Peach Cupcakes with Peach Buttercream

I'm 24 today! Goodness. But I didn't make these for my birthday, just for family day with little Ibraheem yesterday. 

I forgot to add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the cake batter, which makes it look more peachy. But at least the frosting got it!

I had been wanting to make these forever because they are so popular on pinterest. But after realizing they don't use any eggs and reading split reviews, I decided to go with a recipe with an egg. No time to experiment today.

The buttercream came out very well! At first I was scared that I curdled it because I added the peach puree almost all at once (what was I thinking) but I kept whipping it and it came back together. Kitchen-Aid mixer saves the day! 

The buttercream had a stronger peach flavor than the cake. It was a great buttercream but I would prefer a stronger peach cake and a more suttle peach buttercream. But today it worked out well.

I didn't find peach extract at the grocery store so I doubled the peach puree in the cake. The flavor was still very light. Fruity, but not peachy. I made the puree by peeling 3 peaches, removing the seed, and processing in the blender. I am now realizing that the recipe could have meant peach preserves or jam rather than puree. That would give a stronger flavor. Oh well.

The cake wasn't as dense as a muffin, thank goodness. You can see the crumbs there but it's still alittle dense, so not quite perfection. I think its because of the extra peach puree. By the way, its a huge pet peeve of mine when bloggers don't share a picture of the cake crumb. You can judge alot by it! 

So I would only try the cake recipe again if I found the peach extract. It made exactly 12 cupcakes.

PEACH CUPCAKES

Adapted from Annette Starbuck, Cupcake Wars
Yield: 12 cupcakes 

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peach extract (instead I substituted 3 teaspoons of peach jam)
3/4 cup buttermilk (instead I used 1/2 cup buttermilk)
1/4 cup peach puree (instead I used 1/2 cup peach puree)
Few drops of yellow and red food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 12 liners in a cupcake pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together using an electric mixer until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and peach extract until the mixture is smooth. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add the buttermilk and peach puree and stir again until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all the ingredients are mixed in. Add a few drops of yellow and red food coloring to resemble a peach color.

Fill the cupcake liners with batter and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.

PEACH BUTTERCREAM

Adapted from Cathlin Cooks
Yield: frosts 16 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup peach puree
1 teaspoon vanilla, or more to taste
Few drops of yellow and red food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

Whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Gradually add peach puree and vanilla while mixer is running, and beat until smooth. You may want to add some yellow and red food coloring to achieve a peachy color.