Love is a lot of different things to a lot of people, and for me one of those things is fun. Love is all about having fun! Whether you're side by side on the couch catching up on PVR'd episodes of your favourite HBO shows, trying to kick each other's butts on the squash court, curled up in bed reading to each other, or whipping up sweet stuff in the kitchen - from the mundane to the magical moments - they should all be FUN. That's it! My over simplified, uncomplicated definition of love.
And if love were a cake, it would look and taste a lot like this...only in chocolate. 😉
I found a cake over on the TLB Blog and fell in love with the look of it. I absolutely love all of Erin's creations. I used a different cake recipe and flavoured my buttercream differently, but kept close to the overall look of the cake. I really like the borders she piped around the top and bottom of her cake, but he felt we had already added too much buttercream, so he added pecans at the base instead. It was missing something though, something that symbolized Valentine. We agreed on a little piped heart. Perfect!!
The Dude went off to do yoga and I got down to snapping a few shots. In my rush to use as much of the natural evening light as nature would allow, I wasn't careful in securing the tray that I used as a backdrop. A few shots in, the tray came crashing down on the cake - see photo above on left. Sob.
The cake is filled with brown sugar and maple syrup. I browned the pecans in butter and brown sugar and then drizzled with maple syrup. I made a batch of swiss meringue buttercream and flavoured it with crushed vanilla beans, maple syrup and Amarula cream liqueur.
Oh, and look! A little red made it into this post after all.
Wishing you a love-filled day, today and always. Happy Valentine's Day!
Nuts About You Buttered Pecan Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 115 g unsalted butter one stick
- 100 g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 280 g all purpose flour
- 11 g baking powder
- 2 g salt
- 1 g cinnamon
- 230 g pure Maple Syrup
- 52 g milk
Frosting
- 300 g liquid egg whites
- 500 g sugar
- 680 g unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Tahitian crushed vanilla beans
- pinch of salt
- 115 g Amarula Cream Liqueur
- 42 g pure maple syrup
Buttered Pecans
- 250 g coarsely chopped pecans
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 21 g pure maple syrup
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well.
- In a clean bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Combine maple syrup and milk in a separate bowl.
- Alternating the flour and milk mixtures, add each to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
- Pour batter into three greased and floured 7-inch (23 cm) round pans. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before icing.
- To make the frosting:
- Using a clean towel and some lemon juice or vinegar, clean your mixing bowl, whisk attachment to remove any traces of grease.
- Fill a heavy duty pot about a quarter of the way with water and place on the stove over medium heat to simmer.
- Add egg whites, sugar and salt to the mixing bowl and whisk together lightly with a hand whisk, just until combined. Fit the bowl onto the pot, ensuring the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water in the pot. Whisk the sugar egg white mixture constantly, but gently, until temperature reaches 160°F.
- Once at the correct temperature, remove carefully from heat, wipe the moisture away from the bottom of the bowl and transfer mixing bowl to the stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, begin to whip the meringue until it is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl is no longer warm to the touch.
- Do not begin adding butter while the bowl is still warm.
- Switch from your whisk to paddle attachment and with mixer on low speed, add butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated. Continue to mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture.
- Add vanilla beans, syrup and Amarula liqueur, continuing to beat on low speed until well combined.
- To prepare the pecans:
- If required, chop the pecans coarsely. Place the butter in a heated saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add the pecans and cook until butter is brown and bubbly. Remove from heat and strain off extra butter. Toss pecans in a bowl with syrup. Divide into three.
- To assemble:
- Level cakes, cover with a generous amount of frosting, top with a third of the pecans. Repeat for the next level. Once stacked, cover with frosting, add the remaining pecans to the center top and drizzle with a little maple syrup. Leave as is, or decorate to your liking. I used the Wilton 1M tip to create the ruffles and heart.
