Pinterest – My new addiction. If you haven’t checked it out yet, ya just gotta. Chock full of ideas for the home, recipes, fashion, gardening – anything you can imagine. But be warned…you WILL become addicted! This is one of the amazing recipes that I found there. Couldn’t resist. Taking this cake to my book club tonight – you know, the one where I go and just socialize because I have yet to actually read any of the books? Yeah, that one. Hopefully this luscious (love that word!) cake will redeem me…
It’s best to make the filling the night before, because you want this to chill really well. So I’ll start with that first…
Pecan Pie Filling
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup cornstarch
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/8 tsp salt
3 TBSP butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (the real stuff)
Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and boil for 1 minute, or until thickened. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla. Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill at least 4 hours.
Now for the cake….
Pecan Pie Cake
3 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 TBSP vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
Sprinkle 2 cups pecans evenly into 3 generously buttered 9-inch round cake pans; shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans.
Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy, and gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
Combine flour and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in remaining 1 cup pecans.
Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form, and fold one third egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites. (Do NOT over mix). Pourbatter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. I always set timer to go off 5 minutes before to be safe. Silly oven!
Check for doneness with the old toothpick inserted into center test.
Cool in pans on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then invert onto the wire racks. Put some wax paper down under the wire racks… Trust me! You’ll be glad you did!
Brush the tops and sides of layers with corn syrup, and cool completely. (See, aren’t you glad you listened?)
Spread half of pecan pie filling on one layer, pecan side up. Place second layer, pecan side up, on filling, and spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining layer, pecan side up.
I can hardly wait to try it!
first time on your blog – this cake looks wonderful and will be making it SOON
I agree wholeheartedly about PINTEREST being an ADDICTION!! I already have 95,000+ pins and that isn’t even going on everyday! I love looking at recipes (I’m a 57 yr old retired caterer!) but due to bad, bad knees I can’t stand for long periods of time to try very many of them! This cake looks wonderful. My son in law’s family is coming down to MD from ME for his college graduation 2 days before Christmas and they are staying with us (inc. a darlin’ little 3 yr old!!) so I am going to have fun cooking for them and I AM making this cake for our early holiday dinner!!! I may not be able to walk for a week afterwards, but it will be worth it! Thanks so so much for sharing this recipe!! :0)
I’m sure you will love it and so will your family! I’m sorry about your knees, but I do think that this recipe is worth it! I love baking, too, (would much rather do that than cook!) and use it as another way of showing love for friends and family. Sounds like you do the same. Thank you for writing and enjoy your holidays….AND your cake!
Hi there
Thank you for sharing your recipe. Made it yesterday. Hubby went to the Dentist and lost a Wisdom tooth. Ahh well that’s 1/4 of the brain gone with a delayed effect. He told me he could not have any hot meals for 2 days, but once the cake has cooled down he can eat it.just 2slices left. He will take at least one slice to work. May have to make another one tomorrow whilst he is out.clears out a lot of stuff standing on my pantry shelfes. One question, how long does this cake actually lasts if hidden. I know it’s a stupid question. But just wondering.
Keep up the good work and have a nice evening.
Thank you and warm regards from Gravesend in England, UK.
Sabine
Hello Sabine!
Glad to hear the cake was a hit! I can’t tell you how long it will last in your hiding spot, because when I made it we ate it all immediately (my book club)!
Hope that your husband’s dental work heals quickly and that he is able to eat more than just “cooled cake”! Ha ha!
Thanks for the note and I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season!
Jana Jarvis
My husband is diabetic but I’m sure he would love to try this…how would a sugar-free version be made? Any ideas? Thanks so much!!
I have to be honest, I’m not sure! I haven’t worked with diabetic recipes, but I’m sure there are alternatives that would work so that your hubby could enjoy his cake and eat it too! 🙂
I am a diabetic myself and I bake for my family and myself. I too have to watch the sweets, but i do not deprive myself. That would be the worse thing i could. But I do limit myself, instead of a full slice of cake, I get a lesser size (as my wife calls it, ” a sliver”) OK yes I am a man that cooks and bakes. Try limiting the slice, it is hard ,but you get used to it .