Dessert: Pecan Spice Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Several traditional southern themes — pecans, Caribbean spices, and, of course, thick, tangy cream cheese frosting — come together in this gorgeous layer cake that's both down-home and elegant.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Cinnamon

Health benefits of Pecan Spice Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060).

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces and softened, plus additional for buttering pans
2 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup pecans (3 ounces), toasted , cooled, and finely chopped

Instructions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 °F. Butter and flour cake pans, knocking out excess flour.
Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl.
Beat together butter (1 1/2 sticks) and brown sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer (fitted with paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and sour cream alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth. Mix in pecans until just combined.
Spoon batter evenly into pans, smoothing tops, then rap pans once or twice to expel any air bubbles. Bake until pale golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edge of pans, then invert racks over pans and reinvert cakes onto racks to cool completely.

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