Name: Pecan Upside Down Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; ¾ cup brown sugar; ¾ cup sour cream; ½ cup light olive oil; 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract; ½ cup butter (salted or unsalted); ½ cup brown sugar; ⅓ cup maple syrup; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 cup pecan halves

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This pecan upside down cake has a rich caramel pecan topping and all the taste of pecan pie with the lightness of a soft, tender cake.

closeup of cake with slice removed to show inside

One of my favorite fall desserts is Upside Down Apple Pie (even though I’m not a huge pie fan overall), so this year I figured we’d add Pecan Upside Down Cake to the rotation.

We have a huge pecan tree in our backyard, but it’s was neglected for several years before we moved in. Last season I got a grand total of 1 cup of pecans, which, coincidentally, is exactly what you need to make this fall treat!

Ingredients needed for Pecan Upside Down Cake

flour
baking soda
salt
eggs
brown sugar (for the cake)
sour cream
olive oil
vanilla extract
butter
more brown sugar (for the topping)
maple syrup
cinnamon
pecan halves

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350º. Prep the butter by adding it to the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan, and placing it in the oven to melt. While the butter is melting, make the cake batter.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, and set aside.

small bowl of dry ingredients — Screenshot

In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs and then add the brown sugar, sour cream, oil and vanilla.

Stir in the flour mixture, until just combined. Once the butter is melted, remove from oven, and add brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon, and stir to combine.

cake batter stirred together in mixing bowl

When the butter is melted, add the brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

sugar, syrup and cinnamon added to melted butter in cake pan

Neatly arrange the pecan halves over the brown sugar mixture. This will be the top of the cake later when you flip it upside down, so try to keep them in line for *aesthetics* 😉

pecans neatly arranged in butter and sugar mixture

Now comes the tricky part. Well, the first tricky part. As smoothly and evenly as you can, spread the cake batter over the pecan topping. If you’re using an 8 inch pan, the topping will be quite thick, and the floating batter will want to shift rather than spread, so don’t worry too much about it.

Place cake in oven, and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean

Here’s the second tricky part: flipping the cake and getting it out of the pan. Remove it from the oven and immediately turn it over onto a plate. (If you wait, the topping will stick to the pan as it cools.) Then let the cake cool before serving.

After the Pecan Upside Down Cake has cooled completely, slice and serve. Some butter pecan ice cream would go great with this cake!

Other recipes featuring pecans:

slice of pecan cake on a plate with the platter in the background

top down view of cake covered in pecan halves with slice being pulled out

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