Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

10 Comments

5 from 8 votes
12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
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A Southern twist on a classic, this Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake is rich, moist and full of Pecan crunch and ready in just over an hour. 

We’ve done the traditional Vanilla Pound Cake. We’ve done a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. We’ve even made a Glazed Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake, so why not try a Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake?

Brown Sugar Pound Cake with pecansBROWN SUGAR PECAN POUND CAKE

It’s not just sweet, it’s also easy to make. Our pound cake recipe calls for ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen, and it reminds us of the pound cakes made famous by Paula Deen and Martha Stewart.

Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake is a delicious cake for all occasions, with enough of the sweet stuff to satisfy all dessert lovers.

If you are entertaining, there is nothing that classes up a party like an easily made, easily accessorized pound cake made from scratch. The pecans add a touch of the American South, but you’re not limited to the nut family for toppings.

HOW TO MAKE BROWN SUGAR PECAN POUND CAKE

  • Start by preheating your oven and greasing a 10 inch bundt pan.
  • Dust the pan with flour to coat it.
  • Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside for later.
  • Cream together the unsalted butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a stand mixer until they are light and fluffy.
  • Mix in the eggs one at a time add the vanilla and stir them on medium speed until they are well blended.
  • Gradually pour in the dry ingredients and milk, alternating between the two as you go. Don’t over mix them at this point.
  • Stir in almost all of the chopped pecans, but save a handful to top the cake with.
  • Pour the batter into the greased cake pan and arrange the left over pecans on the top.
  • Bake your cake until you can stab the middle with a toothpick and it is clean when you pull it out.
  • Put the cake on a cooling rack and decorate it up how you like.

TOPPING IDEAS FOR BROWN SUGAR PECAN POUND CAKE

  • Fresh berries: you can arrange berries on the top of the cake to make shapes, patterns or words. It’s really fun and easy.
  • Whipped cream: you can use Homemade Cool Whip or Easy Whipped Cream to dress up your cake.
  • Vanilla Ice Cream: serve up your cake with a scoop of ice cream. It’s an absolute classic.
  • Cream Cheese Frosting: If you want even more sweetness, you can make your own frosting easily and without spending a ton of money.

POUND CAKE VS SPONGE CAKE

Pound cake and sponge cake have a lot in common: they are great bases for other desserts, they are less dense than a lot of other cakes and they are absolutely delicious. The differences are subtle but important.

  • Pound cake is a butter cake while sponge cake essentially only has three ingredients: eggs, flour and sugar.
  • Sponge cake tends to be lighter and fluffier, while pound cake is more dense and hearty.

WHY IS IT CALLED POUND CAKE?

Because the original recipes called for a pound each of flour, butter sugar and eggs. That sounds a little excessive, but pound cake is from the 1700s when meals needed to be hearty. The first recipe for pound cake that showed up in America is from American Cookery, a book written in 1795.

How to Store Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake:

  • Serve: This cake can remain unrefrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
  • Fridge: You can store this safely in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
  • Freeze: This cake can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake with nuts

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Dinner, then Dessert

Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake

A Southern twist on a classic, this Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake is rich, moist and full of Pecan crunch and ready in just over an hour. 
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Brown Sugar Pound Cake with pecans
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup pecans , chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray.
  • In a stand mixer on medium high speed, add together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
  • Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined, then add in the vanilla.
  • Add in the milk and flour, baking powder and salt (alternate them in thirds) until just combined.
  • Add in all but a handful of the chopped pecans and stir.
  • Pour batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle on the rest of the pecans.
  • Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Nutrition

Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 103mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 388IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake, pound cake

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Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I’ve made this so many times, it is a great recipe! The brown sugar adds such a great taste and depth. I make mine without nuts and add brown sugar to the top after about 20 mins of baking

    Reply

  2. Perfect recipe! I’ve made it twice now and didn’t change a thing. Thank you for sharing. Easy, delicious, pretty loaf cake. Great with coffee. ??

    Reply

  3. Hello Sabrina!
    Been looking for a brown sugar pound cake recipe and this one certainly fills my needs. One question ? Can I substitute sour cream or buttermilk for the liquid in the cake? I don’t see any reason why not but would like your advice. Thanks so much!

    Reply

    1. I am so sorry the comment got lost, I am just seeing this tonight. I am sure the recipe has long been cooked/or not but I still want to try to help.

      I haven’t recipe tested that but those should both be great substitutes, but they’re a bit thicker so try adding an additional tablespoon or two of those ingredients.

      Reply