Eat One, Freeze One, Give One Away: Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake

Can’t wait to make the Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake? Jump to the recipe.

Who can resist a juicy, ripe peach in the summer? Maybe some unenlightened person can, but it sure isn’t me. Whenever I see fresh peaches on offer, be it at a roadside stand, a farmers market, the grocery store or a few spares at a friend’s house, I don’t hesitate to scoop them up. I have no idea what I’ll make with the peaches when I’m greedily doing the hunter-gatherer thing, but I know that whatever it is, it will be good. And I’ve never been wrong about this with peaches, my friends.

There were fresh, ripe Georgia peaches at the farmers market here in Bay St. Louis last Saturday, and of course I nabbed my share. So far, they’ve been added to a peach caprese with shrimp salad, eaten in slices for breakfast, chopped to flavor white wine sangria and featured in today’s recipe, a coffee cake.

The streak continues: every single use of these peaches has been stellar.

The Backstory

What drew me to this recipe is that a.) I could trust it because it was from a Junior League cookbook, b.) it had a pound of butter and a pound of sour cream signaling that it would be rich, c.) it had a nut topping, and d.) it made three cakes.

While the recipe calls it a coffee cake, I knew that with the butter and sour cream ratio to the sugar and flour, it would be moist and dense, like a pound cake. It would be my signature Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake.

I figured I could use the recipe as a guide, add my peaches and tweak a little where necessary. It worked, like it always does with peaches. I have the Midas touch with peaches. Don’t mean to brag, but it’s true!

Recipe: Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake

Makes 3 cakes; cooking time: about 1 hour and 20 minutes, total (baking time: 40 minutes)

Servings: about 12 to 15 per cake (it’s rich! it’s filling!)

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups / 4 sticks butter, softened
• 4 cups sugar
• 4 medium or large eggs
• 2 cups diced fresh peaches
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups cake flour
• 2 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon or cardamom
• ½ tsp. salt

Pecan Topping

• 2 cups chopped pecans, toasted if desired
• 2 ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ⅓ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F, making sure the oven racks are positioned to allow room for three cake pans, with one rack just below and one just above the center of the oven. Grease and flour three 9-inch round layer cake pans. Cooking spray can also be used.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the 2 cups / 4 sticks softened butter and 4 cups sugar until well combined. Add the 4 eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the 16 oz. full-fat sour cream, 2 cups diced fresh peaches and 2 tsp. vanilla, and mix again until combined.

Sift the 4 cups cake flour, 2 ½ tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. cinnamon or cardamom and ½ tsp. salt into the bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter until smooth and fully combined.

Make the pecan topping by combining the 2 cups chopped pecans, 2 ½ tsp. cinnamon and ⅓ cup brown sugar in a small bowl.

Distribute half of the cake batter evenly across the three prepared pans. Sprinkle half of the pecan topping evenly over the batter in the three pans. Distribute the remaining cake batter evenly across the three pans, then top each one with the remaining pecan topping.

Bake at 350°F until the cakes are done and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool them in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, then let them cool for another 20 minutes or more before slicing (if you can wait). 😁

Notes

• This recipe makes three 9-inch round Peach and Pecan Coffee Cakes.
• This recipe is written for medium or large eggs. If you only have jumbo eggs, use 3 instead of 4.
• Use full-fat sour cream for this recipe. “Lite” versions have their place, but this coffee cake needs the richness and structure of the real thing.
• If you have it on hand, cardamom in the cake batter provides a slightly different flavor profile; more woodsy and exotic.
• Toasted pecans make the topping even better, and it’s easy! Just heat your oven to 350°F, put the nuts on a sheet pan, and toast until they’re fragrant and lightly browned, about 6–8 minutes. Remove them from the sheet pan immediately after you take them out of the oven, or they’ll continue cooking and might get past the point of toasty perfection. Let them cool before adding them to the rest of the topping ingredients.
• To remove the cakes from the pans, let them cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes first. Run a knife gently around the inside edge of each pan to loosen the cake. Place a wire rack or plate over the top of the pan, then carefully invert the pan and rack together so the cake releases upside down. Lift off the pan, then place a second rack or serving plate on the bottom of the cake and flip it again so the pecan topping is facing up.
• You can serve this cake plain, like I did, just with coffee on the side. You can add a few fresh peach slices to the plate for color and texture, or you can go all the way over the top and serve it with whipped cream. You could have it for brunch and pair it with a peach Bellini! The possibilities are endless.

Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake: Eat One, Freeze One, Give One Away

I love to cook big batches and have plenty to share, so the 3-cake “eat one, freeze one, give one away” approach had me saluting the Junior League flag, especially as I’m currently in a situation to give away and freeze: I’m at Gumbo Cove in Mississippi solo this week. A couple of neighbors have already received some of my coffee cake bounty, and I’ve got some packed away in the freezer to take home to The Grill-Meister and share with the YGs (Young Glovers).

I was really happy with the Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake. Can you tell? I love it when it works!

Photo Shoot Drives a Vintage Serving Set Discovery

My favorite word is serendipity, because… well, serendipity! It’s a word that describes itself. I’m all about leveraging the happy accidents in life, and another one happened today.

When I was getting ready for the photo shoot, I wanted to find something complementary, looks-wise, to the coffee cake. The off-white plates we have here at Gumbo Cove would have been a little too monochromatic, because this cake, as you can see, is pretty blonde. I was looking through the cabinets and realized that I had no idea what was in the cupboard above the refrigerator.

Voila! There rested two vintage boxes of pressed-glass dishes that belonged to my grandmother: the Hawaiian Leaf 8-piece snack set by the Federal Glass Company.

This set has a cool history, apparently produced around the time Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in August of 1959. Whether it was a big national promotion or simply a clever, timely product, it certainly captures the tropical entertaining spirit of that moment.

The box even has a pop-up that can be opened to advertise it. I’m sure this is how they were displayed in stores, attracting the attention of ladies like my grandmother.

Grandma Ruth was 39 in 1959. I’m imagining her doing her shopping back then, seeing this set celebrating Hawaii becoming a state, and deciding that she needed two of them for entertaining. Coincidentally, she made a really good pound cake, and I’d like to think that’s part of what inspired me to make and share this recipe for Peach and Pecan Coffee Cake, perhaps subconsciously. Finding this set in the cabinet was like a heavenly little wink from her, saying, “Don’t forget me.”

I won’t.

I included a few pics of the snack set on a colorful platter, because it pops more and just screams “summer is here!” But in truth, I like the one with just Grandma’s vintage pressed glass plate a little better.

And now that I’ve gotten reacquainted with the Hawaiian Leaf snack sets, I’m eager to use them more often when we’re here. What a natural for shrimp cocktail! Or our Strawberry-Tomato Gazpacho Shooters in the cup with Avocado and Arugula Tostadas on the plate!

Peaches, Pecans, Coffee Cake and Memories

So there you have it: a farmers market peach haul, a trusted Junior League recipe that was a fabulous foundation for me to tweak and make my own, three golden coffee cakes, and a surprise visit from Grandma Ruth through a pair of vintage snack sets tucked away above the refrigerator.

That’s the kind of kitchen serendipity I love best. I started out using my peaches to make a cake, and somehow ended up with breakfast for the next day, dessert for the neighbors, something tucked into the freezer for my peeps, and a little family memory shining in this post.

Peaches, pecans, coffee cake and pressed glass. Summer is here, my friends.

Let me know if you make this delicious cake!

©️ 2026, Glover Gardens