Maple Pecan Pound Cake
This Maple Pecan Pound Cake features a maple-flavored cake topped with lightly toasted pecans. A slice of this cake is perfect for a chilly autumn evening!
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One of the unique foods associated with the northeastern part of the US is not a food at all. It’s a condiment. A condiment that comes from tree sap. I’m talking about maple syrup, of course. Not pancake syrup – that was the stuff we ate back in the 80’s. I’m talking about real maple syrup.
Canada produces the vast majority of the world’s maple syrup. After all, the Canadian flag features a maple leaf right in the center. Within the US, Vermont, New York and Maine produce the most maple syrup. I’ve had the chance to visit a couple of sugar shacks, and they’re always a fascinating experience. A sugar shack is literally just that – a shack where sap is boiled down into maple syrup.
For starters, you can literally smell a sugar shack before you ever see it. The sap evaporating into the air makes the entire area smell like maple syrup. Warning : whenever you drive within smelling distance of a sugar shack, you will get an instant craving for pancakes. Maybe some waffles, too. Maple syrup is made in the early spring when the sap first begins to run.
As tempting as it is to roll down your car window to catch a whiff, the arctic temperatures outside will make you think twice.
These sugar shacks are interesting places. The one we visit most often is set at the base of a large hill, and there are flexible tubes running from dozens of maple trees all over that hill. As the air warms up, the sap begins to run, and gravity carries that sap down the hill into the sugar shack. From there, the sap goes into a huge vat that essentially simmers the sap down to maple syrup. It’s that simple.
Maple syrup is made from one ingredient – sap. The amount of sap produced by a single tree varies, but it’s generally between 10-20 gallons each year. (Sugaring season only runs for 4-6 weeks in the early spring.) But the incredible thing is it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup. That means it could take the entire yearly production from 2 trees to produce a single gallon of syrup. The good thing (at least for us consumers) is a gallon of maple syrup is quite a bit of syrup!
Maple Pecan Pound Cake
Now that we’ve chatted a bit about sap, syrup and sugar houses, let’s switch our attention over to a recipe using some of that delicious nature’s candy. I feel like maple flavors pair so well with toasted pecans, so I set about baking this Maple Pecan Pound Cake.
The base of this pound cake uses a bit of cream cheese to add volume to the cake – cream cheese tends to puff up a bit as it bakes. From there, I added a bit of maple syrup into the cake as well as the glaze that gets drizzled on top. This cake is fan-freakin’-tastic!
Of course, we can’t forget the toasted pecans! I thought about mixing pecans directly into the cake, but I opted to sprinkle them on top instead. Next time, I might try both. Either way, this version worked quite well.
If you’re a fan of pound cakes, then put this recipe on your list of cakes to bake. It’s an easy, no-fuss recipe that features a strong hint of maple combined with the nutty flavor of toasted pecans. Even though maple syrup is produced in the early spring, this Maple Pecan Pound Cake screams autumn dessert to me. Happy baking!
Did you bake this Maple Pecan Pound Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Maple Pecan Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1½ cups unsalted butter softened
- 2½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
For the Glaze
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- ½ Tbsp maple syrup
- ½ cup chopped pecans lightly toasted
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Grease and flour a 12-cup tube pan; set pan aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Add sugar; beat for 3-4 minutes on medium speed, or until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, beat on low speed until just combined.
- Add flour and maple syrup, beat on low speed until just combined. (Tip: Make sure to scrape sides of bowl as needed.)
- Transfer batter into prepared tube pan.
- Bake for 80-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack until completely cool.
For the Glaze
- Using a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk and maple syrup. Pour glaze on top of cooled cake, letting excess drip down sides of cake.
- Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of cake.
Looking for more tasty pound cake recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Classic Pound Cake
Sweet Tea Pound Cake
Lemon Blueberry 7UP Pound Cake
Will be making this soon for the cake can i use vegan cream cheese and butter and for the glaze can i use almond milk as am dairy free i never had maple pecan pound cake before perfect for my birthday next year on 19 September and after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Hey Ramya! I haven’t used vegan ingredients for this cake myself, but I think they would work just fine. Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out? So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
David, your maple pecan pound cake is making me wish for a slice along with a good cup of Swedish coffee.
Great job of giving us an overview of what it takes for that maple syrup to get to our tables.
Ah, I’ve heard good things about Swedish coffee. We can find Gevalia coffee here in the States, but I’m sure it’s far better over there. Either way, a good mug of coffee would indeed go well with a slice of this cake. Happy fall, Ron!
I’ve never heard of a sugar shack before, I love it! I bet it smells so good!
Loving the fall flavors of this lovely pound cake, David. The texture looks perfect!
