☼ MelonChef: Peach-Filled Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

I work across the street from Starbucks and the baked goods selection tempts me every day. I noticed a couple weeks ago that they had new limited edition summer sweets, featuring items such as raspberry swirl pound cake, very berry pound cake, and peaches 'n cream muffin. I tried the muffin and... it was okay. Not as in it wasn't good, but I felt deceived. It was just peach chunks baked into a muffin -- where's the cream?

I huffily googled recipes for peaches and cream muffins that would trump Starbucks... but I got distracted by cupcake recipes instead. What I ended up making didn't at all resemble what I had intended to make, but that's okay because these were amazing. Who needs stupid muffins anyways...

PEACH-FILLED CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Cake/filling recipe from the Food Network, frosting recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients for filling (make this first):

2 cups fresh or frozen peaches, pureed
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Ingredients for cake (make this second):

1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used yogurt as substitute)
1/4 cup peach puree

Ingredients for frosting (make this last):

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered sugar
8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

First, I pureed some peaches -- about two cans for both the cake and filling recipe. Drain out most of the syrup first but add 1/2 a cup to help it blend, and drizzle in more of the syrup if your blender is giving you a hard time.

Add peach puree and sugar to saucepan and bring to a slight boil over medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix together cornstarch and 1 Tbsp water until there are no lumps. Add cornstarch mixture to the puree mixture and stir well for an additional minute. Transfer to fridge and let cool while you make the cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, add melted butter and sugar, and whisk well.

Whisk in egg and vanilla, then add dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder). Stir to mix and then whisk until combined.

Add in peach puree and yogurt, and stir until combined.

Scoop into lined cupcake tin, about 1/4 cup of batter per tin, and bake for 20-25 minutes. While the cupcakes are baking, make your frosting.

The frosting recipe is pretty much just put all the ingredients into a bowl, and whisk together until smooth. make sure that your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature, otherwise it won't come together. Transfer to a frosting bag.

Mmm cupcakes. Wait for them to cool.

Cut off a little cap using a pairing knife, fill hole with peach filling, and replace the cap (you will need to cut off the cap tip for it to fit back in).