Pecan Pie Cake + Friday Favorites

Friends, I have tragic news to report. Brace yourselves.

The glittery Kate Spade earrings (from my Christmas wish list) have sold out and are currently MIA from every retail store that I can think of. I know, I know. This is unprecedented, and I, too, have shed my tears over it. Please, if anyone sees that they have been restocked, let me know!! 

Now, onto this doozy of a cake. If you are a Southern belle, as I suspect many of you are, then you love your pecans as much as I do.  And you’re gonna love this cake.

It helps when your daddy brings you a freezer full of pecans fresh from the orchard.

You know what I love more than cake?

Pie.

I adore pie. The only issue I have with pie is that it’s not as pretty as cake, plus, it takes a lot of effort to create the perfect pie crust...and then after all that effort, you’re still left with a pie. A cake has more presence, more panache. But damn, do I love pecan pie. I found this recipe from an old Southern Living magazine laying around (and I do mean old…I think this is from a 1998 issue), and I thought I’d give it a whirl. 

I went into the kitchen, turned on the fireplace, and cranked up the Christmas music. Yes, it is still a little early to listen to Christmas tunes yet, but you can’t bake pecan pies to Led Zeppelin.

So we were baking and listening to Christmas music and eating sugarplums, and everything was perfect. Just kidding. It was a shitshow. 

Not sure if the proper term for this is "shitshow" or "clusterf*%$"

People ask me all the time how in the world I bake with 2 under 2. Well, I'll tell you. A TV in the kitchen. Best investment in the whole world. I may fall asleep singing Frozen songs in my head, but it works. After a while, though, Bobby starts to get mischievous and starts destroying things and playing in the trash. Baking with babies is a fragile situation that can go awry at any moment. 

I'M IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION!

I need to give a shout out to my toddler for helping me throughout the whole process and keeping me on my toes in the kitchen. 

See that stick of butter he's grabbing? I slipped on that later and busted my tail.

I need this excitement in my life, and I appreciate you always being willing to lend me a hand. And also a shout out to my sweet baby girl for offering to help me do some quality control testing.

Always ready to take one for the team.

I did my own.

Waste not, want not.

Back to the cake--It’s pecan pie transformed into a cake. It can’t be bad, right? Right! It’s awesome, especially if you’re into nuts, which I am. If you are expecting a run-of-the-mill butter pecan cake, then hold onto your britches, because that it is not. 

The cake itself has a fluffy buttermilk texture, with pecans baked right into it. The filling tastes like it has come directly out of a pecan pie. And the frosting lends that nice bite of extra sweetness to balance the nuts out. It doesn’t taste like butter pecan; it tastes like pecan pie (and as a pecan enthusiast, I can assure you that there IS a difference). 

I was making a bunch of mini-pecan pies for a bake sale while I was making this cake, so I used my left over pie crust to cut out some leaves to bake and decorate the cake with. It makes a cute topper, but I wouldn’t have done it had I not already had pie crusts made and extra dough sitting around. 

Anyhow, I hope that you make and enjoy this cake. It would be a perfect cake to adorn your Thanksgiving dessert table!

Pecan Pie Cake

Pecan Pie Filling

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1- 1/2 cups half-and-half

pinch salt

3 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

Pecan Pie Cake

3 cups pecans, finely chopped

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

5 eggs, separated

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

Pecan Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened

6 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup pecan pie filling

up to 5 tbsp heavy cream

For Pecan Pie Filling:

*Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute or until thickened. *Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and vanilla extract.

*Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill 4 hours.

For Pecan Pie Cake:

*Spray 3 8-inch cake pans with Baker’s Joy spray. Sprinkle 2 cups pecans evenly into cake pans; shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans.

*Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

*Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in remaining 1 cup finely chopped pecans.

*Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; fold one-third of egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites. (Do not over-mix.) Pour batter into prepared pans.

*Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until done (my oven took 40 minutes, but every oven is calibrated differently. It is best to check a cake around 25 minutes and then check it in increments of 5 minutes from there out. Also, do the toothpick test to make sure that the toothpick comes out clean in the center). Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert layers onto wax paper-lined wire racks. Brush tops and sides of layers with corn syrup, and cool completely.

For Pecan Buttercream Frosting-

*Place softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn the mixer on a medium setting and cream the butter until it is smooth.

*Add confectioner's sugar, ½ a cup at a time. After each cup has been incorporated, turn the mixer onto the highest speed setting and for about 10 seconds to lighten the frosting.
*Add vanilla and pecan pie filling, and combine until well-incorporated.
* Add heavy cream until the frosting has reached the preferred consistency. For a firmer frosting, add more confectioner's sugar, a ¼ cup at a time. For a softer frosting, add more cream, a tablespoon at a time.

Assembly

*Place the first cake layer down on your surface, pecan side up.  With a bit of the buttercream frosting in a piping bag, pipe a large open circle around the circumference of the cake (this will create a dam for your filling so it won't spill out). Spoon half of the remaining filling in the center of the cake and spread outward.

*Place next layer atop your cake, pecan side up, and repeat the previous steps.

*Then place the third layer atop your cake, pecan side up.

*Using an angled, flat spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting all over your cake. As thin and smooth as you can get it. It's okay if there are crumbs in this coat if frosting. That's why it's called a crumb coat!

* Put your crumb-coated cake in the fridge for 15-20 minutes until the frosting is somewhat dry and firm.

* Bring cake back to your counter. With a clean, angled, flat spatula, spread a much thicker layer of frosting all over your cake. You will probably use every last bit of your frosting for this.

* Place your frosted cake back in the fridge for a few more minutes for it to firm up.

Finish decorating as desired.

Now, onto Friday Favorites:

1)   I am really hoping that the glittery, multicolored Kate Spade earrings get re-stocked ASAP, but if they do not return, I am also crushing on the same earrings in green, hot pink, and tortoise shell. I think I’d pick the beryl green first, but I do love all three of these colors.

2)   This striped blanket. Yes, I am really obsessed with blankets. No, I don’t need another one. But what constitutes “need,” I ask? The polar vortex is here, and that’s as good an excuse as any to curl up in this fun, festive stripes. Side note, I'm not sure if it is a baby blanket or a regular people blanket, but I don't care either way.

3)   These candle stick holders. I have been debating on which candleholders to get for our mantle, and I finally decided on these rustic chic ones from Target. It was between these and a set of mercury glass ones, but I couldn’t pass up the wood. I heart the Target Threshold line!

4)   The trailers from “Into the Woods” that is coming out at Christmas. I have been in a few different productions of this musical, and I love it more each time. It’s hands-down my favorite musical. I can’t tell from the trailer if the film will keep the hilarious comedy of the Broadway version (I’m really hoping it does), but I’m sure it will be worth watching either way.

5)   This felt ball garland from Land of Nod. I love a good garland, and this one is fun for Christmas or just year round. I think I would drape it around the kitchen chalkboard? Not sure yet, but I do know that I need it in my life.

We are looking forward to finishing up a cake today, seeing family, and maybe getting to sleep in on Sunday if our family feels generous enough to do baby duty that morning. Hope y’all all have a wonderful weekend!

Keep on keepin’ on!

-Annette