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Last Updated on April 21, 2021 by Chenée Lewis
This brown butter pecan cake was inspired by my brother Tony’s birthday today! A few of us are having a small, low-key outdoor celebration, but I still wanted him to have a birthday cake! And since his favorite ice cream is butter pecan, I thought he’d enjoy a butter pecan cake! And of course I love baking with brown butter, so there’s brown butter in both the cake AND the icing, adding so much amazing flavor!
Brown butter and toasted pecans go so well together. Add in the rich vanilla flavor in the cake layers and the cream cheese frosting and you’ve got a truly mouthwatering butter pecan cake! Plus, this is a small-batch cake made with 6-inch cake layers, so you won’t have too many leftovers! It’s ideal for a small autumn celebration.
This butter pecan cake was also an opportunity for me to try out a semi-naked cake! It was pretty easy to do — I followed some tips from this youtube tutorial and I’d say it’s pretty good for my first time!
How do you make butter pecan cake from scratch?
This brown butter pecan cake is a version of my strawberry and whipped cream layer cake, which is another three-layer cake made in a 6-inch cake pan. For this cake, you’ll need a few special ingredients to create that brown butter pecan flavor:
- cake flour – you can purchase cake flour, or in a pinch, make your own cake flour substitute. I explain how to make it down below!
- baking powder and baking soda – to give a little lift to this brown butter pecan cake – the baking soda interacts with the sour cream and brown sugar to offset the weight of the butter and sugar in this cake.
- pecans – it’s important that they’re roasted or toasted to bring out flavor! You can buy roasted pecans and chop them, or toast them yourself, as I explain in the tips section down below!
- salted butter – this is the butter you’re going to brown and divide for both the cake layers and the frosting.
- white sugar and brown sugar – normally a vanilla cake like this would use white sugar, but the brown sugar adds a bit of moisture and a deeper sweetness. And it works so well with brown butter and pecans!
- eggs – they should be room temperature, so take them out about an hour before you’ll need them. Or you can place them in a bowl of slightly warm water for about 15 minutes!
- vanilla – adds yummy flavor to both the cake layers and the brown butter frosting!
- sour cream – In this recipe I’m going for a richer flavor and a moist texture, so I’m using sour cream instead of milk or buttermilk. It helps keep the butter pecan cake moist while staying light and fluffy.
- powdered sugar – we’ll use this for the frosting! It’s important that it’s sifted before measuring, or if you’re like me you measure by weight using a food scale! It’s so much easier and more accurate!
- cream cheese – you’ll use one block of full-fat cream cheese, which should also be at room temperature.
Equipment
For this brown butter pecan cake recipe, you’ll need two or three 6-inch cake pans (or it could fit into one 8-inch cake pan). You’ll also need a light-colored sauté pan to brown your butter, an electric mixer to whip up your frosting, and an offset spatula to frost your butter pecan cake. Here are a few of my favorite options:
Tips and F.A.Q.
I made this cake in three 6-inch cake pans. I love the look of a 6-inch layer cake! It’s a small batch cake, but still has that elegant layered look! But if you prefer, you can make this brown butter pecan cake in one 8-inch cake pan as well! It should take a bit longer to cook — closer to 30-35 minutes — just begin to check it after 25 minutes.
Absolutely! You’ll notice that in this cake we’re using brown butter in both the cake layers AND the cream cheese frosting. That’s no accident — brown butter adds an amazing nutty flavor that is undeniable! It truly makes this butter pecan cake irresistible!
Once your butter is melted and the milk solids have sunk to the bottom of the pan, they’ll start to turn a deep golden brown. You may also smell a nutty or toasty aroma. That’s when your brown butter is ready and when you should remove it from the heat right away! For more details on browning butter, check out my Brown Butter Appreciation Post.
You can do this step in advance, but I like to toast my pecans in the pan where I just browned my butter. That way my pecans can soak up some of that remaining buttery goodness! Simply toss your pecan halves in a pan (buttered or dry) and heat them over medium head for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often. They should begin to smell amazing and get nicely browned. Just be careful to watch them so that they don’t burn. Once they’re toasted, let them cool and then chop them for your batter!
For the dry ingredients in this brown butter pecan cake recipe, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure them by weight to ensure accurate measurements. Many bakers use the spoon-and-level method, the scoop-and-level, or the sift-scoop-and-level methods, but to me they’re all confusing, messy, and ultimately less accurate than measuring by weight. AND measuring with a food scale is easier and uses fewer measuring cups and spoons!
You can make a cake flour substitute using all-purpose flour and cornstarch! Just sift together 14 tablespoons (109g) of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons (16g) of cornstarch. Then add it in with your dry ingredients as usual!
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- baking spray
- 1 cup cake flour - 114g
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup pecan halves - toasted and chopped (plus more for topping, if desired)
- 14 tbsp salted butter - divided
- ⅓ cup brown sugar - packed
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream - room temperature
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese - (full fat), room temperature
- ½ cup brown butter - reserved from above
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar – - 480g
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Heat both portions of butter (14 tbsp) in a large light-colored sauté pan over medium high heat, stirring often.
