Pecan Chocolate Chip Cake with Toffee Frosting

With toasted pecans and a frosting of brown sugar, butter and cream, you KNOW this cake is going to be good! Soft, tender and decadent, it’s on the sweeter side but not cloyingly so thanks to the nuts and dark chocolate chips to balance things out. There’s something celebratory and comforting about it at the same time. I hope you’ll try it soon!

This recipe is based on one I saw on Southern Living and I wanted to make a smaller version of it. I halved the recipe, reduced the sugar in the cake and also significantly reduced the sugar in the frosting. Because toffee is made with brown sugar anyway, adding a lot of powdered sugar to turn it into a thick frosting wasn’t something I was very keen on. I added about a third of it to get it to a spreadable consistency and while it means the frosting isn’t quite as smooth, I was ok with that because even with the reduced quantity, it still has one of the sweetest frostings I’ve ever made.

There are a few steps to the frosting and I’ll add details to the recipe and some photos just after it. But instead of then also using caramel bits in the cake, I added more pecans and dark chocolate chips. Together, the slices are then a good amount of sweet. The toasty pecans are absolutely amazing, they add crunch, nuttiness (obviously) and a sort of savoury flavour that’s great with the frosting!

This cake is best eaten at room temperature so that you can taste how nice and tender it is, and the frosting is also at a good consistency, not super soft but not candy-like hard either. The frosting is made with browned butter and a tiny bit of rum and maple syrup so it’s actually very flavourful and complex!

This cake got rave reviews from everyone who tried it and I hope you love it too!

Pecan Toffee Cake

Tender butter cake with toasted pecans, dark chocolate chips and a brown butter toffee frosting

Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 50 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Makes: 8 slices

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Ingredients

  

For the frosting

• 1/2 cup butter (115 gms; I prefer salted)
• 1 cup soft brown sugar (210 gms; I used light but dark is better)
• 1 tbsp honey, maple syrup or light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp dark rum, optional but recommended
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp whipping cream (120 gms)
• Salt, as needed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted very well (60 gms)

For the cake

• 1 cup pecans (100 gms)
• 1/2 cup whole milk (125 ml) + 1 tsp lemon juice (or buttermilk)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (120 gms)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (115 gms)
• 3/4 cup caster sugar (140 gms)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature (see notes)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (85 gms) or chopped dark chocolate

Instructions

• First, make the frosting so it has time to cool and firm up at room temperature. It's a good idea to have all your frosting ingredients measured and ready before beginning. See photos below for the different stages.
• Reserve two tablespoons of the butter and melt the butter in a sturdy saucepan on low heat and bring to a boil while stirring constantly, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the butter starts to smell nutty and fragrant and you can see the milk solids start to brown. Take the saucepan off the heat (the butter will continue to brown in the pan itself).
• Stir the brown sugar, maple syrup, rum and a pinch of salt (even with salted butter, I felt an extra pinch or two of salt was needed, but you can also taste and add it to the frosting at the end) into the hot butter, then carefully pour in the cream. The mixture will bubble up a bit. Then place the pan back on low heat and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
• Bring to a boil and cook for about a minute more, stirring constantly. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for 5 to 8 minutes until the mixture is lukewarm. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also use a bowl and hand mixer for this step. If you let it cool undisturbed, the mixture is likely to harden, so using a mixer of some kind prevents that from happening and cools it down faster.
• Now add the vanilla and gradually, the sifted icing sugar, continuing to beat the frosting until it becomes thicker and of a more spreadable consistency. Then add the reserved butter a little at a time, beating on low speed till incorporated before adding the rest. Beat for another minute or two until the frosting is creamy and smooth. Taste and beat in another pinch of salt if needed. You can add more icing sugar for a thicker consistency if you prefer but I really think this is sweet enough by itself. It isn't quite as smooth with a smaller amount of sugar but I was ok with that!
• Transfer the frosting to a bowl and let it rest at room temperature. It will thicken and firm up as it cools. I prefer to leave it uncovered and give it a stir occasionally.
• Now, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 175 C and spread the pecans out on an ungreased baking tray. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until fragrant and slightly darkened. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop and set aside.
• Keep the oven on at 175 C and grease a 9 inch round springform tin. A round cake tin is ok too, but springform is easier for removal and cutting.
• Stir together the milk (room temperature) and lemon juice. Set aside to curdle slightly. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt (if using) in a bowl and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed, until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and eggs one at a time until combined.
• Now add the flour mixture and soured milk alternately, starting and ending with the flour so that the batter doesn't split because of the lemon juice. I prefer to use a spatula here and fold the batter gently. If needed, run a hand mixer through it on low speed if any lumps remain but do not over beat.
• Finally, stir in two-thirds of the chopped toasted pecans along with the chocolate chips. The batter is somewhat thick.
• Spread into the prepared baking pan and smoothen the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden-brown on top and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature. Then spread the frosting on the top and sides (you may have a little bit of frosting leftover, it can be frozen for later use). Decorate the top of the cake with the remaining chopped toasted pecans.
• Slice and dig in! Store the cake at room temperature for a day and in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. It can also be frozen for longer. Happy baking!

Notes

*Watch this cake come together on Instagram!

*The original Southern Living recipe uses 3 eggs but since I halved the recipe, I just used two eggs as I normally do instead of fiddling around with half an egg. I've never had an issue doing it this way and the cake was perfectly soft and tender. If you'd like to make a layer cake, you can use their original proportions.

*If you don't eat eggs, you could try this eggless butter cake recipe instead.

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