Friday, November 12, 2010

Southern Praline Cake

My stepmom is a huge fan of pralines. In fact, she just loves brown sugar in general, so much so that she’ll actually eat it straight out of the bag with her fingers. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve actually watched her do this.

Needless to say, for her birthday last month, I knew I wanted to make her a praline cake. This was the first recipe I saw when I did a Google search, and when I took one look at that icing, I knew my search was over: I’d found the perfect cake.

This cake is just amazing, plain and simple. The cake itself is super moist and buttery, and the icing tastes exactly like a liquefied praline: caramelly, nutty, buttery and sweet. It’s an incredibly rich and decadent cake (shocker, I know), and holds up really well in the refrigerator. This birthday girl loved it, and the rest of us did too!

Southern Praline Cake
from Group Recipes

For the cake:


1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

4 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For praline icing:

3/4 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
4 large eggs yolks
1 large can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans

1. Grease and flour three nine-inch round cake pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream the butter with both granulated sugar and light brown sugar until very light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to the batter alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract.

4. Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake in the center of the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the layers comes out clean. Cool layers in their pans over a rack for ten minutes, then loosen and turn out layers directly onto racks for cooling. Cool layers thoroughly before icing.

5. For the icing, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, then stir in granulated sugar and light brown sugar. (Sugars will not dissolve).

6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the evaporated milk until smooth, then whisk this mixture into the saucepan with the sugar mixture. Return saucepan to a medium heat setting and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick, shiny and caramel-like, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and pecans.

7. Cool icing to a good spreading consistency (about 30 minutes), then spread evenly between cooled cake layers and over the top and sides of the cake.

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12 comments:

Jane said...

I thought everyone ate brown sugar with their fingers, out of the bag.
The cake looks amazing! It's on my 'try' list!

Avril said...

Cassie! - what a wonderful cake! My goodness is it packed with yummy stuff....brown sugar (your step mom is no fool) and pecans soooo GOOD!

Again, thank you for being such a great source for sooo many amazing recipes....you truly do have great taste and talent in the kitchen.

Happy Weekend!
~avril :-)

Desi said...

OMG Cassie I may have literally just drooled a little!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE pralines! There used to be a delicious praline ice cream I loved, but of course they don't make it anymore. So I need my praline fix in other ways... and this will DEFINITELY be made by me! THANKS!

Katie said...

That might just have to be made for Thanksgiving!! Looks awesome!

Julie said...

Oh my, sounds like the perfect cake for a birthday (or any other) celebration. Yum!

Monica H said...

Good honk! As we say down here in Texas! ha!

That is one terrific looking cake. I want!

Anonymous said...

This cake and frosting looks delish!
Question, does the praline on this cake stay soft? I'm looking constantly for one that does. Most of the ones I've tried gets hard before your done frosting the cake.

Love your site.

BethanyT said...

I made this cake today for our Easter weekend. I haven't cut into it yet, but I "licked" the bowl after I iced the cake. It was the BEST icing I've ever had. It ended up with such a creamy texture! Next time I think I will double the icing recipe...it was a little challenging to get the whole cake covered. Can't wait to have a slice! Thanks for sharing. This is the first time I've posted anything, but I've tried quite a few of your recipes!!!

Anonymous said...

My wife made this last night..very good cake.
One suggestion is to make more icing as the amount in the receipe did not cover the entire cake and in between layers.
Other than that this is a very good cake, moist and sweet...

Anonymous said...

I will have to try this. I have been known to eat brown sugar out of the bag, but I use a spoon!

Anonymous said...

I just made this cake for a friend's birthday. It is fabulous!

Bonnie said...

I have made this cake several times, as I have a little home baking business. It is one of my best sellers. However, double the icing unless you only want to frost in between and on top of layers and not the sides. You won't have enough if you don't. Very delicious, rich, decadent cake!