It has been so long since I blogged a recipe! Not since our Valentine’s Day meal?! Pitiful.

As you can imagine, we are gearing up for Easter brunch on Sunday. Cookbooks be a’flyin’ and I think we’ve finally settled on a pretty comprehensive menu, covering all Spring-like bases. All this thinking about food reminded me that I forgot to blog about a cake I made while at my Uncle Dick’s house. It was nice to revisit these photos and that wonderful night from about a month ago–our last night all together.

So, let’s do it. Let’s talk cake.

After celebrating my Aunt’s birthday that week with a classic sheath cake, we were also going to celebrate my {other side} Uncle’s birthday (a little early) that weekend. Unfortunately the ice storm had him turning around and heading back to Houston before he made it into Dallas, but we still enjoyed his favorite cake in his honor: Butter Brickle.

If you’ve never heard of Butter Brickle, you aren’t alone. I had to be schooled in all-things 1950-60s while going through old recipes with Bev and Memaw. Butter Brickle used to be a candy bar, and now is sold as “Bits of Brickle” by Hershey’s. It’s essentially toffee bits wrapped in a sea of butter.  A glorified buttered toffee flavor. What could be bad about this?

I’ve heard Phil talk about this, his favorite, flavor for years, but it wasn’t until we were going through Bev’s recipe box that we unearthed Memaw’s old Brickle-based recipes. There were a few on hand, but she thought this was the one that Phil loved most.

I like to think that what Phil liked most, as a child, was that Praline Liqueur in both cake and icing. It certainly had me on board pretty quickly.

If you look at that old recipe card, you’ll notice “liquid brown sugar” in the ingredients. When I first read it I thought surely it meant to read “light brown sugar”–a typo at the typewriter! But, if you read through the directions, it’s there again: liquid brown sugar. What? A quick google search revealed that Domino Sugar used to make a liquid brown sugar product! Crazy! The things you learn when baking from vintage recipes. Can we call this vintage yet?

The cake itself was an easy one, thanks to the cake mix base. (Which gave me another slight panic…cake mix boxes have changed their weight/amount over the years, but it turned out just fine.)

Here’s the beginnings of that homemade liquid brown sugar.

I’m kind of a cake batter fanatic. And an icing fanatic.

 

Gettin’ my brickle on.

Praline Liqueur is everything. Pour it on thick!

Ta-da! The finished product, minus Phil unfortunately, but the centerpiece of the sweetest goodbye.

Bring a piece of the past back with this awesome cake. Do it for Phil, do it for Uncle Dick, do it because it’s delicious. {Phil, I promise to make this for you again soon!}

Butter Brickle Cake (Praline Pecan Cake)

Source: Memaw

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding (or butterscotch pudding mix for an even more buttery flavor)
4 large eggs at room temperature
½ c. cooking oil
¼ c. liquid brown sugar*
3/4 c. praline liqueur
½ c. bits of brickle (toffee pieces), plus more for topping
½ c. chopped pecans, plus more for topping

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tbs. softened butter
3-6 Tbs. praline liqueur

Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees.

To make liquid brown sugar: Combine ¼ c. water and ¾ c. brown sugar in a small saucepan. Mix at medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Do not let it boil. Measure out ¼ c. for cake and save the rest for oatmeal or to pour over ice cream.

In a large bowl, blend cake mix and pudding mix. Add egg, oil, liquid brown sugar and praline liqueur. Beat at low speed until thoroughly mixed, then at medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Fold in bits of brickle and nuts.

Pour into well-greased and floured tube pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely.

While cake is cooling, beat together powdered sugar and butter. Add liqueur and beat until desired consistency. Pour over cake and garnish with bits of brickle and nuts.

Serve with Butter Brickle ice cream, if you can find it. (*cough* Braum’s)