Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Two layers of fluffy Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake decorated with a fresh orange cream cheese frosting, chopped pecans and butterscotch pieces!

Reasons to love this Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake

• The recipe uses freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest
• The sponge is light, fluffy and buttery
• Chopped pecans add a lovely crunchy texture throughout
• Tangy cream cheese frosting and refreshing citrus flavours are a match made in heaven

Recipe overview and success tips

1. Bake the cake layers. Simple vanilla sponge recipe with added orange zest and chopped pecans. Use margarine like Stork Original for a light and fluffy texture.
2. Spoon over the orange drizzle. Whilst the cakes are still warm, a fresh orange sugar syrup is drizzled over the cake.
3. Whip up the cream cheese frosting. Beat the butter first until it’s super soft and almost white in colour, this will remove any yellow tones from the butter and result in a bright white frosting. Also, I’ve found that adding the cream cheese cold straight from the fridge, helps prevent the frosting from becoming thin and runny. Keep it in the fridge until needed.
4. Assemble the cake. Sandwich the layers together with frosting, then apply a crumb-coat layer (more on this below). Then apply the final coat of frosting and smooth out the sides.
5. Decorate. I like to decorate around the base of the cake mainly because it helps hide any mess 😉 I chose a mix of chopped pecans and mini-butterscotch pieces and used by hand to press them into the side of the cake.

How (and why) to crumb-coat your cake

Ever wondered how to get beautifully smooth and crumb-free buttercream? Say hello to the crumb-coat technique.

A crumb-coat is a thin layer of buttercream applied to the outside of a cake to help seal in the cake layers and catch all of the crumbs. It doesn’t have to be neat or perfect.

The cake is then refrigerated for 30 minutes to firm up the buttercream. You’ll then apply the final coating of buttercream on top of the crumb-coat, which will be much easier to apply and give you a perfectly clean and crumb-free finish.

Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Two layers of fluffy Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake decorated with a fresh orange cream cheese frosting, chopped pecans and butterscotch pieces!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Baking

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

Pecan Orange Cake:

• 300 g Margarine or unsalted butter I use Stork Original
• 300 g Golden caster sugar
• 300 g Self raising flour
• 3 medium Eggs At room temperature
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 large Orange Zest only
• 100 g Pecans Roughly chopped

Orange Drizzle:

• ½ large Orange Juice only
• 2 tbsp Golden caster sugar

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 250 g Unsalted butter
• 500 g Icing sugar
• 250 g Full-fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese Keep in the fridge until needed
• ½ large Orange Juice only

Decoration:

• 50 g Pecans Roughly chopped
• 1 large Orange Chopped into slices
• 25 g Mini Butterscotch Pieces I bought these from Sainsbury's

Instructions

 

Cake layers

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas mark 4.
• Lightly grease two deep 8inch round cake tins with butter and line with greaseproof paper.
• In a large bowl add the margarine, golden caster sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla. Beat together with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined. Fold in the orange zest and chopped pecans.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until risen, golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Orange drizzle

• Mix the orange drizzle ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Whilst the cakes are still warm, prick them all over on top with a toothpick and spoon over the orange drizzle. Leave to cool completely.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat the butter until really soft and pale in colour.
• Sift in the icing sugar and squeeze in the juice of half an orange. Beat together until smooth.
• Now take the cream cheese out of the fridge and add to the bowl. Gently fold into the mixture until smooth and fully combined. Be careful not to over-mix, as the frosting can quickly become runny.

Assemble the cake

• Place one of the cake layers on a plate or cake stand. Spread over a thick layer of frosting, then place the second cake layer on top.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting to create a crumb-coat*. This doesn't have to be super neat and don't worry if the frosting pulls up any crumbs. Place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up the frosting.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.

Decorate

• Decorate the base with chopped pecans and butterscotch pieces.
• Place a few slices of fresh orange on top of the cake. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

Store your Pecan Orange Drizzle Cake in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to 3 days.

*Check out the post above for how (and why) to apply a crumb-coat.

Keyword Cake, Chocolate orange, Cream cheese frosting, Pecans

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