Southern Pecan Praline Cake is a delicate and scrumptious cake packed with brown sugar, cream cheese and pecans. This delicious cake with golden brown color is topped with an amazing praline icing that gives it a royal touch. The texture of the easy cake is moist, light and airy. If you like a buttery pecan cake with a sweet praline sauce then you've to try this decadent cake. This will be one of the best Bundt cakes you'll ever bake.
This amazing cake is always a hit with friends and family. It is an overdose of sweetness and crunchiness packed in a buttery pound cake. Some bakers like to bake this with a yellow cake mix or boxed cake mix but I am a fan of baking cakes from the scratch.
The great cake is as simple an elegant as it can get just like my Peach Cobbler Pound Cake, Victoria Sponge Cake, Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake and Ghee Cake.
Love cakes? Have a look at my cakes recipe page for inspirations.
Why This Recipe Works?
- It is a simple and easy recipe.
- You need just 80 minutes to bake this cake.
- The Praline icing is to die for.
- The texture of the cake is light, fluffy and decadent.
- You need some easy and basic pantry staple ingredients to bake this cake.
- This cake is simple to assemble, and the pecans in every bite with praline icing makes it wonderful.
- Use any Bundt cake pan of your choice to bake this cake.
- Eat this cake with a cup of tea or coffee or serve it at any part or special occasion.
- This cake is always an absolute favorite.
Table of Contents
What Is Praline?
Praline is a classic Southern inspired sauce or classic southern candy that makes any cake fancy. Praline icing has a crunchy, creamy, buttery, caramel-ish, fudgy texture and is usually loaded with chopped pecans. This praline topping or icing enhances the flavor of the cake even further. You can pour this sauce on any cake, candy, ice cream, pies or individual slices of cake etc.
You just need a few simple cake ingredients and a simple method to make this delicious sauce. Just follow the method properly as this yummy sauce thickens very quickly.
This decadent praline topping is just amazing.
Once the cake is cooled (fully), drizzle the Praline Icing over the cake. Remember, the icing will thicken on the cake very quickly as well. The icing will drip down the sides of the cake. So, you do not need to frost sides separately.
Note: I didn't use chopped pecans in the sauce.
Ingredients
Pro Tip # 1 - Room Temperature Ingredients
Always use room temperature ingredients (unless otherwise specified) for baking. Ingredients such as butter, eggs and other dairy ingredients like milk, sour cream, yogurt form an emulsion by trapping air inside the batter. The trapped air expands in the oven resulting in perfect baked treats.
Southern Pecan Praline Cake:
- All-Purpose Flour: gives structure to the cake.
- Baking powder + Baking soda: leavening agent in this bake.
- Salt: balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor.
- Cream Cheese: adds tangy flavor.
- Pecans: add chopped pecans in the cake batter.
- Butter: gives flavor and moisture to the cake.
- Dark Brown Sugar: gives caramelized flavor to the cake.
- Eggs: binds the cake batter together and lifts the cake.
- Sour Cream: adds the fat content and tangy flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: enhances the flavor of the cake
Praline Icing: - Brown sugar (dark):
- Butter:
- Milk:
- Icing sugar:
- Vanilla extract:
Pro Tip # 2 - Digital Scale
Use a digital scale to measure all-purpose flour and other dry ingredients. To measure with cup, fluff up the all-purpose flour container using a spoon, then scoop out the flour with spoon into the measuring cup. Never scoop out of the container. It may result in more flour than required resulting in dense bakes.
Instructions
Southern Pecan Praline Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- On a baking sheet arrange one cup pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake it at 350 F for about 6– 8 minutes until it is toasted and fragrant. Let the pecans cool.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F. Grease one 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and cream cheese and beat until it is creamy. Add brown sugar and blend for another 1-2 minutes until well-incorporated. Keep adding eggs, one at a time and beat it until the mixture is creamy. Add vanilla and give it a stir.
- In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture along with sour cream. Beat the batter at low speed just until the mixture comes together. Stir in the pecans.
- Pour the batter into the bundt cake and place it in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 75 minutes or until a tooth-pick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Take out the pan and let it cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool it completely on the wire rack for about an hour or so.
- Prepare the praline ice and pour it over the cake. Decorate the cake with pecan halves.
