Serve up this buttery caramel pecan upside down cake for a sweet breakfast treat or scrumptious dessert! This rustic cake is super easy to make and downright delicious.
Caramel Pecan Upside Down Cake
We love cake around here. But sometimes a multilayered frosted confection can be a lot of time and energy–which is why I love upside down cakes. They’re equally beautiful, but so easy to make! Simply line the bottom of your pan with your topping (sliced fruit, caramel, toasted nuts, etc.), pour your cake batter over the topping, and bake! When you’re ready to serve simply turn the cake out and serve it “upside down,” and you have a gorgeous, rustic, easy cake!
What is pecan upside down cake
This nutty, caramel upside down cake is an explosion of textures and salty-sweet flavors. This pecan upside down cake is made with a moist, buttery cake and and indulgent caramel pecan topping. Together they form a downright delicious, cozy cake that’s perfect as a dessert or for starting the day off on a sweet note.
Ingredients for Caramel Pecan Upside Down Cake
You’ll need a few extra ingredients for this caramel pecan upside down cake, but the time you’ll save on not having to frost a cake makes up for it! Most of these are pantry staples, with a few speciality ingredients, but you should be able to find them all at your local grocery store. Here’s your shopping list:
Brown Sugar
Granulated Sugar
Butter
Candied Pecans (you can also use regular pecans, but pecan pralines add a little extra sumthin’, sumthin’.)
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Flour
Salt
Baking Powder
Buttermilk
Tips for making a perfect upside down cake
Upside down cakes are pretty straightforward to make, but if you’ve never made one before you might not know all the tips and tricks that lead to a scrumptious and stunning cake!
Thoroughly grease the bottom and sides of your pan: We recommend lining your pan with parchment AND greasing it to make sure that sticky caramel pecan bottom doesn’t stick when you’re turning it upside down to serve.
Don’t over bake it: Over baked cakes tend to stick more because they really bake into the sides of your pan. You can insert a knife into your cake to make sure it’s done as many times as you want because you’re going to be flipping it over anyways, so keep an eye on it and take it out as soon as the knife comes out clean!
Let the cake cool before trying to release it: Look I get it. I am very impatient, but cakes need time to cool down before releasing from the pan. If you try to flip the cake out when it’s too hot the caramel pecan top will be super messy and your cake may fall apart. Wait until the cake is cool to the touch before flipping it over!
Serve up this buttery caramel pecan upside down cake for a sweet breakfast treat or scrumptious dessert! This rustic cake is super easy to make and downright delicious.
Serve up this buttery caramel pecan upside down cake for a sweet breakfast treat or scrumptious dessert! This rustic cake is super easy to make and downright delicious.
2cups chopped candied pecans (I used pecan pralines from Trader Joes)
for the cake
1/2cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2/3cup buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9 inch round pan (springform works best, but any kind should work) with parchment paper on the bottom and thoroughly grease or butter the sides of the pan and the parchment paper.
Spread the chopped pecan pralines out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, brown sugar and butter. Stir together until smooth. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Let it boil for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and pour the caramel over the pecans in your prepared pan.
Next, make the cake. In a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and the sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy and pale in color.
Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time, mixing on high speed until smooth and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
Pour the cake batter over the the pecans in your prepare pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before running a knife along the edge of the pan and carefully flipping over to release and serve upside down! Enjoy!
Random but as soon as I saw the photo of the cake I knew the cake would be similar to a peanut square. I swapped the pecans for peanuts and — absolutely delicious!!
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
How much caramel would you say it makes? I already have caramel made but I’m not sure how much I should add. TIA!
Hi Amy! I would say it’s a little less than a cup!
OMG, it is simply gorgeous! So easy to make and tastes great!
★★★★★
Sooooo good! Made this on a whim bc I was craving something sweet and it was incredible! The cake is perfect! So fluffy and vanilla-y
This looks so good! I’m making it for Christmas Eve tomorrow! Do you have any tips for baking and storing it ahead of time?
Random but as soon as I saw the photo of the cake I knew the cake would be similar to a peanut square. I swapped the pecans for peanuts and — absolutely delicious!!
★★★★★