This Maple Pecan Layer Cake is a moist, delicious doctored cake mix recipe that is bursting with maple and pecan flavor. Keep this easy, flavorful cake recipe in mind for your fall celebrations!
Maple and Pecan- A Perfect Combination
Maple and pecan are one of our favorite combinations!
In fact, we have a couple of other favorite cakes with maple and pecan- make sure to put these on your list also!: Maple Pecan Cake with Maple Buttercream, Maple Carrot Cake .
Maple & Pecan are just one of those cozy flavor combinations that we crave every fall.
Our Maple Pecan Cake Layers are glazed with maple syrup and frosted in a heavenly maple cream cheese frosting. You will love this recipe!
How to Make Maple Pecan Layer Cake
You can find our full, printable Maple Pecan Layer Cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Prepare the Pans: Grease and flour three 8x2 round cake pans. (We like to line the bottom of our pans with parchment as well.)
- Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer, combine dry ingredients: cake mix, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend.
- Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, combine sour cream, water, eggs, canola oil, vanilla extract, maple extract, & maple syrup.
- Time to Mix: Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stop after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl then continue to beat for the second minute.
- Pecans: Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Fill the Pans: Pour the maple pecan cake batter into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees....check after 22 minutes- and adjust time as needed. Baking times may vary. The cake layers are done if middle of cake springs back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the freshly baked cake layers to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning out.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
This maple cream cheese frosting is the perfect complement to our maple-glazed cake layers!
The delicious maple flavor comes from maple extract as well as maple syrup.
Softer Consistency of Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
As with most cream cheese frostings, this maple cream cheese frosting is a softer consistency than most buttercream recipes.
Because of this, we like to chill the frosting for several minutes before working with it.
As you are decorating with it, if the frosting becomes too soft to hold it's shape or to easily work with, simply pop the bowl of frosting, piping bag, or even the cake in the freezer or refrigerator for several minutes to firm things back up again.
Does Maple Pecan Cake Require Refrigeration?
Yes, because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake should be refrigerated. However, for the best flavor and texture, the cake should be removed from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving.
Alternative to Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
If you are looking for a frosting that can safely sit out for longer, we have a delicious Maple Buttercream Frosting as well! You can find this recipe in our Scratch Maple Cake Recipe post.
Maple Syrup Glaze
While our Maple Pecan Cake Layers are delicious as they are, brushing the tops with maple syrup really adds a wonderful boost of maple flavor to this recipe!
Assembling the Maple Pecan Layer Cake
Place the first maple pecan cake layer on the cake base or pedestal.
Next, brush the top with maple syrup. We used a silicone pastry brush for this. We brushed a light coating over the top of the cake layer.
Then, we spread the cake layer with a layer of maple cream cheese frosting.
Repeat these steps for the second cake layer, then top with the third cake layer.
We brushed the top layer with maple syrup once again frosted the cake with a thin layer of maple cream cheese frosting. (This is the crumb coat).
At this point, I like to chill the crumb coated cake in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to firm things up. Follow with the final layer of frosting.
Decorating the Maple Pecan Cake
Decorate the cake however you like! Today, I added texture around the sides of the cake, creating vertical patterns in the frosting using a cake comb.
I textured the top with my offset spatula, and then added a reverse shell border to the top of the cake, and a shell border around the base (using a 1M piping tip).
If you're interested in learning about star tip borders like these, make sure to check out our Piping Basics with a Star Tip video!
Other Favorite Cakes with Pecans
We've included pecans in many of our favorite cake recipes over the years! In addition to today's delicious cake recipe, make sure to check out these other favorite pecan recipes!
Pumpkin Toffee Pecan Cake (Cake Mix)
Maple Pecan Layer Cake (Doctored Cake Mix)
Nobody would guess that this flavorful Maple Pecan Layer Cake starts with a simple cake mix! We love this delicious cake for fall and winter celebrations!
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix, sifted ( Do not follow directions on the box, use only the ingredients listed below. We used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Classic Yellow cake mix)
- 1 cup (121g) cake flour
- 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 cup (242g) sour cream or plain yogurt (greek yogurt is fine also)
- ¼ Cup (54g) Canola Oil
- 1 cup (240g) water
- 3 whole eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla
- 3 teaspoons (12g) maple extract
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (13g) (We will use more syrup for our glaze)
- ¾ Cup (78g) Chopped Pecans (Adjust to your liking)
For the Maple Glaze
- We used pure Maple Syrup as a glaze for our cake layers - You won't need much- maybe ¼ cup or so (Applied with a silicone pastry brush)
For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese (453 total gram weight) softened very slightly. Use full fat cream cheese.
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) maple extract
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar, adding more if necessary
- **If you like to do a lot of decorative piping, increase this recipe by half (or more).
Instructions
For The Maple Pecan Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease and flour three 8x2 round cake pans.
- In the bowl of your mixer, combine dry ingredients: cake mix, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend.
- In another bowl, combine sour cream, water, eggs, canola oil, vanilla extract, maple extract, & maple syrup.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stop after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl then continue to beat for the second minute.
- Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees....check after 22 minutes- Cakes are done if middle of cake springs back when touched, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Makes about 7 cups of batter.
For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into ½ inch slices and add to the bowl of your mixer, mix on medium speed until smooth
- Cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, mixing on medium speed until well blended.
- Add the maple syrup and maple extract
- Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Do not over mix or beat above medium speed . If beaten too long it will become very soft. If this happens, just put in the refrigerator for a short while to firm it up a bit, then frost the cake.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while chilled. You can make in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly and remix.
Assembly of Cake
Place the first maple pecan cake layer on cake base or pedestal. Brush the top with maple syrup. We used a silicone pastry brush for this.
Then, spread with a layer of maple cream cheese frosting. Repeat for the next two cake layers. Brush the top layer with maple glaze and then frost the cake with a thin layer of frosting. (This is the crumb coat).
At this point, I like to chill the cake for about 15-20 minutes in the freezer (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm everything up. You can also chill your bowl of frosting during this time if you need to.
Then, follow with the next (final) layer of frosting. I decorated my cake very simply, using a comb to make vertical strokes around the sides of the cake.
I topped with a reverse shell border using a large star (1M) piping tip, and a shell border around the bottom. I also made a swirly pattern on top of the cake with my small offset spatula.
*Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake should be refrigerated until within a few hours of serving. It is best to remove from the freezer 2-3 hours before serving for best flavor and texture.
How could you make this cake with a standard yellow cake recipe?? what changes?
Hi
can this cake be made into a two layer cake??? thank you. It looks so very delicious.
Hi Chris, Yes, the cake can be baked in two 9x2 inch round pans. I hope you will enjoy it.
hi. I'll be trying this cake but had a couple of questions
1. I freeze my layers after they are baked, would I apply the maple glarze prior to freezing or once thawed? 2. do you toast the pecans yiu use for the cake? 3.is there a particular brand of maple syrup you use-they are all not the same :) 4. last one..with the maple extract/syrup is the cake quite sweet? thank you!!
Hi Jennifer, I haven't experimented with freezing the glazed cake- I would glaze the layers after thawing them to be on the safe side.
No, there is no need to toast the pecans- you can do that if you would like to but we did not.
I like pure maple syrup- I just checked, mine says amber color on the label. Go with what you like! ;0) -
This is a really good cake and while it is sweet, it is not overly sweet- we really enjoyed this recipe. Its a great one for fall! ;0)
Could you make this cake successfully as a bundt cake?