The combination of praline, chocolate, and whipped cream in this Chocolate Praline Layer Cake makes for a truly spectacular southern dessert.
It’s easy enough to make for potlucks, but elegant enough for special occasions or holidays. This cake won the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1988 and all these years later, it’s still a winner.
What Is A Praline?
A sweet confection with a rich, creamy texture made from sugar, butter, and pecans.
Praline Cake is a decadent southern dessert made with a combination of praline mixture, chocolate cake, and whipped cream.
Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
The chocolate cake part of this recipe is made with a box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix. I love using cake mixes as a base for recipes. It simplifies them and makes them virtually foolproof.
How To Make Chocolate Praline Cake
(Detailed instructions below.)
An easy praline mixture is made from butter, pecans, brown sugar, and cream and then poured into the bottom of two cake pans. The cake batter goes on top. When you flip the bakes cakes over, a little of the praline mixture oozes down the sides creating a dramatic effect.
A thick layer of fresh whipped cream is sandwiched between the layers and another thick layer is spread on top. Love that you don’t need to mess with frosting the sides.
To finish it off, chocolate curls and pecan halves are arranged on top for decoration.
Chocolate Praline Layer Cake makes a stunning presentation with very little effort. It’s a truly spectacular chocolate cake that can be enjoyed for a special occasion or the holidays.
Kitchen Tools I Use
- Hand-Held Electric Mixer– I couldn’t live without my handy KitchenAid Hand-Held Mixer.
- 2 9-inch Round Cake Pans– these Wilton Nonstick Cake Pans never fail me.
- Offset Spatula- an offset spatula makes frosting a cake a breeze.
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More Praline Desserts
- Chocolate Praline Cake
- Southern Praline Bundt Cake
- Praline Brownies
- Pecan Praline Cheesecake
- Peanut Pralines
- Microwave Pralines
- Praline Cream Cheese Pie
Chocolate Praline Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 (16.5-oz) box devil’s food cake mix
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
Topping
- 2 cups whipping cream,, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- whole pecans and chocolate curls for decoration
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a small heavy saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup whipping cream, and brown sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until butter is melted.
- Evenly divide butter mixture between 2 9-inch cake pans. Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs. Beat for 2 minutes at medium-high speed.
- Carefully spoon batter into the 2 cake pans.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched in middle.
- Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. (Note: do not let cool in the pans for longer than 5 minutes they will start to stick as the sugar mixture on the bottom cools.)
- To make topping, in a small saucepan combine 1/2 cup whipping cream, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture begins to simmer. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool to room temperature.
- Place a mixing bowl and whisk attachment for electric mixer in the freezer of refrigerator.
- Once cornstarch mixture has cooled, remove mixing bowl and whisk attachment from freezer, add 1 1/2 cups very cold whipping cream to the bowl and beat until it starts to thicken. Gradually add cornstarch mixture. Turn mixer to high and beat until cream is very thick. Beat in vanilla.
- To assemble, place 1 layer on a cake stand pecan side up. Cover with half of the whipped cream. Top with second layer, pecan side up and cover with remaining whipped cream. Decorate with pecans and chocolate curls.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted August 21, 2015.
Recipe adapted from Pillsbury
Sharing with The Weekend Potluck.
Could I use cool whip in place of cream?
Made it today, the recipe was perfect, as was the end result. I’ll definitely make it again, but I might increase the amount of praline. That marriage of chocolate and buttery praline was the best part!
I want to make this for a Crawfish Boil Party, but won’t have time in the afternoon, could I make it in the morning and rely on it to keep for several hours until the party?
I made this cake for guests and it was so wonderful!