This caramel pear pecan tall cake tastes like southern pralines baked into a delicious cinnamon cake. Topped with caramel frosting and drizzled in more caramel, this cake will make everyone drool! Decorate it with pretty pink roses for a perfect Valentine’s, Birthday or Baby Shower cake!
Caramel Pear Pecan Tall Cake
Sometimes a cake just comes to you like a piece of artwork waiting inside and you can’t stop thinking about it until you finally just bake it! That’s how this caramel pear pecan tall cake came to me. I had some wonderful pears that my friend brought over one day and they were getting super ripe and ready. And of course, we always have pecans in the cabinet because, well… 4 words, award winning pecan pie. Yes, we get requests and we have become well known for this pie! The addition of the caramel was just something I have been holding in the back of my mind ever since I made these yummy chocolate caramel cupcakes. The caramel frosting is my new favorite. And yes, I would slather it on pizza and eat it if I could… maybe I will… just sayin…
How to Make a Caramel Pear Pecan Tall Cake
The secret to making this cake tall and skinny is in the pans. I use the Wilton 5 piece, 6″ Easy Layers Cake Pan Set. One cake recipe divides into these smaller pans. And they are great for making rainbow cakes, ombre cakes, tortes and more. They are non-stick and worked amazingly well with this recipe even though you bake caramel right into the bottom of the pan. They cleaned up easily, and I have found this little pans to be so easy to work with. They even have a little lip on the side so you can grab them out of the oven.
People Go Crazy Over the Shape of This Cake
What makes this cake so unique is how tall and skinny it is. When I made this cake for my friend’s Bat Mitzvah, people were commenting about how cool the cake looked. They loved that it was strangely beautiful and it made everyone want to stand by for when it was cut into. And yes, the most fun part is seeing all the wonderful layer of cake hiding inside!
Tips for Making the Caramel Pear Pecan Tall Cake
- Make the caramel sauce first and allow it to cool so you can add it to your frosting. When you need to drizzle it over the cake at the end, you can always heat it up and add a dash of milk and stir to thin it out.
- Grease and flour the pans to make removing the cakes easier.
- A little goes a long way… When you make this cake, you put chopped pears, pecans and caramel sauce into the bottom of each pan and then add batter on top. I only used a total of two pears chopped and about 3/4 cup of chopped pecans divided for the layers. And I drizzled the caramel into the bottom of each pan. I didn’t coat the entire bottom of the pan. You can do this if you are making this into a bigger cake and you are using bigger cake pans. But with these little pans, you just want to sprinkle ingredients in. This will ensure that your cake will hold together.
- Fill the cake pans about half way up with batter. Use 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop batter into each pan and then divide the remaining batter into each pan so you spread the batter evenly. Then use a spatula to spread the batter over the pear pecan caramel mixture.
- Bake the cakes all at once for about 30 minutes and then check them with a toothpick or knife inserted in the center. Allow them to cool in the pans.
How to Decorate a Cake with Roses
I made this Caramel Pear Pecan Cake for my friend’s Bat Mitzvah party and her colors were pink and gold. So the caramel color provided the gold and all I needed to worry about was the pink. What better way to decorate a cake and make it look pretty than with pretty pink roses? I found a $5 bunch of roses at the grocery and the rest is history. All I did was cut the roses with about 2 inches of stem and used the stem to stick them into the top of the cake. A simple arrangement of 3 roses with a few smaller pretty white flowers was perfect. I also pulled a few of the funky looking rose petals off of the roses to clean them up, but then used those around the bottom of the cake as decoration as well. Perfectly pink and gold cake!
Recipe for the Caramel Pear Pecan Tall Cake:
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 2-3 ripe pears Peeled and Chopped
- 1 Lemon for juice
- 1 1/3 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup Butter We use Kerrygold Salted Butter
- 1/2 cup Pecans Chopped
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Coconut Sugar You can use regular sugar
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 2 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 1/4 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
- pinch Nutmeg
- 1/2 cup Butter Salted or unsalted is fine
- 3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar Packed
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- Dash Milk to thin at end for drizzling on cake
- 1 cup Butter We use Kerrygold Salted Butter
- 4 cups Confectioners' sugar
- 2-4 tbsp Caramel Sauce from above
- 1 tbsp Milk as needed
- 1/4 cup Pecans Chopped
Ingredients
Pear Pecan Cake
For Caramel
Caramel Frosting
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- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the mini pans with nonstick spray and then flour the pans to coat.
- Peel the pears and chop them. Drizzle lemon juice on the slices and coat to keep them from browning.
- Melt 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat.
- Add the 3/4 cup brown sugar and stir until bubbling. Add 1/2 tsp salt and stir another 30 seconds, then turn off heat and set aside.
- Sprinkle the chopped pears and about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans into the mini pans. Drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of caramel sauce onto the tops of the pears and pecans. Do not coat the entire bottom of the pans with caramel. Leave caramel sauce aside to add into the frosting for later.
- In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together and set aside.
- Beat 1/2 cup softened butter, coconut sugar and brown sugar until creamy.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
- Alternate as you add the flour and milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat a couple more minutes until smooth. Add the sour cream and mix until combined.
- Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop batter on top of the pear and pecans in the pans. Divide any remaining batter into each of the cake pans until all batter is divided. Use a spatula to spread the batter completely. With the pears, pecans, caramel sauce and batter, the pans should be about 1/2 full. The cake will bake up and out and fill out the pans.
- If using the mini pans, bake for about 30-35 minutes and check with a toothpick or knife by inserting into center. If batter comes out on knife, bake another 2-5 minutes. If using a larger cake pan, bake for 45-55 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes. Run a knife along the edge to loosen the cake.
- To make the buttercream caramel frosting, beat the cup of butter for two minutes until softened and lighter in color.
- Slowly add the 4 cups of confectioner's sugar and mix until creamy and fluffy.
- Heat the caramel sauce and add a dash of milk and stir until the caramel sauce thins. Add only 2-3 tablespoons of the caramel sauce to the buttercream. (You will use the remaining sauce to decorate the top of the cake). Mix on medium speed until blended. Add more powdered sugar or milk to reach desired consistency.
- Use a cake container tall enough to cover the cake. Spread a little frosting onto the bottom of the container (to keep the cake from moving).
- Use a spatula to loosen the first mini cake from the pan. Turn it upside down and set on top of the frosting. Scrape any remaining pears or pecans from the pan and set them on the cake top. Spread one to two scoop fulls of frosting onto the top of the cake layer. You don't need a lot, just enough to hold the cakes in place. Continue repeating with each layer.
- Once the entire cake is built, start by spreading frosting on top. Then use a spatula to spread frosting onto the sides of the cake, continuing to turn the cake and scrape the frosting to smooth it out. Fill in any spots around the top edge and then smooth the top out to the edge.
- Use 1/4 chopped pecans to sprinkle onto the frosting, all around the cake, you can use your hand to tap the pecans into the sides.
- Heat the caramel sauce on low and once thinned out, allow it to cool just a bit and then drizzle the sauce on top and along the edges. Cover the cake with the cake container lid and store on counter top. Keep fresh flowers in refrigerator until ready to decorate.
- Decorate the top of the cake with pink flowers. Cut the roses leaving a 2-3 inch stem and stick the stems into the top of the cake. Arrange greenery and smaller white flowers into place. Decorate along bottom edge of cake with rose petals. Enjoy!!!
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