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!
Servings: 15
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 cake flour (121g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (200g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (greek yogurt is fine also) (242g)
- ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil (We use Canola Oil) (54g)
- 1 cup water (240g)
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- 3 teaspoons maple extract (12g)
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (13g) We will also use additional syrup for the glaze.
- ¾ Cup Chopped Pecans (Adjust to your liking) (78g)
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 unsalted butter, softened (226g)
- 16 oz packages cream cheese, softened (453g total)
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup optional
- 2 teaspoons maple extract (8g)
- 6 to 6 ½ cups powdered sugar, adding more if necessary (690g to 747g)
- **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 the 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. It is best to remove from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving for best flavor and texture.