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Pecan Praline Cake Recipe: How to Make Pecan Praline Cake

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Jun 14, 2022 • 3 min read

Bake a pecan praline cake in traditional round cake pans or a decorative bundt pan for a showstopping dessert. Top the cake with a sweet and nutty glaze and watch as it drips over the sides, coating the dessert in pecan sweetness.

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What Is Pecan Praline Cake?

Pecan praline cake is a dessert inspired by the flavors of pecan pralines, a Southern confection of pecans bound together by butter, corn syrup, milk, and sugar. There are many pecan praline cake variations: Make a gooey sheet cake soaked in sweetened condensed milk, a celebratory layer cake decorated with cream cheese frosting or coconut pecan frosting, or a loaf or bundt cake with a pecan topping. The crucial elements are pecans and brown sugar.

3 Tips for Making Pecan Praline Cake

Use the three tips below for making sweet, sticky, and nutty pecan praline cake.

  1. 1. Grease the pan well. Greasing your cake pan is always a good idea, but this step is essential if using a bundt pan. There are a lot of nooks and crannies in bundt pans, so grease them thoroughly with cooking spray. If you have trouble releasing the cake from the pan after baking, you risk losing all of the detail in the pan.
  2. 2. Mix the batter just right. The best way to make a cake with a light, fluffy crumb is to carefully fold the wet and dry ingredients together until they’re barely incorporated. This process helps you avoid overmixing, which minimizes gluten development. Gentle mixing is critical when incorporating mix-ins like chopped pecans or pralines since vigorous mixing can crush the nuts.
  3. 3. Add chopped praline candy to the batter. To add texture to the cake, chop pecan praline candy and stir the pieces into the cake batter. The candies also work in between cake layers or in a frosting.

Pecan Praline vs. Butter Pecan: 3 Areas of Difference

Both feature chopped pecans and butter, but there are three main differences between pecan praline and butter pecan:

  1. 1. General use: A mixture between caramel, fudge, and grasshoppers, pecan praline is a stand-alone candy sold at confection shops and grocery stores. On the other hand, butter pecan is an ingredient added to other desserts, such as butter pecan cake and ice cream.
  2. 2. Pecan preparation: To make butter pecan, pecans get toasted in butter in a small saucepan on the stove to bring out the flavors of both ingredients. To make pecan pralines, you toast the pecans in the oven before combining them with the other praline ingredients, like butter, sugar, milk, and corn syrup.
  3. 3. Primary flavors: Toasted pecans and butter are the primary flavors in butter pecan, while sugar tends to be the primary flavor of pecan pralines. The nuts add crunch and a slightly nutty flavor, but it is very much candy with pecan pieces.

Easy Pecan Praline Cake Recipe

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makes

1 bundt cake

prep time

20 min

total time

1 hr 20 min

cook time

1 hr

Ingredients

For the cake:

For the praline topping:

Make and bake the bundt cake:

  1. 1

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. 2

    Grease a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

  3. 3

    In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped pecans and set it aside.

  4. 4

    In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, sour cream, and vegetable oil. Set the mixture aside.

  5. 5

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

  6. 6

    Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

  7. 7

    Beat the eggs, butter, and sugar mixture for 7–10 minutes.

  8. 8

    Add the vanilla extract and mix to incorporate.

  9. 9

    With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the wet ingredients alternately, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

  10. 10

    Pour the cake batter into the bundt pan.

  11. 11

    Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into its center comes out clean, about 50–55 minutes.

Make the pecan praline topping:

  1. 1

    In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sweetened condensed milk, butter, and chopped pecans.

  2. 2

    Cook the mixture until the butter melts, and the mixture is hot, about 3–5 minutes.

Glaze the cake:

  1. 1

    Turn the bundt cake out onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan.

  2. 2

    Pour the glaze over the top of the cake.

  3. 3

    Spoon excess glaze pooling in the sheet pan over the top of the cake, using as much of the glaze as possible.

  4. 4

    Serve the cake warm or cool it to room temperature. Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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