I’m delivering on my promise for MORE CUPCAKES! :) And these ones, if you’re as excited as me about peach season every year, you will love these dearly. It’s my new favorite cupcake outside of chocolate. They don’t scream peach, they whisper. Soft notes of bright peach and sultry bourbon float throughout both the cake and the buttercream. Not too sweet, extra moist, and perfectly delicious.
I topped them with marzipan fruit (peaches are almost identical in shape to cherries, I simply adjusted the coloring and the length of the stem). I know some people like to go crazy with elaborate flowers and decorations, but I like my cupcakes to look like what they taste like. And since a whole peach wouldn’t exactly work on top (can you say, cupcake and the giant peach?) I did a miniature version instead.
If you want a more in your face peach flavor, I’d try filling them with peach puree or peach preserves of some sort. But it’s really not necessary. At first I thought that the peach was too subtle; but after eating a few more I realized that no, it was just right. Too much peach and the frosting would go to mush. Too much peach and you might lose the hint of bourbon behind all that fruit.
I’ve been baking half a dozen cupcakes at a time recently. Especially as I try out new flavors, some of which fail miserably, and if they do, I only have to throw out a few cupcakes rather than a whole tray. But I really wish I had made a full dozen of these. Between my taste test, and our dinner guest enthusiastically helping himself to seconds, they were gone by the next day. But I guess that means I did good?
Peach Bourbon Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup fresh peach puree (about 2 large peaches)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon
Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup fresh peach puree (about 1 large peach)
1 teaspoon bourbon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk together coconut milk, peach puree, sugar, oil, vanilla, and bourbon. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 3 Tablespoons of batter (cups should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
For frosting, cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add half of the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Add peach puree and mix until combined. Add remaining confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add bourbon and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add more sugar as necessary to achieve proper consistency. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
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So yummy and easy. Will be a new go to for me
These looked too yummy not to try! As I could not find any nice ripe peaches at the corner grocery store, I opted for frozen. Sadly, there were no bags of just frozen peaches; only mixed fruit bags. So, I bought a mixed bag of peach, strawberry and mango. Thawed the mixed fruit and blended into a purée. Absolutely no regrets! The cupcakes were delicious. Light, airy with a delicate fruit flavour. The family loved them. Thanks for this lovely summery flavoured recipe 😊
*as three of my children have severe nut allergies, I simply replaced the almond meal with regular flour.
First of all, in response to another poster’s frustration on them not raising – she forgot to list the egg in the ingredients. Add an egg. They do fine.
However, don’t bother. There is zero peach flavor in these. I have made peach flavored baked goods many times with moderate success as peach flavor is hard to capture. This was a complete fail at flavor.
Actually there is no mistake, this is an eggless cupcake recipe. If you’re looking for a stronger flavor, you may need to add some peach extract or something along those lines.
Is the coconut milk the thick kind in the can or in the carton in the dairy isle….also can you use frozen peaches?
Canned is definitely best, full fat. And yes, frozen peaches should work fine (not canned since they are canned in syrup and much sweeter).
I want to make these for a large dinner party. Can I make them earlier in the day? Should they be refrigerated until shortly before serving? Would it be better to ice and decorate just beforehand? I appreciate any advice on this.
Same day you are totally fine to make and frost them ahead of time. Cool room temperature is fine, but if it’s really warm you may want to refrigerate them. If you were making them further ahead of time then you’d have to deal with airtight storage, etc.
Update on my previous comment: I’ve continue to bake them and they’ve done horribly. 50+ minutes and the outside is as hard as a rock and the inside is still mush. Even managed to throw one across the kitchen and has stayed intact. Tried lowering the oven temperature and baking on cookie sheets to no avail.
Completely disappointed by this recipe. Sounded amazing but took more than double the amount of time to bake and ended up being relatively burned on the outside. They tasted okay once they were baked but barely rose so they ended up being very small. The frosting tasted solely of butter and required at least a cup more of peach puree than called for, which made it overly runny. Overall, while the cupcakes tasted okay, they weren’t worth the hassle.
Can Peach Schnapps be used instead of Bourbon? And what is the texture like on these cupcakes? Are they meant to be light or dense like a muffin. I made another “peach cupcake” which actually had the texture more like a muffin. They were good, but not what I expected. I would prefer something more cupcake like. Thanks.
