Nuts are a very personal thing.
I know people who are highly allergic and start itching and wheezing at the mere mention of nuts.
I know some who are allergic to tree nuts, and others to ground nuts. Some are allergic to nuts that are not even nuts! Pine “nuts” are a good example.
Many people, while not allergic to walnuts, have a reaction to those in particular. Their tongue or gums and throat get itchy and scratchy. Who would want to eat them if that was the case?
We have one such friend. When she is a guest, and a recipe calls for walnuts, we often substitute pecans.
As can be done with today’s cake. This is inspired by – and minimally adapted from – a recipe by my very talented friend Paula, who writes Vintage Kitchen Notes. It was originally a maple walnut cake.
Today, it’s a maple pecan cake. So, nuts to you, walnuts!
~ David
Maple Pecan Bundt
Cake
8 ounces unsalted pecans, toasted
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
6 tablespoons confectioners sugar, sifted
For cake:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour 12-cup bundt pan.
Finely grind pecans and 1/4 cup of the flour in the food processor using on and off pulses. (The flour will help keep the nuts from getting too gummy.)
Sift remaining flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/4 cups softened butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in maple syrup and vanilla extract (batter may temporarily look curdled, but that’s okay). Mix in dry ingredients, then fold in ground pecans.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake cake until top is golden and tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer to a cooling rack; cool cake 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely.
Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter with maple syrup and 1 tablespoon cream in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth, adding another tablespoon cream if needed. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
Drizzle glaze over cake. Let cake stand 15 minutes until glaze sets.
Serves 12.
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Nutmeg
January 12, 2019 at 3:11 pmOMG delicious a dessert where the South meets Canada!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 12, 2019 at 4:29 pmYes – a real North-to-South dish! If only people could get along as well as cakes!
John | heneedsfood
January 13, 2019 at 1:14 amI much prefer pecans over walnuts. Not because my tongue doesn't agree with walnuts, I just prefer the flavour of pecans. Love this cake, David! Especially with the maple syrup.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:55 pmMe, too, John – the innate sweetness of pecans is wonderful.
Eha
January 13, 2019 at 1:33 amLove walnuts and maple syrup, even possess a bundt pan but have not baked for thirty years 🙂 ! Am admiring tho' ! And agreeing with your statement to Ginger Nutmeg re people getting along ! Puzzled as have just been falsely 'attacked' on a dear friend's blog: he did not deserve the angst delivered on the day he posted. I shrug and walk past . . .
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:56 pmEha – maybe it is time to get that bundt pan back out? Although admiring from afar is safer for the waistline!
Ron
January 13, 2019 at 3:17 pmA lovely cake, one that takes me back to my childhood. We lived in Texas pecan country and always had pecans lying about. We'd set on the back porch and shell pecans, likely eating more than went in the bowl.
My granny would often make a simple sugar cake with pecan bits in it glazed with a pecan sugar glaze. Your maple glaze takes it to a new level. Thanks for the memory David.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:57 pmTexas pecans are amazing, John – we used to get some from a neighbor each year and they were a treasured gift. I can see you sitting on the porch, "Two for me, one for the bowl…"
Fran @ Gday Souffle
January 13, 2019 at 3:29 pmFortunately, I am not allergic to nuts so I can have them all (especially my favorite pecans). I especially love the glaze with maple syrup!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:57 pmI am lucky, too, Fran – at least in the nut department! I love a good glaze on this kind of cake.
Chef Mimi
January 13, 2019 at 4:32 pmA beautiful cake. Fortunately I'm not allergic to nuts or garlic!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:58 pmYou are lucky, indeed, Mimi! 🙂
2pots2cook
January 13, 2019 at 4:39 pmYou bring my childhood memories back with this nuts post: pine nuts and walnuts were a treat combined with corn flour home made bread. My uncle loved that kind of snack very much… it usually was accompanied with some wine for adults. Thank you for bringing it all back David.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:59 pmWhat a great combination! Pine nuts were my mother's favorite when we were kids, and it was really hard to find them at that time. She remembered them from ice cream sundaes served to her by a neighboring Italian family.
Inger @ Art of Natural Living
January 13, 2019 at 8:43 pmI learned to do a lot more nut substitution eating locally last year, when pretty much every nut was a hickory nut (pecan cousin fortunately). Of course this would have worked perfectly in your lovely cake David!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 1:59 pmOoh – a hickory nut cake would be amazing, Inger!
