Glazed Butter Pecan Pound Cake

By Elizabeth Waterson // Oct 4, 2025 (Updated Nov 22, 2025) // Leave a Comment

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This Butter Pecan Pound Cake bakes up rich, buttery, and perfectly dense with a tender crumb. Toasted pecans folded into a brown sugar filling add caramel-like depth, while sour cream keeps every bite moist for days. Topped with a sweet vanilla glaze and more toasted pecans, it's a loaf that balances crunch and melt-in-your-mouth texture beautifully.

Three slices of glazed pecan pound cake are stacked on a speckled plate, with a pink textured cloth underneath. The bread appears moist and dense, featuring visible pecan pieces throughout.

This Butter Pecan Pound Cake is one of my favorite cozy bakes to share with family. If you love baking classic Cake Recipes, you'll find so many to try. And if pecans are your thing, don't miss my Pecan Pie Brownies - they combine the same nutty, caramelized flavors in a totally different way. When I was a child, my dad would always have a container of butter pecan ice cream, and at first, it wasn't my favorite, but when you're a kid, you'll take any ice cream you can get. Soon, I fell in love with the butter pecan flavor.

A slice of glazed pecan bread with whole pecans on top sits on a white plate, with more bread and pecans visible in the background.

Pound Cake Pantry Picks

Brown sugar in the filling - caramelizes with butter and pecans, creating a nutty, praline-like flavor layer.
Sour cream - adds moisture and fat that keep the cake tender for days, balancing the density of a traditional pound cake.
Toasted pecans - toasting deepens their flavor and adds crunch that contrasts the soft, buttery cake.
Baking powder - provides just enough lift to keep the loaf from being too heavy while still delivering that rich pound cake texture.
Salt - enhances the sweetness and nuttiness, making the brown sugar and pecans stand out even more.

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

From Batter to Glaze

A black skillet with chopped pecans, cubes of butter, and a mound of brown sugar, placed on a light surface next to a pink cloth. — Add pecans, butter, and brown sugar to a skillet to cook.

A black skillet filled with toasted, candied pecans on a light-colored countertop. — Add pecans, butter, and brown sugar to a skillet to cook.

Overhead view of a metal mixing bowl with chunks of butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar inside. A mauve kitchen towel is partially visible to the left of the bowl on a light countertop. — Cream butter and sugars.

A metal mixing bowl with creamed butter and sugar, and cracked eggs on top, sits on a light counter next to a wrinkled maroon kitchen towel. — Cream butter and sugars.

A metal mixing bowl with wet ingredients for cake batter sits on a light countertop next to a wrinkled dark red cloth. — Scrape the bowl so all egg is combined.

Two glass bowls on a light countertop: one filled with flour and the other with a sour cream mixture. A folded red cloth sits to the left of the bowls. — Scrape the bowl so all egg is combined.

A metal mixing bowl with cake batter and a dollop of sour cream mixture in the center, sitting on a light countertop next to a crumpled maroon kitchen towel. — Add half of the sour cream mixture.

A metal mixing bowl containing cake batter with chopped pecans sprinkled on top, ready to be mixed. A pink cloth is partially visible beneath the bowl on a light countertop. — Add half of the sour cream mixture.

A loaf pan filled with unbaked pecan pound cake batter sits on a light countertop next to a folded pink cloth. The batter is creamy with visible bits of nuts mixed in. — Add cake batter to the prepared pan.

A golden-brown loaf of pecan pound cake sits on a round wire cooling rack atop a light surface, with part of a pink cloth visible in the lower left corner. — Add cake batter to the prepared pan.

A glass bowl of white glaze with a whisk inside, sitting on a light surface next to a crumpled pink cloth. — Make a simple icing.

A rectangular loaf cake covered in white icing and sprinkled with chopped pecans, sits on a round wire cooling rack on a light-colored surface. — Make a simple icing.

A loaf of glazed butter pecan pound cake sits on a wire rack, topped with chopped pecans. Whole pecans are scattered around the rack.

Close-up of a slice of butter pecan pound cake, with visible pecans. The bread boasts a light glaze and golden-brown crust, resting on a white plate over a pink cloth.

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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Recipe Card

Glazed Butter Pecan Pound Cake

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Print Recipe

Total Time: 2 Hours 20 Minutes
Yield: 8-10 Slices 1x

Instructions

Pecan Filling

Preheat oven to 325F/163C and heavily grease a 1lb loaf pan, set aside while you prepare the filling.
In a small saucepan, add the brown sugar, butter, and chopped pecans. Cook for 5-7 minutes over low-medium heat to toast the pecans in the melted butter and sugar. Set aside to cool while you prepare the cake.

Cake

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars, and mix on low-medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Once the mixture is light and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the side of the bowl so everything is fully combined, then add the eggs one at a time.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, in a separate bowl, mix together the vanilla extract and sour cream.
Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix to combine, then add ½ of the sour cream mixture, mix to combine, then ⅓ of the dry ingredients and repeat with the remaining sour cream and dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the caramelized pecans with the last bit of dry ingredients. You don't want to overmix the batter.
Pour into the prepared cake pan and use an offset spatula to spread the batter into an even layer. Bake for 55-65 minutes, the internal temperature of the cake should be 210F/99C. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour on top of the cooled cake and spread into an even layer, then top with chopped pecans. Store leftovers in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 4 days.