Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

Well, I was on quite the peach kick this summer. I bought peaches by the case at Sam's Club. They were always so good! I have never purchased so many peaches, however, in late July I went to Sam's to do the usual bi-weekly grocery shopping and the smell of fresh peaches was everywhere. By the time I hit the produce section, I was in desperate need of peaches. They fresh, fruity, sweet, fragrant smell was so good.

I bought a case.

Then the next week. . .I bought another.

Came back a third time. . .and bought another.

It was probably the third or fourth time I purchased peaches that I finally decided I needed to make a peach cupcake. (Which I am just now posting because - let's face it - I got lazy once school started.)

I went in search of the perfect recipe and found a few that sounded good. As usual a tweaked and changed them, and came up with what I have here. NOTE: This recipe DOES NOT use any eggs! The vinegar reacts the same way eggs do, making the cake light and fluffy. Weird huh. . .science. . .I tell ya.

I guess I better tell you before you decide to make them, that they were not as "peachy" as I had hoped for. I really wanted that fresh, juicy, sweet, peach taste to come through, and after trying several recipes, I decided that if you want a juicy peach. . .just eat a peach. If you want a cupcake that tastes slightly peachy. . .make these!

CUPCAKES:
2-2 ½ cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh peach puree
1/2 cup high quality peach preserves
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar

1. Mix together all dry ingredients.

2. Add to they dry mixture the peach puree, peach preserves, oil, vanilla, water, and vinegar.

3. Fill muffin tin's 2/3 full of cake batter and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

4. Once cooled, fill and frost!

PEACH CREAM FILLNG:
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp peach preserves

1. Dump all this stuff in a bowl and beat the heck out of it on high! (If my opinion, this is the tastiest part of the cupcake!)

2. Put Peach Cream Filling in a pastry bag fitted with a small tip, and pipe directly into the top of the cupcake, filling until the top of the cupcake begins to crack.

PEACH BUTTERCREAM:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
6 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup peach preserves
Milk to thin if needed.

1. Whip together butter, shortening, and powdered sugar.

2. Add in peach preserves.

3. Whip on high, until light and fluffy. You may need to add some cream or milk to help with consistency. Pipe on top of cupcakes, and enjoy!