Butter Pecan Pound Cake
This tender, flavorful Butter Pecan Pound Cake is so delicious! It is moist with amazing flavor.
Servings: 15 servings
Ingredients
For the Buttered Pecans (To be used in batter as well as on top of cake)
- 2 cups whole pecans (we will later chop them) (250g)
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- pinch of salt (optional)
For the Cake
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
- 2 cup white/granulated sugar (400g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (200g)
- 5 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for five minutes to bring to room temperature.)
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour (375g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 1 cup sour cream (242g)
- ⅓ cup Milk (68g) (We use 2 percent or whole milk.)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (12g)
- 1 cup Chopped, Finely Chopped Roasted Pecans (124g)
Caramel Glaze
- ½ stick unsalted butter (57g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (packed into measuring cup) (217g)
- ½ cup heavy cream (126g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup (18g)
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted (optional)
Instructions
For the Butter Pecans
- Set oven to 350 degrees. Put 2 Tablespoons butter on baking sheet. When melted, (melts quickly) add 2 cups pecans and toss to coat. Spread out pecans and bake 5 to 8 minutes, Stir, halfway through. They roast quickly and so peek in as time approches. Sprinkle lightly with salt if you would like.
- Measure out 1 cup of the pecans and chop them finely. Set aside. These will be used in the batter. The rest will eventually be added to the top of the glazed cake.
For the Cake
- Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. See Notes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder for 30 seconds to combine. Set aside for later.
- Mix the butter with the paddle attachment (if using a stand mixer) on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the brown and white sugar and beat until light and fluffy 3 to 5 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time blending after each addition to incorporate.
- In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the vanilla extract, milk, and sour cream and set aside.
- While mixing at low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture to the butter, sugar, & egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. (I add the flour mixture three times and the sour cream twice). Mix just until incorporated.
- Gently stir in the 1 cup finely chopped pecans. Scoop batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth over the top with the back of a spoon to even it out.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 70-80 minutes. Baking times may vary and so check on the cake as it nears the 1 hour mark-adjust time as needed. When an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, it is ready.
- This makes approximately 8-8.5 cups of batter.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out.
For the Caramel Glaze
- Using a medium size saucepan (deep enough to prevent boil over) melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the brown sugar and the remaining ingredients and heat on medium high heat.Stir to blend, try to keep mixture off the sides of the pan.
- Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low.Simmer for 6 minutes, checking often to make sure that it is not going to boil over. It should still be bubbling.
- After 6 minutes, remove from heat.Keep in mind that the caramel with thicken up a bit as it cools. (**Optional step: at this point you can stir in a bit of powdered sugar (about ½ cup- adjust to your liking)- this will give the glaze a more opaque look. Without the powdered sugar, the caramel is a bit more transparent.)
- You can pour it into a long glass casserole dish if you want it to cool more quickly. We often refrigerate to cool it off as well.Makes about 1 cup caramel sauce. It can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.
Assembling the Cake
- Once the caramel and cake have cooled, you can either spoon the caramel over the cake with a spoon, or pipe it onto the cake using a disposable piping bag (with the tip snipped away).
- Top with desired amount of remaining buttered pecans (either whole or chopped).
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container or under a cake dome for 2-3 days.
Notes
Cake Pan: We used a 15 cup bundt cake pan (with a baking capacity of 12 cups). This recipe has about 8-8.5 cups of batter.
You should not fill your pan more than ⅔ full of cake batter, to allow room for the cake to bake without overflowing.
Storage: Cake can be stored in an airtight container or cake dome at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Freezing: This cake can be frozen for up to three months! To freeze, wrap tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil.