Name: Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup or 250 g butter, softened; 1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar; 1 1/2 or 190 g cups AP flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 eggs, lightly beaten; 1/3 Cup or 80 ml Milk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 1/4 Cups or 140 g Chopped Pecans; 1 3/4 cups or 400 ml of whipping or heavy cream; 2 Tablespoons sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 teaspoons gelatin powder; 2 Tablespoons hot water; 5 Tablespoons of Salted Caramel; 3 Tablespoons Chocolate Chips to decorate (optional)

Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting is an easy recipe giving you a soft, fluffy cake and a creamy frosting, perfect for any celebration! This is one delicious cake that's for sure!

I made this cake for a friend's birthday and it was so popular I had people asking for the recipe so I decided to add it to our Lovefoodies collection of cake recipes.

The cake serves 10 - 12 slices, depending on how large you want the portions and will keep for a few days refrigerated.

So if you wanted to make ahead, you could do that and simply take along to your party or serve at home with friends.

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This is a perfect cake recipe for serving at a celebration, such as a birthday or an anniversary.

Equally, it's a good cake to enjoy at a potluck, gathering, or over the holidays, such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, or Christmas.

As you can see in the photos, I've chosen to decorate the cake quite simply by using a piping bag to pipe the whipped cream frosting over the cake, then sprinkle some chocolate chips on the top and sides of the cake.

If you're feeling particularly creative, you could add some chocolate shards or other decorations too, such as sea salted chocolate chips

When you bite into the cake, you get a wonderfully soft, fluffy, moist cake, rich in pecan flavor, and a delicious contrast of creamy salted caramel from the frosting.

This combination is absolutely delicious! Pair that with a lovely cup of your favorite coffee and enjoy!

Table of Contents 📋 hide

1) How do I get my cake light and fluffy?

2) The Flavor of the Whipped Cream

9) Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting

10) Celebration Cakes

How do I get my cake light and fluffy?

The cake recipe uses the basic creaming method to make the batter.

This is what gives you an incredibly fluffy and light texture to the cake crumb. You need to make sure you cream the butter and sugar in your mixer until it goes a very pale color and all the sugar granules have dissolved. If you don't mix until it is pale in color, you will likely end up with a denser textured cake.

The Flavor of the Whipped Cream

The whipped cream frosting is delicious! I find it not as rich as a full buttercream frosting, and the key to the flavor is the addition of salted caramel.

I would suggest you taste as you are making this so you are sure you have the right amount of sweetness to your liking when you're adding the salted caramel. I haven't made the frosting overly sweet because I prefer it that way, so make sure you taste and add a little more caramel if you prefer sweeter.

You can buy shop-bought caramel, (Dulce De Leche), and you can add ½ teaspoon of sea salt to the caramel.

Or you can make your own caramel by using our recipe here for Dulce De Leche. It's very easy to make, it just takes a little time for cooking.

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 - 35 minutes OR 1 hr for a loaf pan

Yield

Ingredients

The Cake

1 cup or 250 g butter, softened
1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar
1 & ½ or 190 g cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten

⅓ Cup or 80 ml Milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 & ¼ Cups or 140 g Finely Chopped Pecans

The frosting

1 & ¾ cups or 400 ml of whipping or heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
2 Tablespoons hot water
5 Tablespoons of Salted Caramel
3 Tablespoons Chocolate Chips to decorate (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160 C, 325 F. Grease and lightly flour two 8 inches or 20 cm loose-bottomed round cake tins.

Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting, grease and flour pan

2. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Chop the pecans finely. Make sure the pieces are NO LARGER than pea size.

Any bigger and they will sink to the bottom during baking.

3. Lightly beat eggs and add vanilla in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

NOTE: Creaming the butter and sugar is VERY important to get a fluffy texture to the cake crumb.

Please make sure you use your mixer and cream until you see the color of the butter turn almost white. It will take you around 5 - 7 minutes for this to happen, and it is worth the extra time taken!

4. Add egg mixture, a little at a time to the batter. Then add half the flour, then milk, then the rest of flour.

Add the pecans and make sure they are well combined and distributed.

5. Transfer the cake batter mixture equally into the 2 baking tins and bake 30 - 35 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

If using a loaf pan, keep the same temperature, and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. Again, check for doneness.

6. Allow the cakes to rest for 2 minutes then remove from pans and place UPSIDE DOWN on a cooling rack.

Allow to COMPLETELY cool before frosting.
*** Please note, bake times will vary slightly so please check for doneness after 25 - 30 minutes of baking.