I love these cupcakes. How can I make the mini peach? Also possibly mini pussywillow trees? Thanks
I would love to have these for my birthday. How do you make the mini peach?
Absolutely awful. The cupcakes tasted alright, but took about double the time to cook properly than stated in the recipe. They also sunk in the middle major, making them resemble a mushy consistency. The frosting required about triple the amount of sugar because there was too much peach purre and the fronting separated horribly. Over all tasted alright, but awful recipe and I had to apologize to the customers that I delivered them too. 1-10 rating is a solid .5
Gorgeous….
Is there any substitutions for the almond meal to make it nut free?
I have the same question. I’m allergic to almonds.
Actually, I had the same question as Ciara (see above). I can’t have coconut, but your cupcakes look amazing and I’d love to make them. What could I use as a substitute for the coconut milk?
Regular/whole milk would probably be just fine (although I’ve never tested it). Even soy or almond milk should work as well!
Hi,
These look amazing! I was just wondering if there is a reason why you use coconut milk in all your cupcakes? It sounds yummy though? Do you use sweet or non sweet? If I dont have coconut milk can I replace it with regualr milk? Thank you, I love your cupcakes!
Hi, i was just wondering if i can make these without the bourbon, would it make a big difference? Or would it be okay?
Of course! I’d probably up the vanilla to 1 tsp, should be just fine!
Oh my god – When I saw the first picture I thought that you had bought the peaches on the top – I didnt realise you had made them! They look great.
I like peaches but my girlfriend doesnt so I dont think I’ll ever end up making these though :(
Hi
How do you make peach puree and can I use frozen peaches in this recipe.
The peach cupcakes sound really wonderful! If I didn’t want to use bourbon, what could I substitute with?
I made this recipe last night. Tasty, but not as peach flavoured as I expected.
Those are adorable! I love peaches, so these are getting bookmarked.
What is almond meal? Is it a type of almond flour ? I would love to try these out but confused about that ingredient.
Almond meal is basically finely ground almonds. You could substitute almond flour if you can find it, or make your own by finely grinding almonds in a blender/food processor.
now you just need a little marzipan bourbon bottle!
Can you give me any suggestions for what the almond meal can be substituted with? I have looked at my local market before and have never found any. This looks like another amazing recipe-thanks for sharing!!!
If you can’t find almond meal, you can make your own by finely grinding almonds in a blender or food processor. We get ours at Trader Joe’s, you may try some more specialty/health food stores to find it.
That marzipan peach is so stinking cute
Great cupakes! I love the little peach on top!
Anything with bourbon in it, sounds great already. Cute cupcakes.
These look amazing! I’ve been keeping my eyes out for good peach recipes, since I live in the south, and peaches are basically everywhere. Also, I love bourbon.
These took my breath away. Yum!
Great combination – peach & bourbon mmmmmmmmmm!
I’ll be adding this to my fruity cupcake scrapbook!
I made these last night and they were a big success. The cupcakes are moist and delicious, but I found the icing very sweet (with only 3 cups of sugar). I might try light cream cheese icing next time.
I still can’t make my cupcakes look like yours. I try and I try. Magnificent!
…amazing combination…looks so elegant too…
PERFECTION!
Oh, gosh — I love the sound of these. And you’ve timed them perfectly, since peach season is in full swing. Kudos on the bourbon pairing too — one of my favorites!
Love this idea! And I just happen to have all of the ingredients, too. Especially the bourbon. I’ve got to get through graduate school somehow, am I right?
Those are too cute. And yummy I am sure.
GoodGRAVY you’re amazing! I cannot get over how adorable these are!
These are so beautiful!! I’ve never had (or even heard of) a peach bourbon cupcake, but I can imagine it’s a wonderful flavor combination :)
I’m not even a cupcake person but OMG you said my 2 favorite things: peaches and bourbon. I will be making these.
These cupcakes are great. I like to use them for bridal shower and girlfriends birthday parties. I get my peaches sent to me straight from the farm http://www.pearsonfarm.com. These peaches are great.
Beautiful recipe. I love the little peach on top, so cute!