Praline Icing:
- Take a small saucepan and bring brown sugar, butter and milk to boil. Whisk continuously. Boil for a minute and remove from heat.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla until it reaches a smooth consistency. Keep stirring until it begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour it over the cake immediately.
Equipment
- 12'' Bundt pan.
- Electric mixer.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
- Digital scale.
- Rubber spatula.
Expert Tips
When to Drizzle Praline Icing: Use the icing right before serving the cake. You can bake the cake early and then prepare the butter pecan glaze once the cake is ready to be served. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes after pouring the praline icing over it.
Add Pecans to Praline Icing: If you are a pecan lover, you can chop and add pecans in the praline sauce. Add ½ cup of chopped pecans.
Grease Bundt Pan Properly: Many people have issues with sticking cake in the Bundt pans. To avoid this, grease the pan generously so that the cake can be taken out easily out of the pan. I use the nonstick cooking spray (or baking spray) with flour in it and spray a generous layer on my Bundt pan before pouring my batter in the pan. The trick works like a charm every single time.
Leave Gap in the Bundt Pan: Leave at least 2-inch gap from the batter to the top of the pan. This will ensure even baking for the whole cake and a a good rise. If you have any left-out batter, divide batter and pour batter into cup cake liners (as many as you need). You can decorate the top of the cup cakes with pecan halves. Pre-heat oven at 350f degrees and remember because of the small sizes of the cup cakes, they will require less baking time in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can bake this cake either in a 12-cup Bundt pan, which is my personal favorite. You may also use two 9 x 5-inch pan cakes to bake this cake. You may also use a sheet cake pan. The baking time will be almost the same time about 60 – 75 minutes. Use half quantity to bake one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
This cake takes time to bake because of the heavy structure of the bake. This bake is heavy and to ensure a good structure, reduce the temperature and increase the baking time. This cake will take anywhere from 60 - 75 minutes to bake at a relatively cooler oven temperature of 325 F.
How to Store
- This cake can be stored without icing.
- This southern pecan praline cake (without icing) keeps good on the counter for up to three days.
- The cake (without praline icing) will stay good for up to a week in the fridge.
- Store the cake in the freezer for up to three months. Wrap the cake pieces in plastic wrap and add a layer of foil to it. Store the cake pieces in an airtight container or a ziploc bag and place in the freezer.
Related
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Recipe
Southern Pecan Praline Cake
Equipment
- 1 12-inch Bundt Cake Pan
- 1 Electric Mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Digital Scale
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
Praline Bundt Cake:
- 1 cup butter (8 oz/225 g) room temperature
- 1 cup pecans (4.5 oz/130 g) chopped
- 8 oz cream cheese (1 package/226 g) room temperature
- 2 cup brown sugar (dark) (16 oz/400 g) tightly packed
- 4 eggs (large)
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour (300 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (5 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (2.5 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (1.5 g)
- 1 cup sour cream (8 oz/240 g) room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (10 ml)
Praline Icing:
- 1 cup brown sugar (dark) (8 oz/200 g) tightly packed
- ½ cup butter (4 oz/110 g)
- ¼ cup full-fat milk (60 ml)
- 1 cup icing sugar (200 g) sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
Instructions
Praline Bundt Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- On a baking sheet arrange one cup pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake it at 350 F for about 6– 8 minutes until it is toasted and fragrant. Let the pecans cool.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F. Grease one 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and cream cheese and beat until it is creamy. Add brown sugar and blend for another 1-2 minutes until well-incorporated. Keep adding eggs, one at a time and beat it until the mixture is creamy. Add vanilla and give it a stir.
- In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture along with sour cream. Beat the batter at low speed just until the mixture comes together. Stir in the pecans.
- Pour the batter into the bundt cake and place it in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 75 minutes or until a tooth-pick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Take out the pan and let it cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool it completely on the wire rack for about an hour or so.
- Prepare the praline ice and pour it over the cake. Decorate the cake with pecan halves.
Praline Icing:
- Take a small saucepan and bring brown sugar, butter and milk to boil. Whisk continuously. Boil for a minute and remove from heat.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla until it reaches a smooth consistency. Keep stirring until it begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour it over the cake immediately.
Madeeha Anwar
Thank you