Oh man, you’ve got to put “visit a sugar shack” onto your foodie bucket list, Marissa! It’s a really cool experience. Rustic in the best way possible!
Even though early spring is the time for producing maple syrup, I associate it with early fall! There’s something that makes it a perfect autumn ingredient…cozy aroma perhaps. That’s why it’s so good with other fall ingredients such as apples, pecans, and cinnamon. And this cake looks terrific. I would definitely want a huge slice (like 1/4 of the entire cake haha) with my morning coffee. Delicious!
I agree with you, Ben – perhaps it’s the cozy aroma of maple that makes me associate maple syrup with fall. And it does indeed go so well with the fall fruits and flavors! I think a slice of this cake with your morning coffee sounds like a great idea.
this looks great david. i’ve always wanted to be there for the maple syrup season; maybe one day. I love pecans, and they go so well with maple syrup don’t they?
Oh, you should absolutely put that on your foodie bucket list, Sherry! Sugaring season is short – just a few weeks up to a month usually. It’s all about the temperatures getting warm during the day but then cold at night. And, yes, pecans do go quite well with maple syrup! In fact, maple syrup and chopped, toasted pecans is one of my favorite pancake toppings. Yum!
Visiting a sugar shack must have been a fun and fascinating experience, David. You know, when I was a kid I thought you could just cut a maple tree and syrup would come flowing out, lol! Anyway, this looks fantastic. I love pecans and maple syrup, so it’s right up my tree. Just the thing I’d like right now as I enjoy my morning coffee!
I had no idea how maple syrup was produced until we visited that sugar shack – it’s quite simple really. Just sap that gets boiled down until it thickens which in turn concentrates the flavor. I do agree that a cup of coffee would be a fantastic partner to a slice of this pound cake! 🙂
Having been raised in the north woods, I’m no stranger to maple! I love it! I’ve never had it in a cake, though. That sounds fantastic.
Ah, you should use maple syrup in baking recipe, Jeff! It’s fantastic! Plus, your kitchen will smell amazing while it’s baking.
This pound cake looks so delicious! Love the addition of maple, yum!!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I love baking with maple syrup once fall arrives. 🙂
Excellent read, and a gorgeous cake David! I appreciate maple syrup all the more after reading. We’re experiencing a heat wave here in southern California that feels pretty much like the dead of summer. But I’m still craving the flavors of autumn, and your Maple Pecan Pound Cake fits the bill perfectly. Definitely making this!
Oh man, I wish you could bottle up some of that heat and send it up here! We’re barely cracking above 60°F here today…and it’s rainy. Pretty much the perfect day to bake a cake with maple syrup – haha! Thanks, Shannon!
I would love to visit a sugar shack and see the whole process of syruping. It’s definitely on my bucket list! I love fall and fall baking! This bundt cake has a perfect crumb and is full of amazing flavor! Well done!!! 🙂
Oh you would love a visit to a sugar shack, Kathy! I highly recommend a trip to Vermont during sugaring season! In the meantime, though, grab some maple syrup and bake this cake. It’s perfect for autumn! 🙂
I love how you used cream cheese in this pound cake recipe David. I wish I could have a slice of it now. It’s a lot coolder here ouside and this would be really comforting with my cup of afternoon tea that I’m having at the moment!
The cream cheese was a fun little addition to this pound cake, Neil. I like the texture it creates. It’s getting cooler here, too, and an afternoon cup of tea with a slice of maple pecan pound cake sounds pretty fantastic! (Too bad the pound cake is all gone…haha.)
We do have some awesome maple syrup, that’s for sure! 😉 What a delicious pound cake, David! Maple and pecans is such a dreamy combo, especially with paired with cake. Wish I had a huge hunk of it right now with my morning coffee. Talk about a yummy treat!
You’re lucky to live in the middle of maple country, Dawn! This pound cake is one heck of a tasty way to enjoy nature’s candy. Maple + pecans in pound cake form? Yes, please! Thanks so much, my friend!
I have a Canadian friend and he told me a lot of maple syrup stories, one of the things I want to try was the maple in fresh snow, basically they just pour it into a fresh snow and make it like a lollipop. That pound cake must be really good, maple syrup is way so much different in taste compared to that pancake syrup.
Hmmm…maple in fresh snow? I’ve never tried that, but it sounds delicious! We get plenty of snow here, so maybe I’ll try that this winter. You also need to try maple cream…that stuff is amazing!! It’s basically just whipped maple syrup, and it turns into a thick mixture that you can spread on toast. Amazing! Also, maple syrup and pancake syrup aren’t even in the same realm of discussion!