Who doesn’t love a great Pecan Pie?? It’s such a classic… a sweet, buttery, almost caramely flavored filling filled with rich nutty pecans!
This Pecan Pie cake isn’t a pie, but it has the delicious flavors of one! Soft buttery layers of cake & pecans with a gooey rich filling that is just incredible. The whole cake is then frosted in a very lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream for a treat that is completely out of this world!
There are a few steps to putting this together but we love this cake so it’s definitely worth it! You can make the filling (and even the layers) the day before. The cake is best if it sits for a few hours once assembled. Take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.
My husband loves this cake. Once sliced, he drizzles the cake with a little bit of cream from the fridge to make it extra special!
Note: Recipes on Spend With Pennies are always tested several times before posting. Even once posted, favorite recipes are made over and over which sometimes leads to new ‘tweaks’ improving recipe quality. There have been a couple of quick edits to this recipe after testing it a few additional times. Edits include adjusting bake time by a few minutes and brushing the cake with a cream mixture after baking.
Items you’ll need for this recipe
* Pecans * 9″ Cake Pan * Vanilla Extract *
Pecan Pie Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups chopped pecans divided
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 eggs separated
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ⅓ cup caramel sauce
- ⅓ cup half and half or light cream
Filling
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¾ cup dark corn syrup
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups half and half or light cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Other
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- chopped pecans optional
- cream for serving
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease three 9-inch pans and sprinkle 2 cups chopped pecans evenly between the pans.
- Place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 1 cup measuring cup and top to 1 cup with milk. Set aside.
- With a mixer on medium, cream together ¾ cup butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture alternating with soured milk.
- With the mixer on medium-high, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites and 1 cup of chopped pecans into the butter mixture just until completely combined.
- Divide batter between the 3 prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, or just until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool in the pan 5 minutes. Remove from pans onto cooling racks lined with parchment paper.
- Combine caramel sauce & light cream. Brush over each of the warm cakes twice. Cool completely.
Filling (Can be made 1 day ahead of time)
- Combine ½ cup brown sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, egg, light cream and corn syrup in a large saucepan.
- Stir continuously over medium heat until mixture boils. Let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Assembly
- Place one of the cakes on a plate with the pecans on top. Top with half of the cooled filling. Repeat layers and finally top with the last cake.
- Whip cream and powdered sugar on medium high until stiff peaks form. Frost cake with whipped cream and top with additional pecans if desired.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
- To serve, slice the cake and drizzle each slice with about 2 tablespoons fresh cream before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Here are more recipes you’ll love
* Easy Pecan Pie * Pecan Pie Cookies * Pecan Pie Cheese ball *
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Would love to make this cake but I’m not suppose to corn syrup. I have only 1 kidney and I have to watch what I eat and corn syrup is a no no. Any suggestions as to what I could use in its place or could I leave it out?
Thank you and God bless
Hi Jan, I have only made this recipe as listed so I can’t say for sure, but I have heard that honey may work as a substitute. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
What can I use I place if the light cream ?
I can’t say for sure as I’ve only made this as written!
I have made this cake several times now, as is or with some slight variations… Ir’s definitely a family favoirite. the last time I made this cake was for my wedding anniversary… for that cake I omitted the cream frosting and covered it with a bittersweet chocolate ganache and fondant. It looked and tasted out of this world and I received many compliments on it… I have a double batch in the over right now, making my hubby a barrel cake for his birthday with his new favourite cake…
Can i use a long square pan for the pecan pie cake
Love your recipes
I am in the process of making this cake for a very special event tomorrow and I’m not having very much luck. Lol First my cake layers fell apart when I tried to take out of pan. Second, my filling looks nothing like the cake shown. Mine is a dark caramel color. I’m thinking I should have used light corn syrup. It’s quite expensive to make so I don’t want to put in the garbage. Can you suggest anything to save my cake? Help!!!!
Oh no Linda, how disappointing! Did you grease the pans really well?
The filling should still be ok even if you used dark cornstarch (even if the color is a little bit different). I would go more by taste than color. Hopefully your cake tastes delicious and you were able to create a great cake for your event!
This cake sounds delicious…….can’t wait to try it.
Thanks so much. N
The recipe ingredients calls for one cup of milk for the cake. Directions say in step 5 for cake to alternate adding flour mixture and soured milk to butter. Should the 1 cup milk be buttermilk?
In step #3 the milk is added to lemon juice. This will sour the milk which is then added. You could certainly replace it with buttermilk.
What kind of cream are you drizzling over it at the end?
My husband drizzles with heavy cream from the fridge, usually about 35% mf.
I’ve just made the filling and it tastes like thickened corn syrup and is also a much darker brown than what you have pictured. Any suggestions on what I might’ve done wrong? I don’t want to put this between my cakes because they seem so decadent and I wouldn’t want to ruin them :( help!
Hmm, I’m not sure why your filling is thickened and not the right flavor. Did you add the light cream (approx 10%)? There are several variables so I can’t say for sure what the problem was. You may like to try reheating the filling and adding a little bit extra cream to make it smoother.
I used dark brown sugar, do you think light brown would make a difference? The texture now is almost gelatin-y. Reheating and adding cream and hoping for the best!
I don’t think the color of the sugar would make a difference however using a thicker cream could definitely make a difference. The gel-like consistency (similar to custard) is from the use of cornstarch.
Could this cake be made the day before serving it?
Definitely. Just be sure you keep it covered. :)
I have to try this recipe. Pinned for later. If not for Thanksgiving just because I love pecans!
I would make 7 minuet frosting with the extra egg whites