Desserts
Chocolate Pecan Skillet Cake
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Prep
20 min
Cook
15 min
Total
35 min
Serves
Serves 4–6 (per cast iron skillet)
Warm, fudgy, and topped with a poured pecan frosting that sets as it cools, this skillet cake comes out of the oven and gets finished immediately. It's meant to be served warm.
Ingredients
- [Cake]:
- 120g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 200g (1 cup) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 57g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
- 60ml (¼ cup) canola oil
- 2 tbsp (12g) cocoa powder
- 120ml (½ cup) water
- 60ml (¼ cup) buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- [Frosting]:
- 57g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp (12g) cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp (60ml) whole milk
- 60g (½ cup) pecans, roughly chopped
- 240g (2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1Preheat oven to 165 °C (325 °F).
- 2Whisk together flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- 3In a saucepan, bring butter, canola oil, cocoa powder, and water to a boil. Remove from heat.
- 4Whisk dry ingredients into the hot cocoa mixture until smooth.
- 5Stir in buttermilk, egg, and vanilla until just combined.
- 6Pour into cast iron skillets and bake for 15 minutes, until just set.
- 7For the frosting: bring cocoa powder, butter, and milk to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Whisk in sifted powdered sugar, pecans, and vanilla.
- 8Pour warm frosting over the warm cake immediately and spread evenly. Serve warm.
Cook's Note
The frosting must go on while the cake is still warm from the oven, pour it right away and spread quickly before it starts to set. If it cools too much before you pour it, it won't spread smoothly.
Best Served With
Serve warm, directly from the skillet, with ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar.
Why This Recipe Works
Mixing the hot cocoa-butter mixture into the dry ingredients instead of the other way around gives the cake a fudgy, dense crumb rather than a light, airy one. The warm frosting soaks slightly into the top of the cake as it sets.
Make It Yours
- Add a pinch of cayenne to the cake batter for a Mexican chocolate direction.
- Swap pecans for toasted walnuts.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while the cake is still warm.
Leftover Strategy
Keeps covered at room temperature for 2 days. The frosting firms up, reheat in a low oven (150 °C / 300 °F) for 5 minutes to soften.
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Pairing
A strong black coffee or cold glass of milk works well with the dense chocolate.