Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake Recipe

Active Time:

25 mins

Total Time:

4 hrs 20 mins

Yield:

12 serves

Sweet, gooey, cakey, satisfying… There are very few things we love in a dessert that you can't find in this decadent Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake. It features two of our favorite dessert categories—upside-down cake and Bundt cake—and blends them together to make a treat to remember. Add in the classic Southern peach-and-bourbon combination, and you may need to make more than one cake at a time.

Here's everything you need to know about this mouthwatering dessert.

What Is Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake?

This heavenly cake is a mash-up of three Southern dessert superstars. Originally published in Southern Living in June 2018, it features gooey, caramelized peaches on top of a dense, sweet, pound cake-like Bundt, all finished with a simple glaze.

Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake Ingredients

Butter and Brown Sugar
Cooked together and poured into the bottom of the Bundt pan, this mixture is what caramelizes the peaches and gives this upside-down cake its signature top layer. You can use light or dark brown sugar, whichever you have on hand.

Fresh Peaches
The more ripe, the sweeter they will be.

Cream Cheese
Combined with butter, cream cheese is what gives this cake its rich, dense texture.

Sugar, Eggs, Flour, Vanilla, and Salt
You'll need these pantry staples to finish off your cake batter.

Bourbon
The bourbon goes straight into the cake batter. While baking, its subtle sweetness will pair with the fruit for peach-bourbon perfection.

Powdered Sugar and Milk
These two ingredients, plus a bit more vanilla, form the simple glaze you'll drizzle over the cooled cake just before serving.

How to Make Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake

The process of making Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake is similar to that of any other upside-down cake. To start, melt some of the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the brown sugar and cook until it looks like a loose caramel. Pour this mixture into a very heavily greased Bundt pan, and place the peach slices on top, smooth side down.

Next, make the cake batter in a stand mixer, and spoon it into the pan on top of the peaches. After baking, cool the cake completely, starting in the pan and then finishing with a couple hours on a cooling rack. Just before serving, make the glaze, drizzle it over the top, and enjoy.

How to Store Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake

If you don't finish your entire Peach-Bourbon Upside-Down Bundt Cake in one sitting, it can stay out a room temperature covered with plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. After that, you can store it in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three months—though we highly doubt it will last that long.

Tips from the Southern Living Community

Our readers adore this recipe and have shared the following crave-worthy recommendations:

If you don't have ripe, fresh peaches, jarred peaches will work in a pinch.

Add a splash of bourbon to the glaze for more bourbon flavor.

In the winter, try swapping the peaches and bourbon for apples and rum.

Editorial contributions by Alyssa Sybertz.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups butter, softened, divided
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, divided
4 peaches, peeled and cut into 4 slices
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup (2 oz.) bourbon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt ¼ cup of the butter in a small saucepan over medium; stir in ½ cup of the brown sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Pour mixture evenly into a 15-cup (10 ½-inch) Bundt pan that has been heavily greased with cooking spray. Place peach slices in an even layer on top of brown sugar mixture.
Beat cream cheese and remaining 1 ½ cups butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add granulated sugar and remaining 1 ½ cups brown sugar, beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yolk disappears. Beat in 1 teaspoon of the vanilla.
Sift together flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with bourbon, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter carefully over peaches in prepared pan; level with a spatula.
Bake in preheated oven until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 1 hour and 25 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack until pan is cool enough to handle but still hot, about 25 minutes. Remove cake from pan to rack, and cool completely, about 2 hours.
Stir together powdered sugar, remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of the milk in a small bowl, adding remaining 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

ANTONIS ACHILLEOS; PROP STYLING: LINDSEY LOWER; FOOD STYLING: EMILY NABORS HALL