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MAPLE PECAN POUND CAKE

from the view from great island
Course: Dessert

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter browned and slightly cooled
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed (I used light brown sugar, but you can also use dark brown.)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup chopped pecans lightly toasted Note: toast pecans on a dry baking sheet in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes until fragrant.)

FOR THE GLAZE

  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tsp water
  • 2 tsp maple syrup
  • small pinch salt
  • handful of chopped toasted pecans to top optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F and butter a 9×5 loaf pan. I lined mine with parchment paper for easy removal, as well.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine the browned butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla and maple extracts, milk, and salt. Whisk everything together well.
  • Add the baking powder and whisk again to distribute it thoroughly.
  • Fold in the flour, and finally fold in the chopped pecans.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for about 55-65 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
  • Allow the loaf cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan to a cooling rack. Let cool thoroughly before glazing.
  • To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, water, maple syrup, and salt, until smooth. This is a relatively thin consistency, which makes a crackly, translucent glaze. You can use less water for a thicker glaze.
  • Pour or brush the glaze over the cooled cake, and follow quickly with a handful of chopped pecans scattered on top.
  • Allow the glaze to harden before slicing.

Notes

Browning butter is really pretty simple, you melt your butter in a skillet, and then keep heating it, swirling or stirring the butter almost constantly, until you start to see it brown. You’ll see little specks of brown appear, which are the milk solids in the butter. You can stop heating when it turns golden brown, or keep heating until it reaches a deep nutty brown, but you need to be careful not to let it burn or, of course, it becomes bitter.