This butter pecan pound cake is rich, tender, moist, and loaded with chopped pecans. It’s all finished off with a delicious cream cheese frosting that pairs perfectly with the easy cake. It’s a pecan lover’s dream.

Pecan desserts are a southern tradition. From adding them to layered desserts to making them the stars of the show in cakes and pies, pecans are a classic addition to so many different desserts. Over the years, I’ve put pecans in all kinds of recipes.
Of course, hummingbird cake is a classic dessert that features pecans, as is something we like to call “Pink Stuff” down here. It’s a sort of pudding and whipped cream dessert. Also, you’d better believe that I’ve made my fair share of pecan pie. There’s one pecan-based dessert that I love to make more than anything else, though – this delicious butter pecan pound cake.
Butter Pecan Pound Cake
This butter pecan pound cake is an extremely easy from scratch cake recipe that even beginners can make. Just a few simple ingredients, a little mixing, some baking, and frosting is all there is to it. There are no layers or fancy construction methods. It’s just a good, old-fashioned cake, and it is delicious.
The first thing you’ll notice is the pecans. This beautiful cake is frosted with cream cheese frosting, and the entire perimeter of the cake is coated with crushed pecans.
Take a slice, and you’ll see a rich, moist cake that’s just loaded with more chopped pecans. Then, it’s time to take a bite. Oh, yeah.
The delicious flavor of simple vanilla cake with chopped pecans blends perfectly with the rich cream cheese frosting, to create a sweet, delicious flavor that has an interesting mouth feel with all those delicious pecans! The cake itself is so moist, unlike some cakes that are filled with nuts or other additions. It’s the kind of cake that just melts in your mouth while at the same time having a robust texture. Oh, it’s so good.
Tips
As cakes go, this butter pecan pound cake recipe is quite easy. It doesn’t take many ingredients or a lot of fancy baking methods.
It just uses simple ingredients that you mix together and bake. That’s it! You don’t even have to worry about making cake layers. It’s just so simple.
Of course, even simple recipes benefit from those little tricks of the trade that we experienced bakers know. That’s why I’ve included the following tips to help make sure you create the most delicious butter pecan pound cake you possibly can. They’re simple tips, but they really make your cake pop.
Thoroughly Coat the Pan
It’s extremely important that you coat the entire inside of the cake pan well with non-stick spray and a light coating of flour. Pans like this are notorious for killing cakes if they aren’t properly prepared, so be sure you get every part of the interior surface of the pan thoroughly coated.
Fully Softened Butter and Cream Cheese
When creaming butter or cream cheese, it’s important that you let them fully soften. When these ingredients are fully softened, they incorporate extremely well into your mixtures, resulting in a texture that is rich, smooth, and creamy. On the other hand, if you don’t let them fully soften, you’ll end up with mixtures that are lumpy and have chunks of butter or cream cheese in them.
Room Temperautre Eggs
You’ll always see my baking recipes calling for the use of room-temperature eggs. That’s very important.
Room temperature eggs are less viscous than cold eggs, so they incorporate more easily into the batter. This allows them to fully incorporate, helping to ensure that every part of the batter has the protein and fat from the egg that’s needed to help the cake rise and bake up properly. It’s a small thing that can make a big difference in how your cake bakes.
Fold, Don’t Stir
When combining the flour into the wet ingredients, be sure to fold, not mix. Folding helps keep the structure of the cake. When you mix, you’ll be aerating the batter, which you don’t want to do.
Don’t Overmix
Speaking of aerating the batter, don’t overmix, or fold, in this case, when combining your ingredients. When the batter is overmixed, it causes the cake to rise too high and then fall, resulting in a cake that is not a fluffy as it should be and have a bit of a tougher texture. So fold in the ingredients until they’re just mixed.
Variations
Unlike many of my recipes – both sweet and savory – I don’t recommend changing much of anything about this cake. It’s absolutely delicious exactly as it is, and it’s such a classic. The only thing I might recommend is toasting your pecans to give the cake a bit more depth of flavor, but that’s all.
Serving Butter Pecan Pound Cake
This butter pecan pound cake is the perfect dessert for almost any occasion. It’s simple enough to make for a weeknight dessert, but it’s pretty and delicious enough to make a perfect sweet treat for special occasions like birthdays, parties, potlucks, and holidays from Easter to Christmas.
All you need to serve this cake is a plate and a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. It’s so full of delicious flavors that it doesn’t need anything else at all. Just slice a piece of cake and enjoy! When taking this cake to a party or get-together, I like to slice the entire thing up and place the slices on a try so everyone can take what they want.
Storing Butter Pecan Pound Cake
This pound cake will keep well in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. It’s important to keep this cake refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting. For longer storage, you can freeze this cake for up to two months. Allow the cake to chill completely in the refrigerator and then wrap it tightly in cling wrap and then foil.
Try This Butter Pecan Pound Cake Today
And I do mean today. It’s such an easy recipe, you can whip it up in no time flat. It’s also decadently delicious.
With a combination like that, there’s no reason not to give it a try. Give this one a try, and I know you’ll love this butter pecan pound cake as much as I do.
Ingredients For Butter Pecan Pound Cake
For the Pound Cake
- Pecans
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Vanilla
For the Frosting
- Cream Cheese
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Butter Pecan Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 325° and spray a 10 inch tube pan with nonstick cooking spray and lightly coat with flour.
For the Pound Cake
- Sprinkle ½ cup pecans in the bottom of the prepared tube pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy. It will take about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in eggs one at a time and mix well after adding each egg.
- Fold in flour until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Gently mix in vanilla and the remaining pecans.
- Use a large spoon to drop batter into prepared greased and floured tube pan. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 90 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix well. Add vanilla and mix on low until fully incorporated.
- Frost cake once it has completely cooled. Garnish with chopped pecans around the edges of cake, if desired.
Try This Delicious Butter Pecan Pound Cake Today
Here are a few more delicious recipes that can be found on the blog:
You can also try this amazing Apple Spice Cake or this Apple Pecan Coffee Cake from Great Grub Delicious Treats.
Butter Pecan Pound Cake
Ingredients
For The Pecan Pound Cake
- 1½ cups pecans, chopped
- 1½ cups butter, room temperature
- 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups brown sugar, packed
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- 3¼ cups cake flour
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
For The Frosting
- 8 ounce cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups chopped pecans, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° and spray a 10 inch tube pan with nonstick cooking spray and lightly coat with flour.
For The Pound Cake
- Sprinkle ½ cup chopped pecans in the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth then add brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Add in eggs one at a time and mix well after adding each egg.
- Fold in flour until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Gently mix in vanilla and the remaining cup of pecans.
- Use a large spoon to drop batter into prepared tube pan. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 90 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before transferring cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
For The Frosting
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix well. Add vanilla and mix on low until fully incorporated.
- Frost cake once it has completely cooled. Garnish with chopped pecans around the edges of cake, if desired.
Notes
Here are a few pics that are the perfect size for pinning to Pinterest.
I love to bake and I find your recipes to be very good. And I love to cook also, I have been baking and cooking for a long time I ‘ am so glad to fine someone who love it just as much as I do. Please don’t ever stop sharing your recipes they are good.
Thank you so much Genevia. We appreciate your wonderful comment. 🙂