Whiskey Peaches & Cream Cake

The only thing better than peaches and cream is adding some whiskey. This recipe soaks some peaches in peach whiskey for a slightly boozy touch. When mixed with angel food cake and homemade whipped cream, the whiskey soak peaches reach a whole new level of delicious. Don’t worry, I use angel food mix so the cake looks more difficult than it is!

Ingredients:
1/2 c. of Crown Royal Peach (or another peach or regular whiskey)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c. sugar
5 peaches
1 box of angel food cake mix
2 c. heavy whipping cream
3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp cornstarch

First thing you want to do is peel and cut the peaches. You can do this by just using a vegetable peeler, or you can blanch the peaches. To blanch them, boil some water in a pot. Once the water is boiling, put the peaches in the water and let them sit for about 30 seconds. Transfer peaches to cold water in a bowl, and peel the skin off once cool.

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Place the peeled and sliced peaches in medium bowl. Add the whiskey, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar into the bowl. Mix with a spoon to make sure the peaches are all coated in the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to soak. You can put the mixture in the fridge if you want. I let it sit out on the counter. I let it soak while I was at work for a couple hours. You could also always soak overnight if you wanted.

While the peaches soak, make the cake. Follow the directions on the cake mix. I got my mix from Aldi and it had 2 steps to it.

Cut parchment paper circles to line your pans. I used 2 9-inch circle cake pans. You could also make this cake with 3 layers. I place the pans on top of parchment paper and use a sharpie to trace around the bottom of the pan. I then cut the circle and place it into the bottom of the pan. This should help make sure that your cakes come out easily.

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Prepare the cake batter according to box instructions and spread evenly between your pans. Bake accordingly. When baking is complete, let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes and then flip. To flip, place a plate on top of the cake pan and grab the edges then flip both over. Slowly pick up the cake pan and the cake should fall out. If you have some trouble, try tapping the pan with a butter knife.

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Allow the cakes to cool. Meanwhile, you can make the peach compote. Drain the whiskey mixture from the peaches. Take your whiskey soaked peaches and transfer them to a saucepan. I saved the whiskey mixture from the peaches to drizzle onto the cake later.

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Heat the peaches in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir frequently while heating to make sure mixture doesn’t boil. As peaches and cook down, you should see them get softer and look somewhat like a syrup. Once the peaches have cooked down a bit, add cornstarch to thicken the mixture. You want it to be thick enough that it wont drip down into the cake layers.

Transfer the peach compote to something you can place in the fridge. I chose to put it back in the bowl that the peaches were originally in. Leave in fridge until room temperature or colder.

While the compote chills, make the homemade whipped cream. Combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and use a mixer with the whisk attachments to whip the cream and sugar together. Continue to whip until the cream stiffens into a whipped cream and you get stiff peaks when you pick the whisk up.

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On a serving plate, place your first layer of angel food cake. Spread whipped cream around the edges of the cake and on the top. Add some of the peach compote on top. I kept the compote toward the inside of the circle so that it would pop out the edges when the cake was cut. I then placed the next layer on top and repeated the process. If you chose to have 3 layers you would do the same. You can choose to only put the peach compote on the inside or also on top. Any leftover compote can be stored in the fridge for 1-3 days and tastes great on some ice cream or even waffles!

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If you would like, you can drizzle some of the whiskey mixture on to the layers of cake. If doing so, let the mixture soak in a bit before adding the whipped cream to avoid curdling.

Enjoy!