake are the same. It came together beautifully and was delicious. Most importantly, the birthday girl enjoyed it!

Ignore the lighting. :/

Cake recipe:

2 boxes white cake mix

2 2/3 cup water

6 large egg whites

4 tbs. melted butter

2 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2- 9 in (I used 10 in) round cake pans. Set aside. In a large bowl, dump in contents of your two cake mixes. Add all wet ingredients: water, egg whites, melted butter, and extracts. Using a hand mixer, beat mixture until smooth and pourable. Divide batter between 2- 9in round cake pans. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes, but always keep a close eye. In my oven it took 35 minutes to cook through. Poke the center of each cake with a toothpick and if it comes out clean, the cakes are done. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool within the pan for 10 minutes. When 10 minutes is up, flip cakes over carefully onto a wire rack to cool completely. Now you are ready to make the buttercream filling.

Buttercream filling:

1 stick of butter, room temp.

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

heavy whipping cream, to help reach spreading consistency (or you could use milk)

In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, beat butter for 1 minute. Add all powdered sugar and beat for another minute or two. Add in vanilla and almond extract and continue to mix on a medium speed. Feel free to scrape down sides of bowl right now if there are lots of stray bits that need incorporating. Continue to mix on medium. Now you are ready to slowly add the heavy whipping cream, tablespoonfuls at a time until you reach spreading consistency. You are now ready to assemble the cake.

On a cake stand (or platter), place one cooled cake layer, upside down on your stand. Take your buttercream filling and spread all of it evenly over the top of this layer. Take your other cooled cake layer and place it on top of the buttercream, bottom-side down. Now you are ready to make the frosting.

Peachy Whipped Cream Frosting:

4-5 ripe peaches, cut into bite size pieces (plus 5 more cut up for serving)

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup powdered sugar, or less depending on the sweetness of your peaches

2 teaspoons vanilla

Place peaches in a blender and pulse once to achieve a chunky consistency-- you don't want to puree the peaches, you just want to further break them down. Set aside. In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until stiff peaks form. Your mixture should look smooth and creamy. If the mixture starts to look grainy then you have beaten it too long. Pour crushed peaches into whipped cream and gently fold in well using a rubber scraper.

Now you are ready to frost the layer cake. Start by frosting the top and then proceed to cover the sides. Try and cover all areas of the cake evenly. I used a rubber spatula to frost this cake and it did the job perfectly. Be sure and use all the peachy whipped cream frosting you've prepared. You'll be glad you did. Refrigerate cake for 30 minutes before serving. Serve the cake with extra peaches that you have sliced and cut up into bite size pieces on the side. I cut up about 5 more in addition to the 5 that I used in the frosting.

**Refrigerate any leftover cake**

Side notes: Although I loved the way the layers of cake tasted using a box mix, I think next time I may play around with using a scratch white cake that I add the almond and vanilla extracts to.....that is if I have enough time. :)

images by Kar and Briana