I love a fancy-schmancy cake as much as the next foodie, but sometimes you just crave a simple, no-frills dessert. This easy peach sheet cake delivers big on taste—without big effort.
Sweet, juicy peaches take this cake over the top when it comes to flavor. Then, we use a few shortcuts, like boxed mix, to bring everything together super quickly. Don’t worry though—we’ll doctor the batter up with some extra special goodies (did someone say, “bourbon?!”) to create a mouthwatering, tender cake—the perfect summer treat.
And, let’s talk about that glaze for a second. This isn’t just a basic powdered sugar and water combination. No, no.
First, we caramelize some brown sugar and butter together until it’s nice and gooey. Then, we sift in some fragrant cinnamon, luscious vanilla bean paste, and finish it off, of course, with the sugar. It sets into that sweet, crackly glaze, reminiscent of your favorite childhood confection.
So, let’s get started!
How To Make Easy Peach Sheet Cake
Peruse the ingredients and tools lists, and be sure to review the recipe tips underneath them. (It’s the key to success!) Then, you’ll find the full recipe card and instructions at the bottom. Happy baking!
Kitchen Tools
This recipe lives up to its name—it’s EASY! So, you’ll only need a few tools. I’ve included links for easy purchasing (affiliate.)
- 9×13-inch baking pan, darker metal is preferred. If you use a light, shiny pan or disposable foil dish (great for cookouts!) be sure to increase your bake temp to 375°F.
- Stand mixer (or, use a large mixing bowl and hand mixer)
- Medium-sized saucepan
- Spatula and whisk
- Knife and cutting board
- Sieve/sifter (optional, but helps with final appearance)
Ingredients List
- 3 or 4 ripe peaches (They’re ripe when they feel slightly softer and smell fragrant. Don’t worry about peeling the peaches, you can leave the skin on! Just clean them well before dicing.)
- 15.25 oz box of yellow cake mix
- White peach cranberry juice (or, use another peach blend you prefer. It adds a bit more flavor, taking place of some of the water in the box mix recipe.)
- Sour cream (key for extra moisture and richness)
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract, but paste is soo much more flavorful)
- Bourbon (optional, but worth it)
- Brown sugar
- Butter (use either salted or unsalted)
- Heavy whipping cream
- Cinnamon
- Powdered sugar (sift it for a smoother glaze)
- Rolled oats
- All-purpose flour (or your favorite gluten-free swap)
- Salt
- Pecans (optional)
Method Tips
This peach sheet cake recipe uses the easy, All-In-One (or “Blended”) mixing method. As the name indicates, the dry ingredients are simply added to one bowl and topped with the wet.
Then, everything’s blended together just enough to incorporate all the components together! One bowl makes me one happy baker! (You can learn more about the All-In-One method by signing up for my Cupcake Guide. It’s free, FULL of helpful info, and you’ll receive access instantly!)
Because the peaches release yummy, succulent juice as they bake, the actual cake batter is quite thick, so don’t be alarmed by this. Just use a little muscle when folding the peaches in and consider your workout done for the day! Look at you go, multi-tasker!
Whether you use a stand or hand mixer to combine the ingredients, make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula once or twice to make sure the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
When caramelizing your glaze ingredients, be sure to stay close to the stove and whisk the mixture almost constantly. If allowed to sit for too long, some of the sugar can burn on the bottom of the pan—there’s nothing you can really do to get rid of the pungent burnt taste, so avoid this at all costs!
Make the oat crumble before making the glaze. That way, once you pour the sticky, sweet caramel over top of the peach cake, you can immediately sprinkle the crumble on. Otherwise, if you let the glaze set, the crumbly oats will slide right off.
This peach cake is super easy to make in batches. Here I am prepping ten—yes, TEN—sheet cakes for my BIL’s graduation party!
Easy Peach Sheet Cake Recipe & Instructions
Easy Peach Sheet Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze
Ingredients
Peach Sheet Cake
- 3 large peaches (or 4 if they're small)
- 1 box yellow cake mix (15.25 oz)
- ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup peach cranberry juice
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- pinch fine salt
Oat Crumble Topping
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- small drizzle honey
- handful salted pecans, chopped; optional
Instructions
Peach Sheet Cake
- First, preheat the oven to 350° F and grease a dark 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil, sour cream, juice, eggs, bourbon, and vanilla. Pulse the mixer very slowly at first to avoid splashing, then combine until everything is incorporated.
- Next, add the dry cake mix to the wet ingredients and combine for a minute or so, until everything has come together.
- With a spatula, fold the peaches into the batter. It'll be thick, but don't worry—that's how it should be.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- A few minutes before the timer has elapsed, start testing for doneness with a toothpick. It's okay if there are moist crumbs, but you shouldn't see any wet batter on the toothpick. Check every 4-5 minutes until it's done.
- Place the pan on a wire baking sheet and let it cool while you prepare the crumble topping and glaze.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze
- Melt the brown sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Once it becomes liquid, let it bubble for a minute.
- Then, add the heavy cream. Be careful—it will bubble up a little. Change to the whisk and mix constantly until the bubbling subsides and the brown sugar and cream fully combine.
- Remove the sugar from the heat and stir in the butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt.
- Finally, sift in the powdered sugar, whisking constantly until smooth.
- Let the glaze cool for a minute or two to start thickening. However, if you let the glaze sit too long, it'll start to set, so don't wait too long. Then, pour it over the cake.
Oat Crumble
- In a small bowl, combine the oat crumble ingredients.
- Spread the crumble onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.
- Let cool, and break up any big chunks, if needed.
- Sprinkle the crumble over the glaze before it sets.
Notes
Happy Baking!
Enjoy your super-easy peach sheet cake!
Looking for more peach fun? Try these Peach Cupcakes with Brandy Buttercream, or peruse all of my cake recipes!
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’til next time—xoxo
Delicious! I love fresh peaches. this was very easy. Thank u
So glad you enjoyed it, thank you! 🙂
I can’t wait to make this! When you batch it do you alter your ingredients at all?
Hi! I’m so excited for you! If I’m making multiple batches I just multiply the ingredients accordingly and go from there! No other changes for the ingredients. However I will say the caramel topping is enough to stretch between two cakes, so sometimes I take that into account and don’t always double that exactly. 🙂