Wow! Peaches, bourbon AND coconut milk? Now, that’s a trifecta of flavors. Can’t wait to try making these. I’m sure they’ll disappear fast.
Oh wow this is so cute! Where did you get the mini peach decoration from?! Or did you make it yourself?
Wow! These look beyond amazing!
I love that these have coconut milk in them too! Can’t wait to give these a try!
I’m a kitchen dunce – how do you make the peach puree? Food processor? Do you peel the peaches first? Thanks!
And a tidbit (I’m from Kentucky): Bourbon is a type of whiskey – but while whiskey can be made from many different grains, bourbon must be at least 51% corn. It’s like rectangle/square: all bourbons are whiskeys, not all whiskeys are bourbons. And while bourbon originated in Kentucky, it can be made anywhere (Tennessee is another big state for bourbon)!
I did peel the peaches, then popped them in the blender for a minute or so. I needed about 4 peaches for the entire batch of puree for both the cake and the frosting.
And thanks for the insight on the whiskey/bourbon!
I’ve just returned from a vacation New Orleans and these cupcakes take me right back there. I can’t wait to make them.
Lovely cupcake. Lovely post. A must-try recipe, definitely. Thank you for sharing.
Hurrah! Just got masses of peaches in our CSA delivery yesterday and now have the perfect thing to make with them. And the marzipan fruit?! Adorable.
These sound so good. I would have never thought about pairing peach with bourbon. I’m so impressed with your marzipan peach! That is the cutest cupcake, almost too cute to eat!
These sound amazing, and I MUST try them. Out of curiosity, do you know which bourbon you used? I’m something of a whiskey afficianado, and different bourbons could produce different results, based on the flavour profile of the bourbon….
We actually tried a new bourbon for these (not sure how happy Taylor was that I used up some of his precious bourbon for cupcakes) called Bulleit. I’m not a big straight bourbon drinker, but according to Taylor it has a bit more ‘kick’ than some of the more filtered whiskeys. Hey, it made for good cupcakes!
These cupcakes look gorgeous and delicious! I can see these at a wedding or bridal shower! Thanks for sharing!
These are the most gorgeous cupcakes. I bet they are incredible too!
the combination of peaches and whisky sounds very interesting.
Good morning,
Im portuguese, could you help me to understand what is Bourbon? Is it wisky? If it is can i change it for other flavour?
I love your cupcakes :) thanks for share.
Kisses
Andreia
Yes, you could substitute whiskey if you can’t find bourbon. I’m no expert, but I believe bourbon actually IS a whiskey that is produced in Kentucky. Both are going to give you a nice vanilla flavor to pair with the peach. :)
These look amazing! I really want to try it, but I live in Israel and they only have white peaches here. Do you think it would work as well?
Yes, definitely! You’ll have a slightly different color cupcake and frosting, but I think nice ripe white peaches would be just ‘peachy’ in this recipe! :)
Can I ask whether there’s a difference in using oil and in using butter for the cupcakes? Do you think the texture would be changed dramatically by using softened or melted butter?
Yes, there IS a difference. I find oil produces a much moister cupcake. I never use butter in my cupcakes for this reason.
Yum! I love the idea of peach frosting :)
Wonderful job.
Lisa
These look absolutely fantastic. I would have never thought of peach and bourbon together but love them both so I am definitely going to make these. Perfect timing- I bought some bourbon the other day.
Absolute perfection. Beautiful picture and the marzipan peach is adorable.
Nice work. I am going to put this on my recipe wish list. I hope I get a chance to try these out.
Peach and bourbon is such a great combination of flavors. These look amazing!
OH. MY. Are you kidding me with these? I CANNOT wait to try them. I love peaches and I love bourbon. And the absolute adorable peach on the top….I love it!!!!
These sound absolutely luscious! I love that the peach flower is sultry rather than overpowering.
What a beautiful cupcake! I bet it just explodes with flavor. Your marzipan peach on top is priceless. Great job!
Stunning cupcakes. They sound incredibly delicious too! Love the marzipan peaches. Adorable.
I love these! Especially the combo of peach and coconut milk. The marizpan fruit is a beautiful touch!
These look great! I might have to make these tomorrow.