Southern Butter Pecan Cake
This butter pecan cake is simply incredible. It is soft, super moist (it literally melts in your mouth), and the flavor is out of this world. You will love how easily it mixes together with the reverse creaming method (first used in my caramel cake and most recently in my peanut butter cupcakes). And don’t even get me started on the brown sugar cream cheese frosting… The crumb of this cake is unique and irresistible. It is so fluffy and light, and thanks to the finely chopped pecans, it’s almost a bit crumbly (but in a moist, light way!). The shining flavors of browned butter and nutty pecans are perfectly enhanced by brown sugar and vanilla, and everything is beautifully tied together with the brown sugar frosting (carefully designed to not be too sweet!). It’s the best pairing!
What you’ll love about my recipe:
Takes just over an hour to make.Stunning (yet easy!) final look your guests will love.Cozy and unique flavor–great for mixing up your traditional birthday cake!Incredible texture and crumb.
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients that make this butter pecan cake so special:
Cake flour. I don’t recommend using all-purpose flour here, as fine cake flour works better for making the cake crumb light and extra soft. Do make sure you measure your flour properly!Brown sugar. We’ll use light brown sugar in the cake and the icing. Yes, we are also using powdered sugar in the icing, but I promise it’s not too sweet! It’s actually less sugar than standard American buttercream.Buttermilk. Buttermilk keeps this butter pecan cake super tender and moist. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use my easy buttermilk substitute.Cream cheese. While there is cream cheese in this frosting, it’s not overpowering. Instead, it keeps the frosting from being too sweet and accents the other flavors of the cake nicely. Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese.Pecans. Make sure to measure your pecans before chopping them. For ease, I like to chop my pecans in a food processor.
SAM’S TIP: I don’t toast my pecans before adding them (I just don’t find it necessary here), but you certainly can. I have an easy guide on how to toast pecans, for your reference! Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Butter Pecan Cake
Browning the Butter
Chopping the Pecans
Making the Cake Batter
SAM’S TIP: Don’t stress if you see small lumps in your batter–these are totally normal!
Making the Cake Batter
Making the Frosting/Prepping the Cake
Decorating
SAM’S TIP: If you only have two cake pans, you can let the remaining batter sit covered at room temperature while your first two layers bake. Remember to let your pan cool completely before adding the batter for the third layer! Looking for more southern-inspired recipes? Try my sweet tea or coca cola cake! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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