This Butter Pecan Cake has an extremely smooth and moist texture that merely melts in your mouth! It’s studded with chopped pecans all through and cloaked in an irresistible brown sugar frosting. Recipe features a how-to video!
Southern Butter Pecan Cake
This butter pecan cake is just unimaginable. It’s smooth, tremendous moist (it actually melts in your mouth), and the flavour is out of this world. You’ll love how simply it mixes along with the reverse creaming methodology (first utilized in my caramel cake and most just lately in my peanut butter cupcakes). And don’t even get me began on the brown sugar cream cheese frosting…
The crumb of this cake is exclusive and irresistible. It’s so fluffy and lightweight, and due to the finely chopped pecans, it’s nearly a bit crumbly (however in a moist, gentle means!). The shining flavors of browned butter and nutty pecans are completely enhanced by brown sugar and vanilla, and all the pieces is superbly tied along with the brown sugar frosting (fastidiously designed to not be too candy!). It’s one of the best pairing!
What you’ll love about my recipe:
- Takes simply over an hour to make.
- Gorgeous (but straightforward!) closing look your company will love.
- Cozy and distinctive taste–nice for mixing up your conventional birthday cake!
- Unbelievable texture and crumb.
What You Want
Listed below are the important thing elements that make this butter pecan cake so particular:
- Cake flour. I don’t suggest utilizing all-purpose flour right here, as wonderful cake flour works higher for making the cake crumb gentle and further smooth. Do ensure you measure your flour correctly!
- Brown sugar. We’ll use gentle brown sugar within the cake and the icing. Sure, we’re additionally utilizing powdered sugar within the icing, however I promise it’s not too candy! It’s really much less sugar than normal American buttercream.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk retains this butter pecan cake tremendous tender and moist. When you don’t have buttermilk available, you should utilize my straightforward buttermilk substitute.
- Cream cheese. Whereas there’s cream cheese on this frosting, it’s not overpowering. As a substitute, it retains the frosting from being too candy and accents the opposite flavors of the cake properly. Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese.
- Pecans. Be sure to measure your pecans earlier than chopping them. For ease, I like to cut my pecans in a meals processor.
SAM’S TIP: I don’t toast my pecans earlier than including them (I simply don’t discover it vital right here), however you actually can. I’ve a simple information on find out how to toast pecans, to your reference!
Keep in mind, that is simply an summary of the elements I used and why. For the complete recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the submit!
Methods to Make Butter Pecan Cake
Browning the Butter
- Soften and cook dinner – Soften butter over medium-low warmth. Improve the warmth and cook dinner, stirring ceaselessly, because the butter begins to foam and sizzle.
- Let it cool – When you see brown specks forming on the underside of the pan, take away the butter from the warmth and pour right into a heatproof bowl to chill utterly.
Chopping the Pecans
- Measure your pecans and place them within the bowl of a meals processor.
- Pulse till the pecans are wonderful crumbs, then cease. Put aside 1 ½ cups for the cake and ⅓ cup for the ornament.
Making the Cake Batter
- Dry elements – Whisk collectively the dry elements in a big bowl.
- Add the browned butter and stir with the mixer on low velocity till included.
- Moist elements – Mix the remaining moist elements in a separate bowl, then steadily add them to the dry elements, pausing midway by means of to scrape the bowl.
- Add the pecans and stir till included.
SAM’S TIP: Don’t stress in the event you see small lumps in your batter–these are completely regular!
Making the Cake Batter
- Bake – Divide the batter between greased/floured/lined pans and bake for half-hour at 350F.
- Let the muffins cool of their pans for quarter-hour earlier than inverting onto a cooling rack to chill utterly.
Making the Frosting/Prepping the Cake
- Cream the butter – Beat collectively the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt till easy.
- Add the sugar – Regularly add the powdered sugar till mixed.
- Add the cream – Pause to scrape the bowl, then add the heavy cream.
- Whip till easy and fluffy.
Adorning
- Degree and stack your cake layers, including a thick layer of frosting in between every.
- Frost the perimeters and prime of the cake with a skinny layer of frosting.
- Add pecans on prime, if desired.
- Adorn the highest of the cake with piped frosting swirls.
SAM’S TIP: When you solely have two cake pans, you may let the remaining batter sit coated at room temperature whereas your first two layers bake. Keep in mind to let your pan cool utterly earlier than including the batter for the third layer!
