Easy Butter Pecan Cake Recipe with Brown Butter Frosting for Fall and Thanksgiving
This butter pecan cake is a soft, tender two-layer cake packed with butter-toasted pecans and covered in a brown butter cream cheese frosting. Ready in about 1 hour 30 minutes plus cooling, it serves 12, and the layers can be baked a day ahead.
Butter pecan was always the ice cream flavor I reached for first. So turning it into a butter pecan cake felt like the most natural thing ever. Toasty nuts, brown sugar, lots of butter. That’s the whole idea and it works so good.
This is a homemade layer cake that tastes like fall without any pumpkin in it. The pecans get toasted in butter first, which is where all that deep nutty flavor comes from. Then a brown butter cream cheese frosting ties it all together.
It’s a great pick for Thanksgiving if your family wants something besides a classic pecan pie. Or a birthday. Or honestly a random Sunday.
Why You’ll Love This Butter Pecan Cake
- Real butter-toasted pecans in every bite, not just pecan flavoring
- Soft, moist crumb thanks to buttermilk and brown sugar
- Brown butter frosting tastes like caramel without making caramel
- Layers can be baked a day ahead
- A cozy fall dessert that isn’t another pie
Ingredients
For the butter-toasted pecans:
- 1 1/2 cup (170g) pecans, chopped (1 cup goes in the cake, 1/2 cup on top)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
For the cake:
- 2 1/2 cup (300g) all-purpose flour — spoon and level it, or weigh it. Scooping packs in extra flour and makes the cake dense.
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temperature
For the brown butter cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter
- 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, softened (block style, not tub)
- 4 cup (480g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Pecans: Taste one before you start. Old pecans go bitter and the whole cake picks up that stale flavor. Nuts past their date are the most common reason people say this cake “tastes off.”
- Cake flour: You can swap it in for a lighter, more delicate crumb. Use 2 3/4 cup (300g) by weight.
- Buttermilk: No buttermilk? Stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into 1 cup milk and let it sit 5 minutes.
- Cream cheese: Tub cream cheese has more water and makes a runny frosting. Stick with the block.
How to Make Butter Pecan Cake
Step 1: Toast the Pecans in Butter
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped pecans and stir often for 4 to 5 minutes. They’re ready when they smell nutty and look a shade darker. Pull them off the heat right away — they go from toasted to burnt fast. Spread on a plate to cool completely. Warm pecans will melt the butter in your batter.
Step 2: Prep the Pans
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8-inch or 9-inch round pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
Step 3: Brown the Butter for the Frosting
Do this now so it has time to firm up. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a light colored pan over medium heat. It will foam, then go quiet, then turn golden with brown bits on the bottom. Once it smells like toffee, pour it into a bowl, scraping in the brown bits. Chill about 1 hour until it’s soft-solid like regular softened butter. If it’s still liquid when you make the frosting, the frosting will be soupy.
Step 4: Mix the Dry Ingredients
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Step 5: Cream the Butter and Sugars
Beat the softened butter with both sugars for 3 to 4 minutes on medium-high. It should look pale and fluffy, not gritty. Don’t cut this short. This step is what makes the cake light instead of heavy.
Step 6: Add Eggs and Vanilla
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. If the mix looks a little curdled, that usually means cold eggs. It’ll come back together once the flour goes in.
Step 7: Add Flour and Buttermilk
On low speed, add the flour mix in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk. Start and end with flour. Stop as soon as you don’t see dry streaks. Overmixing here is the main reason this cake turns out dense.
Step 8: Fold in the Pecans
Fold in 1 cup of the cooled toasted pecans with a spatula. Save the rest for the top. Don’t be tempted to add more — too many nuts weighs the crumb down and makes it feel more like fruit cake.
Step 9: Bake
Divide the batter between the pans and smooth the tops. Bake 25 to 30 minutes for 9-inch pans, 30 to 35 for 8-inch. Start checking 5 minutes early, especially with a convection oven. The cake is done when the top springs back and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
Step 10: Make the Frosting
Beat the softened cream cheese and the firmed-up brown butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar a cup at a time, then vanilla and salt. Beat 2 minutes until fluffy. If it feels too soft, chill it 15 minutes before frosting.
Step 11: Assemble
Put one layer on a plate, spread about a third of the frosting on top. Add the second layer, then frost the top and sides. Press the remaining toasted pecans on top. Chill 30 minutes so it slices clean.
Tips for the Best Butter Pecan Cake
- Bake the layers a day ahead, wrap them tight and keep at room temp. Make the frosting and chill it. Let it sit out 20 to 30 minutes and stir before frosting.
- Don’t leave the frosted cake out overnight. Cream cheese frosting needs the fridge.
- For a 9×13 sheet cake, bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, checking early.
Butter Pecan Cake
Ingredients
Method
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet, add pecans and toast 4–5 minutes until fragrant and a shade darker. Cool completely.
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 8 or 9-inch round pans.
- Brown 1/2 cup butter until golden with toffee smell. Pour into a bowl and chill about 1 hour until soft-solid.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Beat softened butter with brown and white sugar 3–4 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla.
- On low, add flour mix in three parts alternating with buttermilk. Mix only until no dry streaks remain.
- Fold in 1 cup toasted pecans.
- Divide batter between pans. Bake 25–35 minutes until a toothpick has a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
- Beat cream cheese and firmed brown butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and beat 2 minutes.
- Frost between layers and over the cake. Top with remaining pecans. Chill 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- Taste your pecans first. Stale nuts make the whole cake taste off.
- Overmixing after the flour goes in, or scooping flour straight from the bag, are the two main causes of a dense cake.
- The brown butter must be firmed up, not liquid, or the frosting will be runny.
- Store in the fridge up to 4 days.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
Bake This Butter Pecan Cake for Your Next Get-Together
This butter pecan cake is one of those desserts that people go quiet over. Make it for Thanksgiving and set it right next to the pie. Watch which one goes first.
If you’re short on time on the day, bake the layers the night before. Frosting takes 10 minutes once the brown butter is set. Easy.
Made it? Leave a star rating and tell me how it went in the comments, I love reading them.
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