The Farmer's Daughter: Peach Brown Sugar Bourbon
The Farmer's Daughter is a recipe I have wanted to create for a while now! The combination of sweet brown sugar peaches, soft and crumbly cake layers and a little hint of bourbon is exactly what I picture for The Farmer's Daughter. Provocative, yes. Amazing? Absolutely!
This recipe calls for brown butter buttercream. You can find that explanation HERE. If you have never tried brown butter before: RUN..DO NOT WALK. Whip that up right meow and let's get to it!
Makes 5 - 6" Layers, 3 - 8" layers
CAKE FORMULA:
Unsalted Butter - 3 sticks (348 grams)
Brown Sugar - 440 grams
Sour Cream - 215 grams
Peach Juice (from can) - 100 grams
Bourbon - 1/4 cup
Large Eggs - 4
Flour - 440 grams
Baking Soda - 2 teaspoons
Baking Powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1 1/2 teaspoons
PEACH FILLING FORMULA
Canned peaches in juice - 15 oz can
Bourbon - 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup
BUTTERCREAM FORMULA
Brown Butter (cooled and re-softened to room temperature) - 6 sticks (700 grams)
Powdered Sugar - 6 - 7.5 cups sifted (to taste an consistency)
Salt - 1 teaspoon
(Guide for Brown Butter HERE)
CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Stir on low for about 2 minutes, until most of the brown sugar in broken up and combined well.
Make sure the butter is at room temperature and very soft. Cut the sticks up in to 6-8 smaller pieces per stick. Slowly add these blocks of butter in, preferably in 3-4 separate batches. Mix on low-medium after each addition for about 1-2 minutes. After the last batch of butter goes in, make sure there are no large chunks left. Mix on low until they are gone.
Add in eggs one at a time until combined, mixing on low after each addition and scraping down the bowl.
Add the sour cream in on low.
Combine the bourbon, peach juice (should be just enough juice from the can of peaches needed for filling) and vanilla in a small bowl. Add in slowly to the batter, mixing on low until combined, Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed.
I use Pam Baking Spray to get my pans PERFECT for quick release. Spray down your pans and divide the batter in to each pan evenly. If you are using 6" pans, it will be about 330 grams in each. If you're using 8" pans it will be about 550 grams in each.
Bake on 350 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This will be about 35 minutes - 40 minutes.
When a toothpick comes out clean, take them out of the oven and cool in pans for 10 minutes before flipping them on to a baking rack to cool.
Once luke-warm, level each layer and wrap in plastic wrap completely. Freeze layers for decorating.
BUTTERCREAM:
Place the brown butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt on to the butter.
Cream the butter on medium for about 3 minutes.
Sift 6 cups of powdered sugar in to a larger bowl.
Add in the powdered sugar to the butter by the cup on slow speed until desired consistency is reached.
Finish by mixing on medium for about a minute to completely combine.
PEACH FILLING:
Place the drained peaches, brown sugar and bourbon in a medium sized sauce pan.
Heat on medium, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a simmer.
Simmer until the liquids have reduced by about 1/2.
Take the peaches off the heat and pour in to a glass bowl and place in the fridge to cool.
If needed when filling the cake, strain out some of the excess juice before filling.
NOTES:
When assembling the cake, I like to take my cake layers out of the freezer about 30 minutes prior to stacking. My buttercream is always room temperature until needed. I make a day ahead. Since there is no cream or milk in my buttercream, it is room temperature safe. Brown Butter Buttercream is a bit softer than normal American Buttercream. You may want to take this out just a few hours prior.
You can use whatever peaches and bourbon you wish. For this recipe I have used Publix Greenwise Canned White Peaches and Jim Beam Bourbon.
I like to alternate my layer fillings. One layer peaches, the next buttercream, etc. If using only 3 layers, I put both in each.
If you’re just baking for at home and don’t want such a tall cake, I recommend either cutting the recipe in half and using 3 6“ pans and using about 330 grams batter in each OR just making the 3 layer 8” if you want the same amount of cake the recipe calls for.