Butter Pecan Cake

Before I go any further....I have admit right now, if all my cakes looked as good as the picture, I would be a professional baker. LOL! I borrowed this picture, my cake didn't turn out half as pretty but it sure tasted that good!!

So, who doesn't love a butter pecan cake? What's that? Oh, you haven't ever really had a piece of butter pecan cake? Well, let me tell you, I hadn't either but I think it's my favorite now!! I found this recipe online and tweaked it a bit for high altitude and such. Making cakes from scratch is a difficult thing to do so if yours doesn't turn out just right, keep trying. It takes some tweaking but it is pretty amazing how good they taste. Okay, enough chatter. On to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans



• 1 cup butter



• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour



• 3/4 cup granulated sugar



• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed



• 1 tablespoon baking powder



• 1 teaspoon salt



• 1 package Jell-O pudding mix (I usually use either vanilla or white chocolate flavor)



• 1 cup milk



• 1 teaspoon vanilla



• 2 eggs

Preparation:

In 2-quart saucepan over medium low heat, brown pecans in butter until butter is lightly browned; stir constantly. Drain browned butter into a measuring cup, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and pudding. Mix together well. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the browned butter (save the rest for the frosting). Beat together for about 2 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chopped pecans. Pour batter into two greased and floured 8 or 9 inch round layer cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pans and cool thoroughly before frosting. (I always have a hard time with the cake coming out when I make it from scratch. Be sure to be generous with the grease and flour. PAM does not work very well. Okay, it doesn't work very well for me!)


Frosting Ingredients:

• 4 cups confectioner's sugar



• Reserved brown butter



• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature



• 1 teaspoon vanilla



• 1/4-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream



• remaining chopped pecans

Whip browned butter and butter together. Blend confectioner's sugar with butter mixture, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Add more whipping cream if necessary, a little at a time. Whip the icing to get it light. At this point, you can add the remaining pecans to the icing or, you can frost the cake and use the pecans to decorate the top. Whichever you choose, you will not regret it. SO yummy!!! You should probably just plan on taking it somewhere because if you keep it at home, you will gain 10 pounds. Believe me. I learned it the hard way. :)

EB