Buttery vanilla cake and praline buttercream for this amazing new cake
The Pralines and Cream Cake
Pralines are essentially pecans that have been 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!
- 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
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- First prepare the cake batter: Combine the vegetable oil with the melted vegan butter add the vanilla extract and set aside
- Combine the soy milk with the vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, including the sugar.
- Pour in the plant milk mixture and the butter/oil mixture and whisk smooth
- 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.
- 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.
- Next prepare the praline brittle by combining the sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy sauce pot and bring to a boil.
- 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
- Once it boils, Insert a candy thermometer and continue to boil without stirring until it is 320°F
- 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.
- Remove from the heat and add the vegan butter, baking soda, pinch of salt and the pecans
- Stir well to combine and it will get very thick
- While still hot spread mixture onto a lightly oiled sheet pan or a silicone mat and let cool completely
- 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
- This may take 3-5 minutes to get to the consistency of nut paste
- Reserve until later
- Crush the remaining brittle into a rough crunchy consistency, this will be the garnish for the finished cake
- Prepare the buttercream recipe according to the instructions on that recipe post but leave out 2 cups of the icing sugar from the recipe.
- At the last stage of mixing add the praline paste and mix well
- Prepare the caramel *optional recipe by combining the sugar, water & acid together in a large heavy bottom sauce pot
- The pot must be larger than you think because once you pour in the plant milk it will bubble up aggressively
- I cannot stress enough to BE CAREFUL when cooking caramel!
- 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
- 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
- Slowly & carefully pour in the plant milk and once the bubbling subsides stir it to a smooth sauce
- Pour into a heat proof container and refrigerate until needed *it will thicken as it sits!
- Build the cake as shown in the video tutorial or decorate as you wish!
For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 week, best served at room temperature
The post Pralines and Cream Cake appeared first on Gretchen's Vegan Bakery.