For the Whipped Cream Frosting

7. Mix the gelatin in the hot water and let dissolve for 5 mins. Add a little cream into the gelatin mixture.

8. Whip the cream until soft peaks adding the sugar slowly. Add the vanilla extract.

Then add the gelatin mixture and salted caramel and whip till stiff peaks.

Pecan Cake WIth Salted Caramel Frosting, whipped cream consistency

9. Spread some frosting on the surface of one cake, place the other cake on top and frost the sides and top of the whole cake.

Add mini chocolate chips to decorate.

Refrigerate for at least an hour for the frosting to firm up a little then serve with a nice latte coffee!

Note: You can simply spread the frosting or use a piping bag if you would like a pretty pattern. You choose!

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Recipe Card

Pecan Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Pecan Cake WIth Salted Caramel Frosting is an easy recipe giving you a soft, fluffy cake and a creamy frosting, perfect for any celebration!

Ingredients

The Cake :

1 cup or 250 g butter, softened
1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar
1 ½ or 190 g cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ Cup or 80 ml Milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ Cups or 140 g Chopped Pecans

The frosting:

1 ¾ cups or 400 ml of whipping or heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
2 Tablespoons hot water
5 Tablespoons of Salted Caramel
3 Tablespoons Chocolate Chips to decorate (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160 C, 325 F. Grease and lightly flour two 8 inches or 20 cm loose-bottomed round cake tins. I always like to place a disc of parchment in the base of each tin so the cake comes out very easily.

2. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Chop the pecans. Make sure the pieces are NO LARGER than pea size. Any bigger and they will sink to the bottom during baking.

3. Lightly beat eggs and add vanilla in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

** NOTE: Creaming the butter and sugar is VERY important to get a fluffy texture to the cake crumb. Please make sure you use your mixer and cream until you see the color of the butter turn almost white. It will take you around 5 - 7 minutes for this to happen, and it is worth the extra time taken!

4. Add egg mixture, a little at a time to the batter. Then add half the flour, then milk, then the rest of flour. Add the pecans and make sure they are well combined and distributed.

5. Transfer the cake batter mixture equally into the 2 baking tins and bake 30 - 35 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. If using a loaf pan, keep the same temperature, and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. Again, check for doneness.

6. Allow the cakes to rest for 2 minutes then remove from pans and place UPSIDE DOWN on a cooling rack. Allow to COMPLETELY cool before frosting.*** Please note, bake times will vary slightly so please check for doneness after 25 - 30 minutes of baking.

For the Whipped Cream Frosting:
7. Mix the gelatin in the hot water and let dissolve for 5 mins. Add a little cream into the gelatin mixture.

8. Whip the cream until soft peaks adding the sugar slowly. Add the vanilla extract. Then add the gelatin mixture and salted caramel and whip till stiff peaks.

9. Spread some frosting on the surface of one cake, place the other cake on top and frost the sides and top of the whole cake. Add mini chocolate chips to decorate.

Refrigerate for at least an hour for the frosting to firm up a little then serve with a nice latte coffee!

Note: You can simply spread the frosting or use a piping bag if you would like a pretty pattern. You choose!

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 577Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 150mgSodium: 456mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 8g

Celebration Cakes

Here's a great selection of celebration cakes perfect for a party!

Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake

Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake, loaded with delicious fruits and Spiced Rum. A perfect treat for Christmas.

Coffee Walnut Sandwich Cake

Coffee Walnut Sandwich Cake.
The best coffee and walnut cake, a classic British afternoon tea cake, layers of soft and fluffy coffee cake with chopped walnuts throughout, adds a great flavor and texture, frosted with coffee cream cheese frosting. A pure delight to eat!

Share your thoughts

4 thoughts shared

Yael
says:
September 13th, 2019 at 5:26 pm

Hi,
You write in the instructions to add the flour, then milk and then the rest of the flour. How much milk do you need to add? I couldn’t find it in the recipe.
Thanks,

1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  September 13th, 2019 at 6:09 pm
  
  Hi there,
  For some strange reason the milk didn’t transfer to the ingredient list. I’ve corrected this and added it. It’s 1/3 cup or 80ml.
  Thanks so much for bring this to my attention. Hope you can make this soon, it’s a lovely cake!
  
  1. Yael
    says:
    September 14th, 2019 at 7:50 am
    
    Thanks!
    I’m making the cake right now for my son’s birthday:)
  2. Lovefoodies
    says:
    September 14th, 2019 at 8:12 am
    
    Enjoy! and many happy returns to your son too Yael!