Praline pecan cake

10 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
Pecan sponge cake:
½ cup Pecan pieces
¼ cup All-purpose flour
8 Egg yolks, room temperature
¼ cup Sugar
6 Egg whites, room temperature
⅓ cup Sugar
¼ cup Butter, melted
Syrup:
¾ cup Sugar
½ cup Water
2 teaspoons Praline liqueur
Pecan crust:
1 cup Pecan pieces
1 cup Pastry flour
1 cup Butter, room temperature
½ cup Light brown sugar; firmly p cked
1 Egg, room temperature
Praline panache:
1 cup Whipping cream
12 ounces Bittersweet or semi-sweet ch colate, coarsely chop
2 teaspoons Praline liqueur
Buttercream:
1¾ cup Butter, room temperature
¼ cup Powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon Solid vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons Praline liqueur
½ cup Egg whites
1 cup Sugar

Directions

For cake: Preheat over to 375 degrees. Grease 9" round cake pan; line with parchment. Finely grind pecans with flour in food processor using on/off turns. Using electric mixer, beat yolks with ¼ cup sugar until slowly dissolving ribbons form when beaters are lifted.

Using clean dry beaters, beat whites with ⅓ cup sugar until soft peaks form. Fold half of whites into yolk mixture. Fold in pecans.

Fold in remaining whites. Fold ¾ cup batter into butter. Fold back into batter. Pour into prepared pan. Bake until cake is springy to touch, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely. Wrap tightly. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

For Syrup: Cook sugar and water in heavy sauce pan until sugar dissolves, swirling pan occasionally. Bring to boil. Cool. Stir in liqueur. For Crust: Finely grind pecans with flour in processor.

Using electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg. Gently fold in pecan mixture. Gather into ball. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter baking sheet. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to thickness of ⅛". Cut out one 9" round. Using cactus or leaf shaped cutter, cut out cookies from remaining dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Pierce round. Bake until golden, 20 minutes for round and 10 minutes for cookies. For Panache: Bring cream to boil in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Blend in liqueur. Cool to room temperature. For Buttercream: Using electric mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar, shortening and liqueur until light and fluffy. Heat whites and sugar in double boiler over gently simmering water until sugar dissolves and candy thermometer registers 100 degrees. Remove from over water. Using clean dry beaters, beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Blend whites into butter mixture. To Assemble: Split cake into 3 layers.

Set pecan crust on platter. Using spatula, beat panache until slightly thickened. Spread ¼ onto crust. Top with 1 cake layer.

Brush with syrup. Cover with about ¾ cup buttercream. Top with second cake layer. Brush with syrup. Spread with ¼ of panache. Top with third layer. Brush with syrup. Spread with ¼ of panache. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining buttercream. Spoon remaining ¼ of panache into pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe 12 rosettes around edge of cake. Top each with cookie. Serve at room temperature.

Related recipes