- Watch carefully as it begins to foam and the milk solids separate, and once the milk solids begin to turn a deep golden brown and the butter has a nutty aroma, remove from heat to a heat-safe container, scraping all the brown bits with it.
- Stir brown butter well and remove ½ cup of it for frosting. You should have one container with 6 tablespoons and one with ½ cup.
- Place both containers in the refrigerator to chill for one hour, then allow to come to room temperature.
Brown Butter Pecan Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F and position oven rack in middle of oven. Spray 6-inch cake pans with baking spray and line with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda until well combined.
- Fold in toasted chopped pecans and mix well. Set aside.
- Cream 6-tbsp. portion of brown butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla and continue to mix for 2-3 minutes. Mix in sour cream.
- Fold in flour/pecan mixture gradually until just combined.
- Divide cake batter evenly into prepared cake pans (I use a food scale for this step) and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick entered into the center of each layer comes out clean.
- Let layers cool in pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whip remaining ½ cup of brown butter with an electric mixer until lightened in color. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Mix in vanilla.
- Gradually sift in powdered sugar, mixing well.
- Beat another 2 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy. Spread onto cooled cake layers.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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How much of the batter did you put in each pan? By grams would be great for the 6” pan
Hi! I don’t recall how many grams of batter were in each pan, but since it may vary slightly for you anyway, I would recommend just filling each pan and then measuring, and adjusting the amounts until each pan has an equal weight. That’s what I do when filling cake pans for a layer cake, but the weight of the pans does vary slightly each time. Hope this is helpful! 🙂
Thank you. I love your site, especially the option you provide to double or triple the recipe.
Thank you! I’m so glad it’s helpful to you! 🙂
My dad‘s favorite ice cream is also butter pecan . I want to make this for him for his birthday but it isn’t until May . In the meantime I decided to go ahead and make it anyway for myself for…umm…research purposes . ?? It was absolutely delicious! Me and my guy tore it up!
Yess I’m so glad you both liked it! And it’ll be a great cake for your dad when May comes around! 🙂
Listen, I’m a huge fan of anything butter pecan so you know I had to make this cake! It was so moist and delicious and the toasted pecans have it a nice crunch! It also had had the perfect balance of sweetness! I loved every bite!
Thanks so much! I’m so glad it was balanced because that’s something I was definitely going for!
So my scale called. She wants to fight you. I, on the other hand, could kiss you. This butter pecan cake is sinful and delicious!
Tell her I’m so sorry — my scale hates me too!! Lol this is one of those “ignore the nutrition facts” recipes!
This has become my husband’s favorite cake! Everything pecan is already a hit, but the moist richness of this cake is so amazing. It’s definitely a staple in our dessert rotation now.
I’m so glad you both liked it! Thanks! 🙂
This cake turned out so moist but not too heavy–so I could have seconds. 🙂
Perfect 🙂 I’m glad you liked it!!
WOWW! This cake taste soooo amazing! The brown butter cream cheese frosting is my favorite part! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you!! That’s my favorite part too 🙂
Happy BIrthday to your brother and this cake is definitely birthday worthy. the Brown butter absolutely makes the cake!
Thank you! Yes the brown butter adds so much nutty flavor!
Just the smell of this cake alone was enough to win me over! Another HIT!
Thank you!! It’s a new favorite of mine!
The brown butter and the pecans made this cake insanely delicious. I knew this cake would be amazing even before I put it in the oven. When I tasted the batter I couldn’t stop! And the icing – omg, this recipe is just so good!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s definitely one of my new favorites!
I saw this post on Instagram and ran over to get the recipe. While I’m no baker, I’m trying to venture down the path of baking more and this cake was DEELICIOUS! Can’t wait to make this again for my family during the holidays!
This would be perfect during the holidays! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Thank you for all the great tips to make a delicious, fluffy and moist cake!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad it worked out for you! 🙂
This is going to be my new Thanksgiving cake! And that brown butter cream cheese frosting looks amazing.
This would be perfect for Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy 🙂
It looks so rich and moist, Chénee!
I like the toasty taste of pecans, so I can imagine how delicious this cake is!!!
A must-try!
Definitely lots of toasty pecans in this cake! I hope you like it! 🙂
Thank you for another genius creation! This may be my new holiday cake.
Aww thanks! It would be perfect for a special occasion!
I bet your brother gobbled this cake up. Lord knows we did. The brown butter is perfect in the cake and icing!!
He really did! And yes brown butter is the TRUTH!
Wow this looks absolutely heavenly! I can’t wait to make it!
I hope you love it!! 🙂
Wow, this sounds delicious!!
Thank you! It’s so full of rich, buttery pecan flavor. I hope you enjoy!!