Brown Butter Peach Crumb Cake

This simply delicious Peach Crumb Cake is so flavorful made with brown butter and juicy fresh peaches for ultimate flavor. Similar to my Strawberry Crumb Cake and Blueberry Crumb Cake, this recipe is easy to make with a simple one bowl batter. It has a dense and moist buttery cake with a thick layer of brown sugar peaches and a hefty chunky layer of buttery brown sugar crumbs on top. I love to make this with fresh peaches in the Summer, but it can work with frozen peaches too so you can enjoy it all year 'round!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE:

• Brown butter cake - the cake batter is made with brown butter for ultimate flavor and richness. It's also not too sweet.
• Soft and tender texture - this simple melt-and-mix recipe makes the softest, most tender and moist butter cake!
• Fresh peach topping - you'll scatter chopped juicy fresh peaches sweetened with brown sugar over top of the batter. This crumb cake tastes just like peach cobbler, but better!
• Brown sugar crumb topping - you just need 3 ingredients to make a delicious crumble topping. Mix together flour, sugar and butter and sprinkle it over the peaches.
• Easy to make - you won't believe how easy it is to make! Although there are three components (the cake, fruit topping and crumble), it comes together in no time without even pulling out your mixer. You can make this all by hand.

INGREDIENTS

• All purpose flour - unbleached all-purpose flour works great for tender butter cake. I would avoid cake flour which absorbs more moisture and could actually make this cake a bit dry without altering the other ingredients.
• Unsalted butter - this recipe uses pure butter. It is so buttery and delicious even with only 6 tablespoons in the cake batter! It's surprisingly light compared to most crumb cakes and you won't even know it.
• Granulated sugar - simple granulated sugar keeps this cake soft and doesn't interfere with the pureness of the butter cake and strawberry topping.
• Brown sugar - a bit of brown sugar gives the crumb topping a bit of a caramel-like richness.

• Eggs - two large eggs will add nice structure for the butter cake.
• Pure vanilla extract - vanilla is essential to make this delicious butter cake. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Yogurt - use full fat plain yogurt to balance the sweetness and add more richness to this recipe. If you don't have yogurt, then read down below in my FAQ section for my substitution recommendations.
• Peaches - I highly recommend fresh peaches in this recipe. Frozen peaches tend to leak a lot of moisture into the cake batter and make the crumb topping soggy. This will also cool down the cake batter so much that you will need to bake it for longer which will cause the edges to dry out before the center is cooked through.
• Milk - any type of milk will do. I prefer whole milk for baking. It should be at room temperature so measure it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Make the crumb topping. Combine the flour, sugars and melted butter in a medium bowl and blend well so it forms clumps. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside.
• STEP 2). Make the cake batter - mix butter with sugar. Melt the butter just barely and then let it cool. Mix the melted butter with sugar and vanilla using a whisk until it looks creamy, pale and fluffy.
• STEP 3). Add eggs. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until the batter looks smooth and custardy. Mix in yogurt.
• STEP 4). Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour, baking powder salt into a separate bowl and whisk it to blend evenly.

• STEP 5). Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and fold gently to combine the ingredients until they are mostly combined.
• STEP 6). Add milk. Pour in the milk and fold it in gently until the batter is homogeneous. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
• STEP 7). Make the peach layer. Place chopped peaches in a bowl. Combine flour and sugar and sprinkle it over the peaches, then toss them together so they are evenly coated. Spoon the mixture evenly over the cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the berries.
• STEP 8). Bake. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the crumb topping is golden and the peach juices are bubbling and thick. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS FOR PEACH COFFEE CAKE

• Use room temperature ingredients. Since this is a simple melt-and-mix method, it is important to have all ingredients at the same temperature (not cold!) in order to help them blend evenly together. Make sure the milk is at room temperature since you need to mix it in at the end.

• Sift the dry ingredients. This is optional, but it will minimize the amount of mixing needed to combine the ingredients evenly so that you do not over-mix the batter. It will give you the best results for a finer texture crumb as well since the sieve will break up all the flour particles.

• Do not over-mix the batter. It's ok if there are a few streaks of flour remaining when you fold in the dry ingredients since the last step is to fold in the milk which will continue to incorporate all of the ingredients.

• Use salted butter for the crumb topping. Salted butter will add extra richness to the topping and it means you don't need to add salt. If you use unsalted butter, it's no problem - just add a pinch of salt.

RECIPE FAQ

SUBSTITUTIONS

If you love cake and fruit, check out these recipes!

Related

Looking for other fruity recipes like this? Try these:

Summer baking

These are my favorite recipes to make in the Summertime:

Brown Butter Peach Crumb Cake

Christina Marsigliese

Soft, tender and moist vanilla brown butter cake with a layer of juicy brown sugar peaches and soft buttery crumb topping.

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

  

For the Crumb:

• ¾ cup 105g all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon 25g granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoon 45g packed light brown sugar
• 5 tablespoon 70g unsalted butter, melted
• heaped ⅛ teaspoon salt

Cake batter::

• 6 tablespoon 84g unsalted butter, browned
• ½ cup 110g packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup 50g granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon 5ml pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• ⅓ cup 80ml full fat yogurt
• 1 ⅓ cups 190g all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp 95ml milk

For the Peaches:

• 3 ½ cups 420g chopped peaches
• 2 tablespoon 16g all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon 30g packed light brown sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang at each side.
• For the crumb topping, combine flour, both sugars and salt (if you’re using unsalted butter) in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly so that there are no lumps of brown sugar. Add melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until evenly combined, then toss with your fingertips to form large crumbs. Cover with a tea towel and set aside.
• For the cake batter, combine melted butter, both sugars, vanilla in a medium mixing bowl and whisk until pale and fluffy-looking. Whisk in eggs one at a time until very light and creamy. Mix in yogurt. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add it to the wet mixture and fold it in by hand with a spatula until mostly incorporated. Pour in milk and fold it in until batter is evenly combined. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
• For the peach topping, combine flour with sugar and then sprinkle it over the chopped peaches. Toss it all together until peaches are evenly coated and scatter evenly over the batter. Then, scatter clumps of crumb topping evenly on top to cover the peaches.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes until the crumbs are lightly golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. A toothpick inserted into the center should comes out without any wet batter. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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