Texas Praline Cake Food

TEXAS PRALINE COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch square cake pan.
• Mix baking mix, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup chopped pecans, and the instant coffee granules in a large bowl. Whisk together the egg, shortening, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate large bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing just until completely moistened.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Mix remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped pecans, and the graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter.
• Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Immediately dot top of cake with softened butter.

TEXAS PRALINE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease just the bottom of a 10 inch tube pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 cup brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in vanilla. Dissolve the coffee crystals in water, and stir into the creamed mixture until blended. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir into the batter until just incorporated. Fold in pecans. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
• Bake for about 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack.
• In a chilled bowl, stir together the heavy cream, salt, vanilla and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar so that the sugar is dissolved. Whip using chilled beaters until stiff. Run a knife around the outer edge of the cake in the pan, and tap it out onto a serving plate. Make sure cake is completely cool before frosting. Decorate with pecan halves if you like.

HEAVENLY PRALINE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Add pecan halves; stir gently to coat. Combine sugar and brown sugar; add to pecan mixture and stir gently to coat., Spread into two greased 15x10x1-in. baking pans. Bake 18-22 minutes, stirring once. Cool. Store in an airtight container., Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition. Stir in chopped pecans., Transfer to a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 325° 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely., In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Remove from heat; stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Serve with candied pecans.

TEXAS PRALINE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first three ingredients. Press into springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and reduce oven to 300 degrees.
• Beat cream cheese and brown sugar. Add flour. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Pour into crust. Top with pecans.
• Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cake in for 30 more minutes.
• Refrigerate at least two hours.

PRALINE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• Combine crust ingredients in a small bowl.
• Press mixture into a 9- or 10- inch springform pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven.
• When crust is done, remove from oven and set aside.
• Increase oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, evaporated milk, flour, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl; beat well.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Pour filling mixture into baked crust.
• Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes (center of cheesecake should still be slightly wobbly).
• Cool cheesecake completely (using whatever preferred method; everyone has their own).
• Before serving, paint the top with maple syrup and arrange whole pecans in a decorative pattern on top (I usually do it in such a way as to have one pecan per slice).
• Cover and refrigerate leftovers.

TEXAS PECAN PRALINES

Steps:

• Line 3 baking sheets with foil and grease the foil with 1 teaspoon butter each; set aside., In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt cubed butter. Stir in sugars, cream, milk, corn syrup and salt; cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer reads 236° (soft-ball stage), about 20 minutes., Remove from heat; stir in pecans and vanilla. Cool, without stirring, to 170°, about 20 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture just begins to thicken but is still glossy, about 2 minutes., Quickly drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Let stand until pralines are set and no longer glossy. Refrigerate until completely set, about 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE WITH HAZELNUT PRALINE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (nonfan)/375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of 2 (20-centimeter/8-inch) cake pans (tins) with a removable base with parchment paper and grease the sides. Alternatively, grease the bottoms and sides of 2 (20-centimeter/8-inch) regular cake pans, line with parchment, and grease the parchment.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugars. In a separate bowl, add the oil, eggs and kefir, and whisk just to combine. Add to the dry mixture and use a spatula to gently fold through. Add the 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons/220 grams hot coffee and mix gently to combine. It'll look very runny at first, but will soon come together into a glossy, pourable batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans, about 21 ounces/600 grams per pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool for about 30 minutes, then slide a butter knife along the sides to help release the cake. Brush the tops lightly with the remaining 1 tablespoon/14 grams extra coffee (discard any extra).
• Invert one cake onto a board, remove the parchment, then invert it again onto a cake stand or the platter you intend to serve it on (domed side up now). Invert the other cake onto a board (don't remove the paper). Invert it again, onto a plate, so that it's paper side down. (This will help prevent it from sticking.) Set both cakes aside to cool completely.
• Make the praline: With the oven still at 200 degrees Celsius/375 degrees Fahrenheit, spread the hazelnuts onto a parchment-lined medium baking sheet (tray) and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until deeply golden, shaking the pan halfway through baking. Set aside, keeping the tray and parchment paper. You'll use them again later.
• Place a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and, once quite hot, sprinkle in a third of the caster sugar to cover the base. It should immediately start to melt at the sides but not brown too quickly. Swirl the sugar in the pan a little, then add another third of the sugar, allowing it to melt a little before adding the remaining third. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the sugar is an amber caramel, stirring with a spatula just a couple times (but not much more). Add the hazelnuts and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring to coat, then quickly transfer the mixture to your parchment-lined tray and leave to cool completely.
• Once cool, roughly break apart the praline and add it to a food processor. Pulse a few times until you have very coarse crumbs, then measure out about 1/2 cup/75 grams of the mixture and transfer to a bowl. Blitz the remaining mixture in the food processor for about 5 minutes or until it turns into the consistency of a smooth nut butter, stopping to scrape the inside of the bowl as necessary. Transfer this to a separate bowl.
• Make the mascarpone cream: Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until you have medium peaks. Refrigerate if not assembling right away (you want it nice and cold).
• When ready to assemble, top the cake on your cake stand with half the cream mixture. Spoon over about 2 tablespoons of the smooth praline and gently swirl it through the cream with your spatula. Top with another 2 tablespoons of the praline, this time without swirling. Sprinkle with half the praline crumble. Carefully invert the other cake on top now, removing the paper. Top with the remaining cream and repeat the same process with the smooth praline and praline crumble. Serve right away, or refrigerate overnight to firm up the cream before serving. (The cake will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.)