Susan
January 13, 2019 at 11:22 pmDefinitely going to try this one!!!!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 2:00 pmAs well you should, Susan!
All That I'm Eating
January 14, 2019 at 12:23 pmMaple and pecan are such classic flavours together and this looks and sounds delicious!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 2:00 pmThanks, Carolyne – I think would love this.
Marcelle
January 14, 2019 at 1:36 pmDavid, I have an old college friend who has a severe nut allergy and he has to be very vigilante about what he eats! That is tricky stuff, for sure. Maple and pecans are meant for each other and I would love a slice of this cake right now!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 14, 2019 at 2:01 pmI agree, Marcelle – maple and pecans are made for each other but why do we always see maple walnut everything? Hmmmm…
Valentina
January 15, 2019 at 4:43 pmBundt cakes are my favorite and I'm luck that I can eat both pecans and walnuts — so I might just try both. 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
January 16, 2019 at 1:24 pmI have enjoyed bundt cakes much more now that I can get them to release from the pan! Prior to that, they terrified me! 🙂
Kitchen Riffs
January 16, 2019 at 4:37 pmI'm not allergic to nuts, thank goodness. And I do love walnuts, particularly black walnuts. But it's really, really hard to beat the flavor of pecans — they're the best. As is this cake — good job with this. Thanks!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 17, 2019 at 3:01 pmYou know, John, I am not sure I have ever had a side-by-side taste test of black vs. other (English??) walnuts. I think that would be fun.
Sippity Sup
January 16, 2019 at 9:26 pmWalnuts have high tannins so maybe that's it. I'll take a slice no matter which nut you choose. GREG
Cocoa & Lavender
January 17, 2019 at 3:03 pmVery interesting, Greg – did not know that. It very well might be the case, although then there is wine with tannins… which walnut-averse friends guzzle with abandon.
Gerlinde de Broekert
January 17, 2019 at 6:24 amWhat a great looking cake. I think I have some pecans in the freezer.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 17, 2019 at 3:03 pmA good use for them, Gerlinde!
Christina | Christina's Cucina
January 17, 2019 at 7:21 amI can just imagine using a fork to take my first bite of this cake, David! Heavenly! While I don't think there's a nut I dislike, we must be super careful here as my daughter is allergic (severely, as in, she'll stop breathing) from simply a trace of tree nuts. 🙁 It's the thing that I wish I could take from her, knowing how anything can happen in an instant with just one simple bite.
Did you know that almonds aren't tree nuts? They're actually a member of the stone fruit family. I discovered this when the doctor told me to get all nuts out of the house when Denisa was diagnosed. However, I said that can't be as she eats almonds all the time. That's when I did my research. That said, there are some people who are allergic to tree nuts, AND to almonds. Go figure…allergies suck!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 17, 2019 at 3:06 pmI agree with you, Christina…. people need to know more about their allergies and especially nuts, as they are all so different. I did know that about almonds because of how almond extract is made. I wonder if people know what pine nuts, cashews and so forth really are? I once had someone tell me they were allergic to all nuts, including corn nuts. I laughed out loud!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
January 17, 2019 at 6:36 pmDavid, I want a big slice of this gorgeous cake right this minute! The kettle is on, and this would go perfectly with a nice cuppa tea. So glad I have no nut allergies.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 18, 2019 at 11:26 amJean – nuts are a tough allergy and, like you, I am glad I can eat them all!
Emma @ Bake Then Eat
January 18, 2019 at 10:31 amPecans, walnuts either way I love them both and this cake looks fab.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 18, 2019 at 11:27 amThanks, Emma! The cake is wonder either way – seems quite Southern when I use pecans!
Karen (Back Road Journal)
January 18, 2019 at 4:39 pmWell I'm agreeing with Ron about your cake as I grew up in Texas on a ranch with lots of pecan trees. It was two for me and one for the bowl. 😀 My kind of cake, simple but delicious.
Cocoa & Lavender
January 20, 2019 at 7:20 pmLove the visual of y'all sitting on the porch shelling pecans… (I had to say "y'all" in this case, didn't I?) Thanks, Karen!