This ridiculously gooey pecan butter cake features a soft, one bowl pecan sponge cake with a layer of gooey and molten maple butter cream cheese on top. It’s like pecan pie meets gooey butter cake, and you’ll never believe me when I tell you that it’s all vegan! No eggs, no dairy, and you’d absolutely never know!

slice of pecan butter cake

This recipe post is sponsored by Chosen Foods. All opinions are my own. Thank you so much for supporting The Banana Diaries!

Pecan pie meets gooey butter cake:

If you’re a pie lover, but don’t have the time nor energy for making a from scratch pie crust and pie filling- or you’re a moist cake lover looking for something a little bit easier and more exciting than your standard layer cake…

Then let me introduce you to this decadent gooey pecan butter cake. That’s all vegan too, so no eggs nor butter are required. Yet I promise you, you’ll never know the difference.

slice of bitten pecan butter cake

Trust me- as a cookbook author, I understand how much effort goes into pies and to cakes, but this spin on a gooey butter cake is nearly as effortless as mixing a box of cake mix. 

The base pecan cake is a breeze- not too dense, just perfectly moist, and yet it’s made in one bowl with just a whisk. Then the gooey maple butter cream cheese topping bakes to a molten perfection with rich notes of maple and sweet cream with a slight tang from the homemade vegan cream cheese. 

Honestly, this is the easiest dessert for your Thanksgiving table (okay, okay, along with these one bowl pumpkin bars for my pumpkin lovers and this easy vegan apple spice cake). 

What is a gooey butter cake?

I recently discovered gooey butter cake last year, with its surge in popularity once more. It’s more of a vintage cake from St. Louis, Missouri that contains a super soft and easy vanilla cake base baked with a gooey and sweet cream cheese topping. 

When you slice into it, the top cream cheese layer oozes out, like a pool of melted butter- hence the name!

Of course, this is our twist on it- the traditional contains eggs, butter, and milk, yet let this pecan gooey butter cake prove to you that you do NOT need any of those to create a jaw-droppingly delicious gooey butter cake.

sliced vegan pecan gooey butter cake

Key ingredients:

  • Vegan cream cheese: Now don’t go running to store bought cream cheese- we’re making it from scratch with just 3 simple ingredients. Pea milk (or soy milk), vinegar, and Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening. I kid you not, this is the best cream cheese you’ll ever taste, dairy or not, and it’s because we’re using the traditional method of making cream cheese. Then adding in the avocado oil shortening helps our vegan cream cheese firm up a bit without altering the flavor- it’s neutral in taste and just one ingredient (fractionated avocado oil), unlike competitive items, so we can really let our cream cheese flavor shine.
  • Pecans
  • Flour: You can use gluten-free or all-purpose flour here. Cake flour will also work!
  • Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil: In lieu of just butter, we’re using avocado oil as well. Oil helps there to be more moisture in the cake rather than just using butter. Because there’s no extra dairy in this cake, the oil locks in more moisture than butter (hence why I also use just Chosen Foods Avocado Oil in my vegan vanilla cupcake recipe!).
  • Sugar: Make sure to use organic granulated sugar, as to be vegan.
  • Dairy free yogurt: This is our vegan egg substitute. Any plain unsweetened dairy-free yogurt will do here! But keep in mind that coconut will have a flavor that comes through the cake.
  • Powdered sugar
  • Maple butter or syrup: Either works here- I find maple butter to have a more concentrated richer flavor, but it can be hard to find at times, so this recipe also works with maple syrup.
  • Leavening agents
  • Vanilla extract
avocado shortening being scooped
homemade vegan cream cheese

Overview: how to make a pecan gooey butter cake step by step

While we are making our own vegan cream cheese, it couldn’t be easier. To make this gooey pecan butter cake, we’ll first start with the cream cheese, followed by the gooey butter topping, and finally the pecan cake. 

  1. Make the cream cheese: This is arguably my favorite part of the entire process (though the rest is just as easy), just because the results of the cream cheese are shocking. It really does taste just like cream cheese, thanks to the Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening. You’ll boil the pea milk with vinegar to curdle it. Then strain the pea milk curds, and blend with Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening, and a pinch of salt as well. Set that aside in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. 
  2. Make the maple butter topping: Once the cream cheese is set, you can whisk together all of the maple butter topping ingredients (cream cheese, powdered sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and maple butter or maple syrup). Then set aside.
  3. Finally, make the pecan cake batter: In a separate bowl, you’ll add in the vegan butter and Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil, sugar, ground pecans, dairy free yogurt, leavening agents, salt, and vanilla extract. Then stir in the flour. Next, we’ll assemble!
  4. Assemble and bake: Spoon and spread the cake batter into your springform pan (don’t worry, it’s quite thick, but it won’t dry out). Then pour on the maple gooey butter topping, and spread to the edges of the pan. Bake for 42-45 minutes!
maple gooey butter in a bowl
pecan butter cake batter in a bowl
assembling the pecan butter cake
assembling the pecan butter cake

Once baked, you’ll let it cool then top with caramel and chopped pecans if desired. It’s truly like a pecan pie meets gooey butter cake, and makes for the easiest Thanksgiving dessert that’ll please all dessert lovers- vegan or not!

baked and decorated pecan gooey butter cake
sliced and eaten pecan gooey butter cake

Can I make this cake gluten free?

