Over the weekend we celebrated another year of my daddy, and of course that meant we needed a crazy cake. I decided to make another pie inside a cake. This time I used a pecan pie inside of a spice cake, covered with maple frosting.
I started by making a pecan pie, letting it cool to room temperature and then tossing it in the freezer. After my first pie inside a cake I vowed to freeze my pies for easier handling in the future. Also make sure to line your pie plate with parchment paper to make getting your pie out easier.
Then make some cake batter. I used this spice cake recipe. I had never made it before but I liked it a lot. You could also use a store bought pie and cake mix from a box, but where is the fun in that?
Next, butter a large (this one is 11") spring form pan like it is your life's work. Take pride in the amount of butter you get in this pan. Butter until you think you can't possibly butter anymore, then butter a little extra. You do not want all of your hard work and dedication to the dessert of champions to get stuck to your damn pan.
Then flour your pan.
Now comes the fun part. Pour enough cake batter into the pan to cover the bottom, then take that perfectly good pie out of it's pie plate and pop that bad boy into the cake pan.
You can hyperventilate here if needed. You just took a perfectly good dessert and now you are going to try and turn it into frankencake. A little anxiety is expected.
Pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan and toss it in the oven.
I ended up baking this for about an hour and 20 minutes. Let it cool in the pan, then take off the sides and gently remove it from the bottom.
I put the cake right on my cake carrier before frosting.
Now you can spread the frosting on with a spatula or knife or pipe it in a pretty pattern, whatever makes you happiest. I went with spatula spreading because it's easiest.
This is the inside of this beast. It was really sweet, like call a dentist sweet. The middle did stay pretty gooey, so a thinner cake mix might have been better for baking, or it might have been that this pie didn't have a top crust like the cherry pie I used last time. I'm not sure but I'll keep you posted on my next attempt. It might take another couple years before I try it again, because did I mention this beast of a cake is sweet.
It's always fun to make weird desserts, especially for my weird daddy's birthday!
Future combinations I'm thinking of trying:
Pumpkin pie/Spice cake
Apple pie/Spice cake
Blackberry pie/Vanilla or Chocolate or Lemon cake
Key Lime/Vanilla cake
Strawberry/Chocolate or Vanilla cake
What would your perfect pie stuffed cake be?
