Summer Peach Cupcakes

Spices seem somehow out of place in summer baking. Maybe it’s because traditional baking spices – cloves, cinnamon, ginger – with their spicy, warming aromas, conjure up thoughts of fall and winter. Maybe it’s because summer baking often involves fruit, and in Canada, it’s a shame to do too much to fresh fruit when it’s in season.

But this super-moist cupcake with lots of chunks of fresh peach and a nice kick of spice from the nutmeg is a wonderful taste of summer all the same. You’ll have lots of the brown sugar-cream cheese frosting, so it can be applied liberally. All in all, a perfectly worthy fate for summer peaches.

This recipe makes 14 cupcakes and is adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:
For the cake:

1½ cups cake flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh-grated nutmeg
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
6 Tbsp light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract
¾ cup sour cream
1½ large, ripe but firm peaches, pitted, peeled and chopped

For the frosting:

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup icing sugar
1 250g package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract

Instructions:
For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, and line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugars together in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in sour cream.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine, but do not overmix. Gently fold in peaches.
5. Fill liners with batter until almost full. Bake cupcakes for about 20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into one cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Whisk cornstarch and sugars together in a small bowl until fully mixed.
2. Cream butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl. Beat in sugar mixture. Add vanilla and beat gently until mixed through.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes, to allow the frosting to set up.