Pecan Pie Cake
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This Southern pecan pie cake recipe features all those irresistible pecan pie flavors in cake form. With a caramelized brown sugar and pecan layer on top of the cake, it’s decadent and delicious!
Hands up who loves pecan pie? It’s definitely one of the most popular desserts to enjoy during the holidays and throughout fall. There’s just something about the delicious combination of caramelized brown sugar and chopped pecans that has you coming back for more, right?
Well, with this pecan pie cake recipe (a Southern dessert specialty I might add), we take those flavors and add them on top of a box cake mix. The end result is a cake that’s decadent, rich, and moist. It’s almost like a dump cake!
Fortunately, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make this delicious holiday dessert. All you need are 7 ingredients (cake mix, butter, light corn syrup, eggs, dark brown sugar, vanilla, and pecans) and a stand mixer. Once you mix and bake the cake layer, you then mix and bake the gooey and sweet pecan pie layer. That’s it! Enjoy a slice of pecan pie cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of fresh whipped cream.
Speaking of Thanksgiving and Christmas, a few of my other favorite desserts include my easy pumpkin pie recipe from scratch, pecan pie cheesecake, pumpkin praline cake with cream cheese icing, and loaded sweet potatoes with marshmallows.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter cake or yellow cake mix
- Melted butter (or margarine)
- Light corn syrup
- Eggs
- Dark brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Chopped pecans
How to Make Pecan Pie Cake
Mix the cake mix, 1 egg, and melted butter until well blended.
Reserve 2/3 cup of this batter.
Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
Spread the remaining cake batter into this pan and bake at 325 for 15 minutes, or until just lightly brown.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the reserved 2/3 cup of batter, syrup, remaining eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and pecans.
Pour the on top of the cake layer.
Cook at 325 for 50-60 minutes or until set in the center.
Doesn’t that look exactly like a pecan pie?
But hiding underneath is a fluffy cake. What more could you want?
Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend reheating leftovers quickly in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- Use any box cake mix you like. You might even want to enhance the pecan flavor and opt for a butter pecan cake mix.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter. If you choose the latter, I’d also add a pinch of salt.
- You can also use either or dark .
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve pecan pie cake?
There’s nothing better than a slice of Southern pecan pie cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But it also tastes great on its own or with some fresh whipped cream.
You may also like these other pecan recipes:
Butter Pecan Shortbread Chippers
Candied Pecans Recipe: Family and Friends Favorite
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake or butter cake mix
- 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine, I don’t judge
- 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Mix cake mix, 1 egg, and melted butter until well blended. Reserve 2/3 cup of this batter.1 box yellow cake or butter cake mix, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup melted butter
- Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Spread the remaining cake batter into this pan and bake at 325 for 15 minutes, or until just lightly browned.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the reserved 2/3 cup of batter, syrup, 3 eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and pecans.1 1/2 cups light corn syrup, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
- Pour the pecan mixture on top of the cake layer and cook at 325 for 50-60 minutes, until set in the center.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
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Nutrition
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.
lol… I have to tell you, I have Febrezed creepy crawlies, or used whatever “stuff” under the sink that I could “take care of business” with!! Although some choices have taken longer, because it had to be more of a spray drowning, since a little Febreze would only make them smell fresh!! 😉 A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!! 😀 On a MUCH sweeter note, that cake recipe is already on my list of things to bake this fall!!! Thanks for your humor as well as your recipe!! 🙂
LOL, I like the way you think Judy!!! I hope you enjoy the cake!
When Paula Deen visited President Carter on one of her shows, he said that there was actually 5 different ways to say pecan and all of them were right. I also heard someone say one time that pah-cans grow in the front yard and PEE Cans grow in the back yard. Talking about wooliebuggers – you should have been here a couple nights ago when somehow a 4 inch frog made it way into our bathroom. I got up in the middle of the night as I usually do and the little sucker was jumping from wall to wall. and I threw a towel at him. (really didn’t want to hurt him). My wife heard all the commotion, got up and came into the bathroom. I told her about the frog and she didn’t believe me. She picked up the towel, and I let out a scream. She got so tickled, we both started laughing. She escorted the wayward frog out to the front yard in the towel and he lived happily everafter. We on the other hand took another hour to calm down enough to get back to sleep.
Thanks so much for the info and the giggle John!!
Thanks, Christy. God works in wonderous and interesting ways! I heard him speak to me thru your post today. I am facing surgery next month. I really needed your comment about attitude. I knew that! But sometimes when it’s MY attitude I forget it. So like my sweet husband (also smart like you) keeps telling me, time to put on my big girl panties and get on with it. Keep it up, sweet girl!
I will be praying for you and your surgery Sharon. I am sure all will be fine but know that you will be in my thoughts!
I followed your recipe and your pictorials, but my pie/cake looked nothing like yours. What did I do wrong?? I bake a lot, so I am not new to this. My cake batter was very thick, yours looks like play-doh consistency. And when I put the 2/3 cup batter in the pie part, it just took over and it all became cake. And it burnt..so the trash got it..Help please!! And we say puh-kahn here in SW Louisiana..
I can’t stand bugs either and probably would have screamed. Thanks for sharing your story.
I try to ignore the woolybuggers at work and strive to make it a place people enjoy working. As for the shower critter, I would have scooped him up in a washcloth and put him outside.I am way too tender hearted and have a guilt complex a mile long!
Oh my!! To my mind there is no better desert than something that has the words “Pecan Pie” in it!! And yep – that is puh-kahn in our house, too!