Regularly Requested Questions
This cake could be made in a 9×13″ pan, however you should have extra batter. Fill your pan ⅔ of the way in which full, then both discard the surplus batter or use it to make cupcakes.
Personally I don’t refrigerate if I plan on having fun with inside two days. If you’d like your cake to last more, you may retailer it within the fridge for as much as one week. Butter pecan cake additionally freezes properly.
In search of extra southern-inspired recipes? Strive my candy tea or coca cola cake!
Get pleasure from!
Let’s bake collectively! I’ll be strolling you thru all of the steps in my written recipe and video beneath! When you do this recipe, make sure to tag me on Instagram, and you too can discover me on YouTube and Facebook
Butter Pecan Cake
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Servings: 12 servings
Energy: 975kcal
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Directions
Brown the Butter
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Place butter in a medium-sized pan and cook dinner over medium/low warmth till butter is melted. Improve warmth to simply above medium and cook dinner, stirring ceaselessly. Butter will foam, crackle, pop and sizzle. Stir, scraping the underside of the pan, till you see golden brown specks. Take away from warmth and pour right into a heatproof bowl. Enable butter to chill utterly (it ought to nonetheless be liquid, however ought to now not be heat to the contact) earlier than continuing.
1 cup unsalted butter
Make the Cake
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Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and grease 3 8” spherical baking pans with baking spray. Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper to make sure the muffins gained’t stick.
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In a big mixing bowl, whisk collectively cake flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3 cups cake flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup gentle brown sugar
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Add browned butter and use an electrical mixer to stir on low-speed till completely included.
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In a separate bowl, whisk collectively buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla, then slowly drizzle into the flour combination. Pause midway by means of and on the finish to scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl (it’s alright in the event you discover small lumps within the batter).
1 ½ cups buttermilk, 2 giant eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
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Stir in pecans till properly included.
1 ½ cups pecan halves
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Evenly divide batter into ready baking sheets and bake in heart rack of 350F oven for half-hour or till a toothpick inserted within the heart comes out clear or with moist crumbs.
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Enable muffins to chill of their pans for quarter-hour earlier than operating a knife across the fringe of the cake to loosen it from the pan then fastidiously invert onto a cooling rack to chill utterly. Desserts should be utterly cooled earlier than adorning.
Brown Sugar Frosting
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Mix butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a big mixing bowl and use an electrical mixer to beat till easy and creamy.
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, 6 oz cream cheese, ⅓ cup gentle brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
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With mixer on low-speed, steadily add powdered sugar till utterly mixed (pause periodically to scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl with a spatula).
4 ½ cups powdered sugar
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Add heavy cream and beat on excessive velocity for 30 seconds, till frosting is easy and silky.
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
Adorning Cake
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Degree muffins if wanted and adorn with frosting. I did a easy, gentle overlaying for the perimeters of the cake with thicker frosting in between layers and on prime of the cake. To brighten the highest, I like to recommend utilizing an Ateco 846 or Ateco 848 tip. When you’d like, finely chop one other ⅓ cup of pecans and layer them excessive of the cake (don’t go all the way in which to the sting) earlier than including the frosting swirls across the edge.
⅓ cup pecan halves
Notes
Pecans
Measure pecans earlier than chopping. To get my pecans very wonderful, I toss them within the meals processor and pulse till they’re wonderful. Don’t pulse too far, otherwise you’ll flip them into nut butter!
Baking Pans
When you solely have two spherical pans, bake your first two layers and depart the remaining batter coated within the mixing bowl. Enable the cake pan to chill earlier than including the remaining batter and cooking your closing layer.
Storing
Retailer in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 2 days or within the fridge, tightly coated, for as much as per week. This cake might also be wrapped tightly and frozen
Vitamin
Serving: 1serving | Energy: 975kcal | Carbohydrates: 113g | Protein: 8g | Fats: 57g | Saturated Fats: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 5g | Monounsaturated Fats: 18g | Trans Fats: 2g | Ldl cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 415mg | Potassium: 210mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 87g | Vitamin A: 1489IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 1mg
Dietary info relies on third-party calculations and needs to be thought-about an estimate solely. Precise dietary content material will range based mostly upon manufacturers used, measuring strategies, cooking methodology, portion sizes, and extra.
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