Southern Butter Pecan Pound Cake with Maple Glaze

Classic Southern Butter Pecan Pound Cake is a moist and tender pound cake recipe with all the butter flavor of the classic cake with a nutty crunch from toasted pecans.

If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you know I’ve become obsessed with freezer meals, and frankly, any recipe with a freezer option. I love the idea of having one of these amazing butter pecan pound cakes at the ready in the freezer. So I made two, one for now and one to freeze for later. Both came out perfect.

Classic Southern Butter Pecan Pound Cake Recipe

If you travel through much of the southern states, you are familiar with the pecan tree and the South’s booming pecan industry. It’s huge, with over 80% of the world’s pecans coming from the the United States. It makes perfect sense then why our favorite pecan recipes originated in the south.

• A stand mixer is what I use to mix all my cake batters, but if you don’t own one, you can definitely use a hand mixer with great results.
• I started with pecan halves for this butter pecan pound cake. When purchased they have less surface area than chopped pecans, so I feel they stay fresh longer. I pulse the pecans my mini food processor to chop up right before toasting.
• Use real unsalted butter for this recipe. No substitutions.
• For the best flavor, try to use pure vanilla extract or the more affordable baking vanilla. You only need a small amount, but it’s a big part of the butter pecan flavor, so it’s totally worth it if you can.
• I used milk for the liquid in this pound cake recipe, which is based off our super popular Perfect Pound Cake recipe. Milk’s the liquid ingredient that’s works well for me in pounds cakes, I used milk in our Glazed Lemon Pound Cake recipe too. Buttermilk or half and half can be substituted; baking time may vary slightly.
• Nutmeg is listed as an optional ingredient, but I like to use it in my pound cake recipes, and lots of other recipes too. It adds that little something that you miss when it’s not there.
• When you bake a cake, a good rule of thumb is to fill the pan to only 2/3 full. That leaves enough room for the cake to rise during baking. If you find you have more batter than the pan can hold, use the extra to make cupcakes. It’s also a good idea to put the cake pan on a baking sheet in the oven, to catch any spills.
• This already delicious pound cake was glazed, but it’s optional. This recipe is definitely tasty enough to stand on it’s own. You can make this simple glaze without the flavoring, or change it to your liking.

What is Butter Pecan?

The super popular “Butter Pecan”flavor is a combination of pecans, butter and vanilla and is used in ice creams, cakes, coffee, cookies, and quick breads.

Making Butter Pecan Pound Cake

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Start by generously buttering and flouring the cake pan. Don’t worry, the butter will absorb the flour during baking so the cake will not look like it has flour all over it when you release it after baking.

Heat some butter in a skillet, then add the chopped pecans to toast. I like to keep stirring the whole time so I can watch the pecans and remove them from the heat right away if they start to overcook.

Have a parchment lined baking sheet ready for the nuts. Pour them out of the hot skillet right away so the nuts will stop cooking. Let the nuts cool while you’re making the cake batter!

Pro Tip – crack the eggs into a separate container before adding them to the batter. This way, if you happen to get a bad egg, it won’t get into the batter and ruin it.

This method also makes it clean and easy to add the eggs one at a time to the batter.

This is what the finished batter looks like. Now, all you need to do is pour it into the pan you already greased and floured. I used a 12-cup bundt pan that was big enough to hold the batter. Remember to leave that room at the top of the pan for the cake to rise. Bake any leftover batter into cupcakes. They won’t last long, I promise.

The cake gets cooled in the pan for 15 minutes, then inverted onto a plate to finish cooling. I wanted to show you what the pound cake looks like right after it came out of the pan. This photo was taken after dark, so the lighting wasn’t the best in my kitchen. The cake looks kinda orange, but it’s really not.

SHOP THIS RECIPE

• Disposable/Reusable Foil Deep-Dish Pie Pans – sturdy pan for freezing and gift giving.
• Glass Nesting Bowls – the bowls I use all the time for mixing recipe ingredients, whipping cream and the large one is great for serving salad too!
• 12-cup Bundt Pan – perfect cake release every time. An affordable pan that I’ve used for years.
• Stand Mixer – classic bowl-lift style where the attachment moves around the bowl for better mixing. I own this in red, but it comes in over 10 colors to match your kitchen.