Absolutely! I recommend a gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum, as well as to use the gram measurements. Using a kitchen scale versus measuring cups will ensure that the measurements are as close to using all-purpose flour as possible.

slice of vegan pecan gooey butter cake

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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slice of vegan pecan gooey butter cake

Vegan Pecan Gooey Butter Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 10 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This ridiculously gooey pecan butter cake features a soft, one bowl pecan sponge cake with a layer of gooey and molten maple butter cream cheese on top. It’s like pecan pie meets gooey butter cake, and you’ll never believe me when I tell you that it’s all vegan! No eggs, no dairy, and you’d absolutely never know!

Ingredients

Scale

Homemade cream cheese:

Cream Cheese Topping:

  • 8 ounces vegan cream cheese (from above recipe)
  • 1/4 cup (57 g) maple butter or maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp (40 g) cornstarch or arrowroot starch
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cups (1300 g) powdered sugar, sifted

Pecan Cake:

  • 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (56 g) vegan butter, melted
  • ¼ cup (56 g) Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1 1/8 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cups (97 g) roasted pecans, ground to a crumbly flour
  • 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour (or gluten free 1:1 baking flour + 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

Toppings:

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the edges. Measure out all ingredients. Make sure the pecans are ground into a flour.
  2. Make the cream cheese: 
    1. Heat: In a large saucepan, add in the pea milk and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Then place the saucepan on medium high heat, and let the pea milk mixture heat and boil until the curdles have bubbled to the top and puffed up. This will take about 5-7 minutes.
    2. Strain: Grab a large bowl and place a sieve over the top of it. Place your cheesecloth in the sieve (see blog post photos). Make sure you have enough cheesecloth to twist the ends together and squeeze the cream cheese mixture liquid out. Once the pea milk mixture has boiled, remove the saucepan from heat, and pour the mixture into your cheesecloth lined sieve over the bowl. Allow the liquid to drain from the clumps of pea milk, and let the mixture cool off for 10 minutes before squeezing out more liquid. The pea milk curds will be really hot, so allow it to cool first for 10 minutes before straining anymore.
    3. Squeeze the remaining liquid from the cheese curds: Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, clump the top of the cheesecloth together with the curds inside and gently squeeze any remaining liquid from the curds into the bowl. Remove the cheesecloth from the bowl. You’ll see that the curds inside should almost resemble a cottage cheese appearance, but a little drier.
    4. Blend: Add the pea milk curds to a food processor or high speed blender, along with the avocado oil shortening and sea salt. Blend until creamy, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. It should be super silky smooth. Taste the mixture to see if you need a touch more lemon juice or if it’s just right for your taste preference. 
    5. Chill: Scrape the mixture into a glass storage container and seal with the lid. Place the vegan cream cheese into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  1.  
  2. Make the maple gooey butter topping: In a large bowl with a hand mixer or a whisk, cream together the vegan cream cheese, and maple butter. Add in the cornstarch, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and whisk together until combined. Then add in the powdered sugar in two intervals of 1 cup, whisking to combine between each interval. Once you reach a consistent gooey texture, set the bowl aside.
  3. Make the pecan cake batter: In a large bowl with a whisk, whisk together the sugar, avocado oil, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Add in the ground pecans, the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and whisk just until combined.
  4. Assemble the butter cake: Pour the cake batter into the springform pan, and spread the batter to the edges of the pan. Then pour the maple gooey butter topping on top and gently push the cream cheese mixture to the edges of the pan.
  5. Bake: Place the springform pan into the oven to bake for 42-45 minutes. Bake until a golden crust forms on top of the cream cheese mixture, and the edges of the mixture are golden brown. The middle will still be wiggly.
  6. Cool: Allow the cake to cool and set at room temperature for 3-4 hours, or cover overnight at room temperature.
  7. When ready to serve: Carefully and GENTLY run a butter knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. Then remove the walls of the pan, and plate your pecan butter cake. Top with more sliced pecans and caramel, slice, and serve!

Notes

See blog post for tips and tricks!