Caramel Pecan Cake Filling Recipe

This caramel pecan cake filling is a homemade caramel of sugar, butter and cream with a cup of toasted pecans folded through. It takes about 25 minutes of work plus 30 minutes to cool, and one batch fills 2 to 3 layers of an 8 inch cake.

The trick is the finish. Take the sugar all the way to deep amber, then let the filling cool until it is thick and spreadable before it touches the cake. Spread warm, it slides. Spread cool, it stays put and slices cleanly.

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Sugar, Butter, Cream and a Cup of Pecans

• 1 cup granulated sugar: melted on its own, with no water, into the caramel base
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces: small pieces melt in fast and the caramel splits less
• ½ cup heavy cream, room temperature: cold cream makes hot sugar seize
• ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla: stirred in off the heat
• 1 cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
• Optional, for a firmer layer: 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

Without the pecans, this is the same base as my homemade caramel sauce. What turns it into a filling is the nuts, which give it body, and the cooling time, which lets it set.

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Toasting the Pecans in a Dry Skillet

Spread the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat and stir often for 3 to 5 minutes, until they smell nutty and look a shade darker. Tip them onto a plate straight away, because the hot pan keeps cooking them. Let them cool completely, then chop roughly. Pieces about the size of a pea spread easily and do not tear soft cake.

Raw pecans still work, but toasted ones keep their flavor once they are coated in caramel. They also stay crisper for longer.

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Taking the Sugar to Deep Amber

Before you start, cut the butter, measure the cream, and set the salt and vanilla next to the stove. The last minute of caramel moves fast.

Put the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir it with a heatproof spatula. It will clump into sandy lumps first. Keep stirring and do not add water; the lumps melt into a smooth liquid. Stop when it is a deep amber, about the color of maple syrup, and smells toasty. Pale caramel tastes only sweet. Once it smells sharp or smokes, it has burnt.

Add the butter carefully, since it will bubble up hard, and stir until it disappears into the caramel. Pour in the cream slowly while stirring. It bubbles again, then settles into a smooth, glossy sauce. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the salt and vanilla, and fold in the pecans.

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When to Add the Cornstarch Slurry

For most 2 layer cakes the filling sets well enough on its own as it cools. Use the slurry when you are stacking 3 layers, filling a soft sponge, or the kitchen is warm. Stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 2 tablespoons water, return the pan to low heat, add the slurry and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens. That full minute or two cooks out the raw starch taste. Do not double it. More cornstarch turns the caramel dull and pasty.

Either way, the filling is ready to cool when it coats the spatula heavily and falls in slow ribbons, with the pecans held in the caramel instead of sinking. Let it cool completely at room temperature, about 30 minutes. It thickens a lot as it cools.

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Caramel Pecan Filling vs Coconut Pecan Frosting

• This filling: white sugar melted to amber, then butter, cream and pecans. Smooth caramel with crunch, made to sit between layers.
• Coconut pecan frosting: a cooked custard of evaporated milk, brown sugar and egg yolks with coconut and pecans. Softer and chewier, the one for German chocolate cake.
• Condensed milk caramel: no sugar to melt. A can of caramel sauce from condensed milk simmered for 3 hours is thick enough for cake layers, and you can fold the toasted pecans into it instead.

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Filling and Stacking an 8 Inch Layer Cake

Level the cake layers and set the first one on the board. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the top edge to make a dam. Divide the cooled filling evenly between the layers and spread it inside the ring, keeping it about ½ inch from the edge. Add the next layer and press gently.

Chill the stacked cake for about 30 minutes before the crumb coat so the filling firms and cannot squeeze out under the weight of the top layer. Salted caramel buttercream on the outside keeps the whole cake in the caramel family.

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Seized, Separated or Too Runny Between Layers

• Hard lumps after the cream went in: the cream was cold and the sugar seized. Keep the pan on low and stir until the lumps melt back in.
• Greasy layer of butter on top: the caramel split. Take it off the heat and whisk briskly for a minute until glossy again.
• Bitter, smoky taste: the sugar went past amber. Start again; the burnt flavor will not cook out.
• Filling runs out of the cake: it went on warm or needed the slurry. Scrape it back into the pan, add the slurry, cool it fully and fill again.
• Filling tears the cake: it was too cold. Let it sit at room temperature until it spreads.

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Cakes That Suit Caramel and Pecans

A plain vanilla cake lets the caramel lead. Chocolate cake and butter pecan cake work well too, and in autumn it is good between the layers of a pumpkin spice cake. In cupcakes, core the centers and spoon the filling in.

For a caramel pecan topping or icing, spread the filling over the top of a cake while it is barely warm and still soft, and let it set there. If you want a smooth caramel layer with no nuts, use my salted caramel cake filling instead. For a quick pan dessert with the same flavors, there is my caramel pecan dump cake.

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Making the Filling a Few Days Early

Store the filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It firms up as it chills. Before filling a cake, let it come back to room temperature or warm it gently, just until it spreads again, not until it pours. The pecans soften slightly over the days, so for the most crunch, use it within a day or two.

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Pecan Cake Filling Questions

Can I use it as a caramel pecan icing?

Yes, as a topping. Spread it barely warm over the top of a cake or sheet cake. It will not pipe like frosting.

Why did my caramel seize when I added the cream?

The cream was too cold. Use room temperature cream, and if lumps form, stir over low heat until they melt.

Can I make it without cornstarch?

Yes. The cornstarch is optional. Without it the filling is softer, so cool it completely and use a buttercream dam.