A delicious pecan upside-down cake has a buttery pecan topping at the bottom of the pan before pouring in the cake batter, which is then invterted after baking. The topping becomes a beautiful layer on top, and is delicious served with ice cream.

upside down cake

Enjoy a cozy Pecan Upside Down Cake served with your favorite ice cream on top! Pecan Upside Down Cake Recipe is a delicious cake, a tasty coffee cake, served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner–best served warm, so the topping is buttery and gooey!

This recipe for a pecan upside-down cake is adapted for a cast-iron skillet, creating a gooey, buttery topping and a tender cake. Using a cast-iron skillet is ideal for this dessert because it distributes and retains heat evenly, ensuring the caramelized topping is perfectly cooked. 

It’s best served at room temperature so you can make it early in the day and let it sit out on the counter to taunt all of your guests (great for overnight-guests!) It can be served warm or at room temperature, with popular accompaniments like vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

making a cake

Key ingredients to make a Pecan Upside Down Cake

  • Salt: Although optional, I love the balance of a little salt with the sticky sweet topping.
  • Pecans: It’s worth it to chop the pecans yourself; they are better quality than the pre-chopped kind.
  • Butter: Butter provides richness and flavor to make a tender texture. It also contributes to a cake’s rising by trapping air during the creaming process with sugar, which creates air pockets in the batter.
  • Eggs: Eggs bind the cake together.
  • Dark brown sugar: Dark brown sugar will have a slightly deeper molasses flavor, but you can also use light if you are in a pinch.
  • Buttermilk: This keeps the cake tender and moist. Full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream also work well.
  • Vanilla, cinnamon, maple syrup: A light cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup brings the flavor through the rest of the cake.
  • Flour + Baking powder, baking soda: Regular all-purpose flour works best here, plus the other additives.
out of the oven pecan Upside Down Cake Recipe

How do you make a Pecan Upside Down Cake?

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Add pecans, 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Cook over medium heat until butter melts and sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted (6 Tbsp) butter, vanilla, and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Gently spoon batter over pecan mixture in skillet. (Do not stir.)
  4. Bake until golden brown, and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven. Let stand in pan 10 minutes. Place a flat serving plate over cake; carefully invert cake onto plate. Spoon any remaining pecan mixture in skillet over cake.
  6. Serve with ice cream, if desired.
a slice of Pecan Upside Down Cake Recipe

Serving 

So for fall holidays or Christmas, whip up this yummy dessert and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Serving it with Oregon ice cream (yes, Tillamook is from Oregon, and I live in Oregon). Have you tried their Pumpkin Cookie Butter flavor? Oh, so good!

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Pecan Upside Down Cake with pumpkin ice cream

Sandy’s tips and substitutions:

  • If you are not a pecan fan, you can use other nuts like walnuts or pistachios.
  • We used buttermilk, but you can also use sour cream or Greek yogurt.
  • Try adding cardamom – it’s delish (very nice flavor).
  • I love my cast iron Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Shallow Fry Pan, which is perfect for an upside down cake. And it comes in so many beautiful colors! [affiliate link]
  • If you love other varieties of upside down cake, try our Pineapple Cake made with Duncan Hines or our Almond Pear Upside Down Cake.
  • Storage: The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

More upside down cake recipes to try:

Pecan Upside Down Cake Recipe
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Pecan Upside Down Cake

Sandy Coughlin
A pecan upside-down cake has a buttery pecan topping at the bottom of the pan before adding the batter, which is then invterted after baking.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
 

Topping:

  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans
  • ½ cup butter, cut into small pieces
  • ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ½ tsp. salt

Cake batter:

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Add pecans, ½ cup butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Cook over medium heat until butter melts and sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted (6 Tbsp) butter, vanilla, and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Gently spoon batter over pecan mixture in skillet. (Do not stir.)
  • Bake until golden brown, and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Invert the cake:

  • Remove from oven. Let stand in pan 10 minutes. Place a flat serving plate over cake; carefully invert cake onto plate. Spoon any remaining pecan mixture in skillet over cake.
  • Serve with ice cream, if desired.
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert
Calories: 545kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 98mg, Sodium: 715mg, Potassium: 173mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 40g, Vitamin A: 736IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 110mg, Iron: 2mg
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Pecan Upside Down Cake