Sloppy Peach Cake in a Cup

A sloppy peach cake in a cup that looks perfectly put together. An easy and delicious cake you can bake in any sized pan using ingredients that are available year round. Perfect for serving at dinner parties and afternoon tea.

Jump to:

• Deconstructed Japanese Chiffon Cake in a Cup
• Ingredients & Substitutes
• How to Bake Peach Cake in Any Sized Cake Pan
• Step-By-Step Peach Cake in a Cup
• Recipe

Deconstructed Japanese Chiffon Cake in a Cup

One of the most common questions I receive from my readers on one of their favorite recipes, Strawberry Japanese Cake Roll, is how to bake the Japanese chiffon cake in a different pan size and whether or not the whipped cream needs to be stabilized. That cake roll look absolutely magnificent and mouthwatering but I do appreciate that not everyone has the time or skills to roll a perfect cake roll on the first try.

Not wanting my readers to miss out on this very delicious Asian-bakery inspired cake (trust me and the reader reviews, it's so good!), I decided to write this new recipe for Sloppy Peach Cake in a Cup that can be baked in any sized cake pan, and without the need for stabilization of the whipped cream. The peaches can also be substituted with a variety of different fruits whether canned or fresh. Anything goes, that's why it's called "sloppy", although, it looks anything but 🙂

As for the taste, it's most liken to the light, semi-sweet cakes at the Asian bakeries. It's composed of a fluffy chiffon cake base and a creamy but not-too-sweet whipped cream. Sloppy peach cake in a cup is definitely a dessert that you can eat a second or third helping without being overwhelmed by it's sweetness or richness.

Ingredients & Substitutes

The great thing about this peach cake is that all the ingredients can be found year round in any grocery store like canned peaches, making it a cake you can prepare well into the fall and winter for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas parties. You can also make this cake in other flavours using my other chiffon cake roll recipes: Chocolate Cake Roll, Matcha Adzuki Bean Cake Roll. Here are the other ingredients:

• Canned peaches - peaches can be substituted with canned mixed fruits. Using mixed fruits will yield the same delicious taste as the fresh fruit cakes you can find at the Asian bakeries. If in season, real fruits like strawberries, cherries and bananas work very well too.
• Granulated sugar
• Cake flour - it can be substituted with all-purpose flour but cake flour is preferable for foam cakes as the lower protein content will yield a softer airier cake.
• Baking powder
• Sea salt - if using table salt, use half the amount.
• Whole fat milk
• Eggs
• Vegetable oil (e.g. canola) - choose a neutral tasting vegetable oil like canola or avocado.
• Vanilla extract
• Cream of tartar - this is an acid used to stabilize the meringue. It can be substituted with lemon juice or vinegar in double the amount. It's usually sold with the spices in the baking aisle. If you really can't find it, it can be omitted but be careful with whipping the meringue. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and stop immediately once it has reached that stage.
• Optional garnish - I used pineapple mint and flowers from my garden for the purpose of the photo. You can find flowers certified to be edible from Whole Foods in the produce area where the fresh herbs are kept. Alternatively, berries always look wonderful as a garnish on desserts.
• Mason jar - a 125 ml mason jar was used in this recipe, yielding 6 full jars of peach cake. You can use any type of vessel you like to hold your peach cake.

How to Bake Peach Cake in Any Sized Cake Pan

One of the most common problems readers had with baking the chiffon cake base in my cake roll recipes is having the right sized pan. This problem is eliminated in this sloppy peach cake in a cup recipe. We will be cutting the cake down to the size of our container (ex. mason jar or glass) so we don't need to bake the cake in a specific pan size per se. Metal cupcake pans, loaf pans etc. are just some options that will work.

This recipe was originally written for an 8"X12" pan so any baking pan smaller than this size will work. Fill the pan with batter and make sure the batter is at a 2 cm thickness. You can test this by measuring the height of the residual wet batter left on a toothpick after it has been inserted into the filled pan. Using this thickness as a baseline, you can for the most part follow the baking time and temperature of the recipe as written. For very small pans like cupcake tins, check on the cake doneness a few minutes early.

Step-By-Step Peach Cake in a Cup

In a large mixing bowl, sift in cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. I like this type of strainer for sifting dry ingredients because it's quicker and provides better control. Create a well in the center. Inside it, add yolks, oil, vanilla extract and milk.

With a spatula, stir to combine until fully incorporated, do not over mix. Set this milk-flour mixture aside.

Next, Make the meringue in a clean and dry, non-plastic mixing bowl (ex. stainless steel mixing bowl or glass mixing bowl). This is crucial as meringues do not whip well in the presence of oil and water. Whip egg whites on slow speed until frothy, add cream of tartar. Whip until stiff peaks as shown in the photo above on the right. When the whisk is pulled out, the meringue does not droop on itself.

Gently fold the meringue into the cake flour batter until fully incorporated.

Dab a little bit of the batter onto the parchment paper and stick it to the pan to prevent the paper from tipping over into the cake batter. I used a darker colored pan here giving my cake a more golden finish.

Pour batter into lined cake pan from one spot, spread out the batter evenly with an angled spatula. Rap the cake pan on the counter a few times to rid excess bubbles.

Bake for 14-16 min. at 325 F. Let cool 5 min. in the pan before removing. Place cooling rack over cake pan.

Flip cake over onto the rack, remove pan. Gently remove paper. Let it cool down.

For cleaner lines, once cake is no longer hot but before it cools completely, cut it to desired size with knife or cookie cutter. Set aside, do not stack together.

Refrigerate mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes. This will help cream whip better.

Beat the cream and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the chilled bowl. Whip on low speed and then increase to medium-high. Stop beating once the cream turns stiff. It will look clumpy and matte. Do not over whip. Use cream to assemble the cooled cake immediately.

Pat dry canned peaches with clean paper towels. Cut up into cubes and slices.

Layer bottom of cup or jar with one layer of cake.

Add chopped peaches, then top with a layer of cream.

Add another layer of cake, then top with another layer of cream. Level off with a knife or spatula. Place sliced peaches on top. Garnish with fresh fruits or herbs if desired.

I hope you have a chance to make these peach cakes in a cup, it's a great choice for holiday parties or just a lazy night at home. Here are some other flavor ideas for you: Chocolate Cake Roll, Matcha Adzuki Bean Cake Roll, Cotton Candy Cake Roll, Coffee Cake Roll, Pumpkin Cake Roll, Tiger Vanilla Cake Roll , Carrot Cake Roll, Earl Grey Tea Cake Roll and Gingerbread Cake Roll. Just bake the cake in any sized pan and cut out the cake according to instructions in post. If you have any other questions, please let me know below.

XOXO,
Mimi