Pralines and Cream Cake

Buttery vanilla cake and praline buttercream for this amazing new cake

The Pralines and Cream Cake

Pralines are pecans caramelized with sugar with an addition of butter and cream

Today we are making a veganized version of this southern classic

With a pecan praline nut brittle buttercream

Caramel sauce dripping from each layer!

My bakery style yellow cake recipe is the perfect canvas to start

And American style buttercream with praline paste folded in!

This is a Building on Recipes cake project of course

Which means there are quite a few recipes to prepare in advance

But if you plan ahead and follow the instructions below and watch the video tutorial

Building this cake becomes a breeze

Notes for Success:

Praline pecan brittle was made while the cakes were baking and then ground to a paste

Be sure to reserve ¼ of the brittle though for the garnish on top of the cake

The buttercream recipe can be made well in advance with the praline paste added in when you re-whip it to a spreadable consistency

Or f you are preparing the buttercream ala minute, simply add in 1 cup of that praline paste at the last stage of mixing

Additionally I left out 2 cups of the icing sugar from the original recipe of American Buttercream

Since the addition of praline paste would increase the sweetness of the buttercream too much for my liking!

The caramel sauce was also prepared the day before, but can be made up to 2 weeks ahead of time!

In fact the longer it sits in the refrigerator, the thicker it gets!

However as I mention in the video this is not an essential part of this cake, you can surely leave it out

But I do love the look of that dripping caramel after each slice!

Believe it or not this was not too sweet!

You would think that it would sugar overload with all the buttercream, caramel and pralines but to me it was just perfect!

I am in the habit of making 7″ cake layers but if you only have 8″ pans that’s ok

Just divide the batter equally between 2-8″ cake pans instead

The cake layers were baked a day before I built the cake and just refrigerated them wrapped to prevent drying

I use soy milk as the milk for the majority of my baking.

Soy milk is the only milk that will sour upon adding vinegar which is what we do to make a mock “buttermilk”

You can use any plant milk of your choice if you are staying away from soy

But you will still need to add the vinegar, as that is also the activator for the baking soda to leaven this recipe

I am using a combination of cake flour and all purpose flour here, but if you have trouble getting cake flour you may use all ~all purpose flour instead, just take out ¼ cup of the total amount of flour

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT CAKE FLOUR & SELF RISING FLOUR

WATCH THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE!

For more amazing layer cake recipes like this one, click the links below!

Raspberry Fluff Cake

Strawberry Crunch Cake

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Pralines and Cream Cake

 

Print

Prep time

3 hours

Bake time

25 mins

Total time

3 hours 25 mins

 

Serves: serves 10ppl

Ingredients

• For the Cake:
• Soy Milk 1½ cups (355ml) *soy milk is the only plant milk that will thicken like buttermilk, but you can use whatever plant milk you prefer
• White Vinegar 1½ Tablespoons
• Vegan Butter ½ cup (113g)
• Vegetable oil of your choice ½ cup (117ml)
• Granulated Sugar 1¾ cup (350g)
• Salt ½ teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract 3 teaspoons (15ml)
• All Purpose Flour 2 cups (250g)
• Cake Flour 1 cups (120g) *see notes in body of the text article for more info on cake flour
• Baking Soda 2 teaspoons
• For the Praline Brittle:
• Sugar 1 cup (200g)
• Light Corn Syrup ½ cup (118ml)
• Water ¼ (60ml)
• Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)
• Baking Soda 1 teaspoon
• Salt ¼ teaspoon
• Pecans 1 cup
• 1 Recipe American Buttercream
• For the Caramel: *optional recipe
• Granulated Sugar 1 cup (200g)
• Water ¼ cup (60ml)
• Lemon Juice or Vinegar ½ teaspoon
• Plant Milk *highest fat milk works best ½ cup (118ml)
• Salt *optional ¼ teaspoon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. First prepare the cake batter: Combine the vegetable oil with the melted vegan butter add the vanilla extract and set aside
3. Combine the soy milk with the vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.
4. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, including the sugar.
5. Pour in the plant milk mixture and the butter/oil mixture and whisk smooth
6. Pour the batter into the greased and parchment lined pan(s) and bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for approximately 25- 30 minutes or when you gently press the centers they are springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs.
7. Cool in the pan(s) until you can safely touch without burning yourself then turn the cake(s) out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
8. Next prepare the praline brittle by combining the sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy sauce pot and bring to a boil.
9. Cover the pot for a few minutes as it comes to a boil, to create steam that will ensure that any sugar crystals that may form on the sides of the pot will dissolve
10. Once it boils, Insert a candy thermometer and continue to boil without stirring until it is 320°F
11. It should just start to turn golden brown to medium amber and it will continue to cook and darken even after you turn off the heat so be wary of that.
12. Remove from the heat and add the vegan butter, baking soda, pinch of salt and the pecans
13. Stir well to combine and it will get very thick
14. While still hot spread mixture onto a lightly oiled sheet pan or a silicone mat and let cool completely
15. Once it is cold, reserve ¼ of the nut brittle and then place the rest of it in a food processor and pulverize to a paste
16. This may take 3-5 minutes to get to the consistency of nut paste
17. Reserve until later
18. Crush the remaining brittle into a rough crunchy consistency, this will be the garnish for the finished cake
19. Prepare the buttercream recipe according to the instructions on that recipe post but leave out 2 cups of the icing sugar from the recipe.
20. At the last stage of mixing add the praline paste and mix well
21. Prepare the caramel *optional recipe by combining the sugar, water & acid together in a large heavy bottom sauce pot
22. The pot must be larger than you think because once you pour in the plant milk it will bubble up aggressively
23. I cannot stress enough to BE CAREFUL when cooking caramel!
24. Stir the sugar, acid and water only until is dissolved not after it starts to boil or you will get crystals in your caramel! The acid helps to prevent this, but it can still happen if you stir after it starts boiling
25. Watch it carefully as it turns from a light amber to medium amber, take it off the heat when it is medium amber as it will continue to cook and darker even after you remove it from the heat
26. Slowly & carefully pour in the plant milk and once the bubbling subsides stir it to a smooth sauce
27. Pour into a heat proof container and refrigerate until needed *it will thicken as it sits!
28. Build the cake as shown in the video tutorial or decorate as you wish!

Notes

Pralines and Cream cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 week, best served at room temperature

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