Praline Frosting Recipes

Steps:

• Make the praline: Butter a baking sheet, or line it with a Silpat (a French baking mat). Set aside. In a small, heavy saucepan, bring 1 cup sugar and the water to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves; wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystals from forming.
• Continue cooking, without stirring, until dark amber, swirling pan to color evenly. Remove from heat; stir in nuts, distributing evenly. Immediately pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Let sit until hardened and completely cool.
• Break praline into pieces, and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process to a fine powder. Measure out 1 1/2 cups praline powder, and set aside. Reserve remaining powder for another use.
• Make the buttercream: In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites and remaining 1/2 cup sugar until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved.
• Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on high speed until mixture is stiff and cool, about 5 minutes. Add butter all at once, and beat until mixture has a smooth, spreadable consistency, about 5 minutes. Don't worry if the buttercream separates and appears curdled; it will come back together with continued beating.
• Add praline powder; beat to combine. If using the same day, set aside, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature, until ready to use. Or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Before using, bring to room temperature; beat with paddle attachment until smooth.

Steps:

• Mix light brown sugar, granulated sugar, heavy cream, butter, water and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves. Stir in pecans and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 238 to 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. If you spoon a drop of boiling syrup into a cup of ice water, it will form a soft ball that flattens easily between your fingers.
• Remove pan from heat and stir rapidly until mixture thickens. Drop pralines by the spoonfuls, 1-inch apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Let cool completely until firm. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• In large saucepan over medium heat, combine pecans, sugar, butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Let cool completely.

Steps:

• CAKE: Grease and flour three nine-inch round cake pans and preheat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter or margarine with both Granulated sugar and light brown sugar until very light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to the batter alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract. Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake in the center of the preheated oven for twenty-five to thirty minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the layers comes out clean. Cool layers in their pans over a rack for ten minutes, then loosen and turn out layers directly onto racks for cooling. Cool layers thoroughly before icing (recipe follows). Recipe yields a nine-inch, three-layer cake. ICING: Melt the butter or margarine in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, then stir in Granulated Sugar and Imperial Light Brown Sugar. (Sugars will not dissolve). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the evaporated milk until smooth, then whisk this mixture into the saucepan with the sugar mixture. Return saucepan to a medium heat setting and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick, shiny and caramel-like, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and pecans. Cool icing to a good spreading consistency (about thirty minutes), then spread evenly between cooled cake layers and over the top and sides of the cake. Recipe yields icing for a nine-inch, three-layer cake.

Steps:

• For the gluten-free flour blend: In a large bowl, whisk together the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum and salt.
• For the pecan crumble: In a small bowl, stir together the pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon with 2 teaspoons gluten-free flour blend.
• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 12-cup bundt cake pan with butter or gluten-free cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda and salt with 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend.
• Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the egg mixture, alternating and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle half of the pecan crumble mixture on top. Repeat with the remaining batter and pecan crumble mixture. Using a butter knife, swirl the crumble mixture into the batter in a crisscross motion. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack and invert onto a cake plate.
• For the frosting: In a small saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter and milk to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Gradually whisk in the confectioners' sugar until combined. Whisk for about 3 minutes to cool slightly; pour the frosting over the cooled cake and top immediately with the pecans to decorate.

Steps:

• 1. Grease bottoms of 3 (8-inch) round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper and sides of pans; set pans aside.
• 2. Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat, and let cool.
• 3. Beat buttermilk and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour, and salt; gradually add to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (Batter will be thin.) Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• 4. Bake at 350° for 25 to 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. (Cake layers will appear thin.).
• 5. Spread about 1/2 cup Chocolate Ganache between each cake layer; spread remaining Chocolate Ganache on sides of cake. (Do not frost top of cake.) Chill cake 30 minutes. Pour warm Praline Frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges. (Cover and let stand up to 24 hours, if desired.).
• 6. Pierce about 25 holes in top of cake using a wooden or metal skewer. Pour warm Bourbon Glaze over cake.
• Chocolate Ganache:.
• 1. Microwave chocolate morsels and cream in a glass bowl on MEDIUM (50% power) 2 to 3 minutes or until morsels are melted, stirring after 1 1/2 minutes; whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth. Cool about 35 minutes or until spreading consistency, whisking every 10 minutes.
• Praline Frosting:.
• 1. Bake pecans on a baking sheet at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once.
• 2. Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring often, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add toasted pecans; stir gently 3 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly.
• Bourbon Glaze:.
• 1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in bourbon. Carefully ignite the fumes just above liquid mixture with a long match or long multipurpose lighter. Let stand until flames disappear.

Steps:

• Bake pecans on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once.
• Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
• Add toasted pecans; stir gently 3 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly.