Deep, dark chocolate cake layers infused with espresso powder and coffee stout beer. Filled with gooey pecan pie filling, studded with toasted pecans and finished off with a silky smooth cinnamon spiced buttercream frosting. If Autumn was a cake, this would be it.
Guys, this cake right here, is my everything. I know it’s been a hot minute, er, a year and two days since I last posted. But, I’m back and my first post is this ahhhmaazing cake. If you ever have trouble deciding between cake and pie, this dessert right here covers you on both fronts.
First, we start out with dense chocolaty cake layers that I spike with, you guessed it, BOOZE!!! I used a coffee stout beer for this cake but you could really go in all sorts of directions if that’s not your thing. Kahlua? Sure, why not? Bailey’s, spiced rum or bourbon? Yes, yes and oh, hell YES! Seriously, go hog wild. I might even try it out next with Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Nitro Creme Brulee Stout. The cake was adapted slightly from Stella Parks’ recipe for Devil’s Food Cake. I subbed in an equal amount of beer for the brewed coffee. Now, if you don’t want beer in your cake you can still make this killer recipe and keep the coffee in it. Though it’s definitely worth a try with the beer!
The second most integral part of the cake (and honestly, my favorite part) is the pecan pie filling. In case you’re wondering, yes, I did eat this filling with a spoon. Don’t judge me. This pecan pie filling comes together so quickly there’s really no excuse not to make some. Whether it makes it into a cake or just straight to your mouth is up to you. I used the recipe from Life, Love and Sugar and it’s the only one I will ever use again! The only thing I might do next time is try some Golden Syrup instead of dark corn syrup. Just to see if it gives it a different flavor. You know, in the interest of research and all!
The last component is buttercream. I really hemmed and hawed on this decision. At first I really thought that an American Buttercream was just going to be too sweet with the pecan pie filling. I thought about doing a Swiss Meringue and then my husband came to the rescue. He mentioned making a spiced buttercream for the cake. He’s my go to taste tester in the house since the dogs cannot be trusted to give an accurate review of food items. In all seriousness, they eat turkey shit, so excuse me if I don’t really trust their palates. I still wasn’t quite sure the flavors wouldn’t overpower each other but decided to listen to him anyway. There was no need to worry, the spiced american buttercream is to die for on this cake.
I piped the simple little weave pattern on top with my favorite piping tip of all – 1M. I wanted to use every last bit of that filling, so I put whatever I didn’t use in between the layers, on top of the cake. If you’ve still got room on your dessert menu, I promise you this cake will not disappoint!
[ultimate-recipe id=”2416″ template=”0″]Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Ann