Peach Buttercream Frosting

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Delicious buttercream frosting is made up of – you guessed it – butter! Because it is the key ingredient, be sure and use a high-quality butter – one that tastes great and has a high fat, low water content. Great layer cakes are judged not just on the tenderness and taste of the cake layers, but on the smooth, rich flavor and texture of the frostings. To make this peach buttercream even more amazing, we added an important step: browning your butter. Browned butter, also known as beurre noisette, is made by cooking butter long enough to turn the milk solids a golden brown, while also cooking out any water present in the butter. Browned butter has a nice toasty flavor, with a deeper, richer, more intense flavor than melted or clarified butter. Once your butter has browned, immediately remove it from the heat and pour into a freezer-safe bowl. Scrape out all the flavor-filled brown particles that may be on the bottom of the pan.

Brown Sugar Layer Cake with Peach Buttercream
Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Active Time:
30 mins
Chill Time:
1 hrs
Total Time:
1 hrs 50 mins
Yield:
7 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups butter

  • 5 peaches, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 lb.)

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 3 (16-oz.) pkg. powdered sugar

  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 8 to 9 tablespoons whole milk

Directions

  1. Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium, stirring constantly, until butter begins to turn golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat, and pour butter into a small freezer-proof bowl. Cover and chill until butter is cool and begins to solidify, about 1 hour.

  2. Meanwhile, process peaches in a food processor until completely smooth. Pour peaches through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, and discard solids. Place strained peaches in a small heavy saucepan over medium. Cook, stirring often, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

  3. Beat together cooled butter and salt with a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with reduced peaches (about 6 tablespoons), vanilla, and 8 tablespoons milk, beating well after each addition. If needed, add up to 1 additional tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, and beat until desired consistency is reached.

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