I LOVE this moist and delicious Maple Pecan Cake.

It is a fantastic go-to recipe no matter what time of year, but I make it most often in the fall when my maple and pecan cravings are highest!

These maple cake layers not only taste amazing, but they are sturdy enough for fondant and this recipe is perfect for cupcakes! I love the versatility!

Maple Glazed Pecans

Maple and pecan are such a satisfying combination of flavors, especially when those pecans are coated with a heavenly maple glaze. Ahhhhh.

We've used maple glazed pecans as a delicious topping, and incorporated them into the cake filling for an added flavor boost and a little crunch. So good!

Maple Pecan Buttercream Recipe

Another star of this cake is the Maple Pecan Buttercream. This simple and delicious frosting is a must for your recipe file (especially your fall favorites), and is SO simple to make!

This is an American Buttercream, which means that it is made primarily of butter, powdered sugar, milk, and flavorings. It does develop a light crust.

In this case, we used maple flavoring to give us the flavor that we were looking for! Maple flavoring is often sold on the baking row at the grocery store but can also be easily found online!

You could experiment also with maple syrup, but the maple extract gives us all of the great flavor without having to add too much liquid to the frosting.

***Update: We also now have a great Maple Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, which we used in our Apple Walnut Cake!

How to Make Maple Pecan Cake

You can find the full, printable Maple Pecan Cake Recipe further down in this post! Here is a quick rundown the steps for the cake!

*Make the Maple Glazed Pecans first according to our instructions. This gives such great flavor to the cake!

For the bake batter...we used the traditional method of mixing...

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In another bowl combine the milk, sour cream, vanilla and maple extract. Blend with a fork and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer beat the butter until smooth. With the mixer on medium speed slowly add the sugar and mix 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg until no streaks of egg yolk color remains.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with the milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture ( 3 additions of dry and 2 of liquid)

Divide the cake batter between two 8 inch cake pans.

Other Favorite Cake Recipes for Fall

This Maple Pecan Layer Cake is a fantastic choice for fall (or year-round!). If you are craving more maple flavored cakes, you must try our Maple Carrot Cake and our Maple Toffee Cake!

We have so many other cozy fall cake flavors in our Recipes section! Don't miss our Roundup of Favorite Fall & Thanksgiving Cakes, including

Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake,

Apple Spice Cake,

Gingerbread Latte Cake

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Carrot Cake, and so many more! Hop on over for the full list of our fall favorites, from caramel cakes to pumpkin cakes, spice cakes, and more!

Love Pecan Cake Recipes? So Do We! Don't miss these favorites!

Italian Cream Cake

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Butter Pecan Cake

Toffee Pecan Caramel Cake

Pecan Spice Cake

Banana Cake with Butter Pecan Cream Cheese Filling

Pumpkin Praline Cake

German Chocolate Cake

More Cake Recipes & Tutorials

*We'd love for you to check out our collection of favorite cakes and frostings! Find our tried and true recipes here! : Recipes Section

If you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, don't miss our Free Cake Tutorials, including our Free Cake Video Tutorials!

Maple Pecan Cake with Maple Buttercream {A Scratch Recipe}

We love this deliciously flavorful Maple Pecan Layer Cake recipe! This recipe is perfect year round but we especially love it in the fall!

Ingredients

For the Maple Glazed Pecans

2 cups (200 g) pecans, chopped
½ stick (56 g) unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons (39g) maple syrup (I used pure maple syrup)
After baking the pecans, mix the following 2 ingredients and pour over pecans and stir to cover
½ teaspoon (2g) maple extract
2 Tablespoons (26g) maple syrup

For the Cake

1 ½ sticks (12T) (170g) unsalted butter (room temperature - just until your finger makes a slight impression in the butter)
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
2 teaspoons (8g) maple extract
⅓ cup (73g) milk
1 cup (242g) sour cream
2 ½ cups (285g) cake flour
2 ½ teaspoons (12g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3g) salt

For the Maple Buttercream Frosting (Double this recipe if you'd like to do a lot of decorative piping)

2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter (room temperature - just until your finger makes a slight impression in the butter)
6-7 cups (690-805 grams) powdered sugar (depending on desired consistency. More sugar=more crusting).
1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
2 teaspoons (8g) maple extract
¼ c. (60g) whole milk or more if needed (dissolve a pinch of salt into the milk to cut sweetness)

Instructions

For the Maple Glazed Pecans (Do this before baking the cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. If using aluminum foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, add 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
Add chopped pecans and stir until pecans are coated.
Spread pecans on baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and put into medium sized bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together the 2 additional tablespoons maple syrup and ½ teaspoon maple extract. Pour over pecans and stir to coat.

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In another bowl combine the milk, sour cream, vanilla and maple extract. Blend with a fork and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer beat the butter until smooth. With the mixer on medium speed slowly add the sugar and mix 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg until no streaks of egg yolk color remains.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with the milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture ( 3 additions of dry and 2 of liquid)
Pour into 2 greased and floured 8 inch round pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pans 10 to15 minutes then turn out.

Makes 7 cups batter
Also works well for cupcakes.

For the Maple Buttercream

Cream the softened butter until smooth, blend in the flavorings. Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Add the remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Slow down the mixer to the lowest speed during the last minute of mixing to help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.

This is a crusting buttercream.

Makes 6 to 6 ½ cups

Assembly of Cake

Reserve a small bowl of frosting for your desired amount of filling. Stir in your desired amount of maple glazed pecans. Assemble the layers. Frost the cake (we piped ruffles with a tip 104). Use the remaining glazed pecans as topping for the cake.