Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sweet Melissa Sunday-Toasted Pecan Cake

Happy Sunday everyone!! I am here with my Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe and it was a challenge for me. First, let me confess. I have never made a cake from scratch. Never. I love the cake mix boxes and use them all the time. So when I saw this week was a cake, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Leslie of Lethally Delicious picked this recipe and woah...it was a recipe. Here's the official title: Toasted Pecan Cake with Caramel Orange Marmalade and Burnt Orange Buttercream Frosting. That is a mouthful!!!


So, I am also not a fan of pecans. I don't hate them, but I tend to pick lots of other nuts over pecans. But I made the decision to stick to the recipe and I was so glad I did. Toasting the pecans really took them to the next level. They were delicious!! There are lots of ground toasted pecans in the cake itself. The filling is an orange caramelized marmalade filling and it's covered by a orange buttercream frosting.


The only thing I had problems with was the frosting. It was very buttery, almost too buttery. So after I had whipped it up, I added about 1 1/2 more cups of powdered sugar and whipped it again. That gave it a lighter texture and I liked it more because it didn't taste like a stick of butter in my mouth.

Verdict on the cake???? I LOVED the cake part. It was wonderful, those toasted pecans were amazing in the cake. The filling was...well, how do I say this...TOO SWEET!!!! I don't think i've ever used those words together before. But it was over the top sweet and overwhelmed the whole cake. The buttercream frosting was very very good. I added some fresh orange zest to give it more orangey flavor. But I really couldn't get past the filling being too sweet. I had one piece and was done with it.

My kids liked it. My husband loved it. In fact, he ate it every night for 3 nights straight and said it kept getting better. And he's not a big cake fan. So those were some strong words!


I think the cake itself, plain, would be awesome with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. And the toasted pecans dipped into the extra buttercream frosting was delish. I ran lots of extra miles this week to make up for that indulgence!! If you want to see more, please check the SMS Blog roll call to see what all the other bakers did this week. Thanks to Leslie for picking this cake, I had a great time making my first cake from scratch!!

Have a sweet one!!

23 comments:

Dana said...

Beautiful photographs Mara! I love orange marmalade and pecans, and this sounds good, but I would nix the buttery frosting too. Not my thing.
I'm proud of you for making a cake from scratch! I've only ever used a box mix once (in an emergency situation) and I thought it was gross! lol My kids didn't even like it!

Flourchild said...

Very beautiful cake Mara! WOw for never making a cake from scratch before you did an amazing job! It looks perfect and I love the whole pecans on top!
I had to pass this week...new counter tops and I have been super busy.

IamDerby said...

I love the photos of this cake, so pretty! Buttercream frosting is my fave! I hate canned frosting.

Monique said...

My mouth is watering..It looks very good and your description about the pecan and buttery icing with a bit of orange zest , caramel orange Marmalade.. Stop!! I can't handle it lol,,,Where do you live I am coming for coffee or just cake!!!Great job Mara!!

Julie said...

What a beautiful cake!!! You did an awesome job on this !!

Cheryl said...

Seriously, is there a house next door to yours for sale? If not, my parents live in Irvine, so at some point when I visit, I could just stop by for a bite, okay?

Michelle said...

Looks very yummy!

Unknown said...

Wow, you did an absolutely amazing job with this cake Mara! I love the way you decorated it! My husband and I aren't fans of nuts either so I changed the recipe up, made cupcakes and topped them with whipped cream. They were tasty :)

Candy said...

Insanely beautiful cake! I would have never guessed it was your first from scratch! I just finished my cake and changed it up a bit after reading the reviews about the filling being too sweet. Awesome job!

Sue said...

WOW, very gourmet for your FIRST cake! It looks beautiful!!! You're right about the roasting making a big difference and bringing out the flavor...I roasted hazelnuts to make homemade Nutella and the house smelled sooooo good!

BethieJ said...

Mara this looks YUMMY!!!!! :) I think I need to walk a couple extra miles just looking at the photo! YEAH for your first from scratch cake. :)
Happy Sunday!

Susan said...

Just beautiful! Real buttercream can be a bit buttery, but yours looks terrific!

Julie said...

Your cake turned out beautiful...very nice work :)

Angie said...

that cake looks yummy. All your deserts do. I have'nt tryed making one yet but i do want to try one. Have a good night.

Joni M said...

What a beautiful cake! If looks have anything to do with taste, it must be WONDERFUL!!!

Tessa said...

I love the decorative pecans on your cake! We too found the frosting quite buttery and not "orangy" enough but loved the cake. I would consider making the cake again but with a different frosting. Thanks for baking with us!

Nina said...

This is beautiful!

Heather Baird said...

Beautiful! Looks perfect!!!!

Unknown said...

GORGEOUS cake! Glad you liked it!

Mona Pendleton said...

Mara, this looks divine! I love Pecans & only have made many pecan pies never a pecan cake! This is a must try recipe! :) TFS

Rebecca Keppel said...

OMGosh! That looks absolutely delicious!

VanessaB said...

mmm! i love toasted pecans! it looks delicious!

Diane Schmidt said...

looks delicious!