Butter Pecan Cake Recipe

I’ve made a classic old-fashioned cake even easier to add to your holiday dessert table by starting with a cake mix. This Butter Pecan Cake is an extremely moist cake, full of buttery flavor and high-quality crunchy pecans from Sunnyland Farms.

Ingredients

• Baking spray with flour
• 1 (15.25-oz.) box yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.4-oz.) box vanilla instant pudding
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup tap water or fat-free  milk
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp. maple extract (optional)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecan pieces, toasted

Instructions

1. Prepare the Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with baking spray; set aside.
2. Add cake mix, pudding, butter, brown sugar, water, eggs, and maple extract, as desired, to a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes; stir in pecans. Divide cake batter between prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated on center racks of oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 48 to 50 minutes. Let Cake Layers cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks, about 2 hours.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the Frosting: Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture; beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in pecans and vanilla.
5. Place 1 Cake Layer on a  plate. Spread one-third of the Frosting evenly over top of the layer. Top with remaining Cake Layer. Spread remaining Frosting over top layer and sides of whole cake. Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.