Toasted Pecan Cake

Submitted by Clare Casey

From Chef Clare: I am hashtag blessed that my wonderful Aunt Sarah has a mature Pecan Tree in her yard and that she shares her nutty wealth with me. And for the record, the correct pronunciation of pecan is "puh-cahn" and not "pee-can".

Ingredients

1 lb whole or chopped pecans

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

9 Tbsp unsalted butter (plus some for pan)

7 large eggs, separated

Whipped cream and berries for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350. Oil or butter a 9-inch round pan (you can also line with parchment paper, but I never seem to have a roll in my house.)

2. Toast your nuts! Spread pecans in a single layer on a sheet tray. Toast for 10 minutes, tossing once midway through. Let pecans cool completely before using (15 minutes in the freezer does the trick).

3. Grind your nuts! In a food processor or fancy blender, grind pecans with sugar and salt. Stop before it turns into a nut butter. Set aside.

4. Brown your butter! Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. The evolution of butter into brown butter is: butter melts, butter foams, butter starts to resemble a beer (i.e. clear golden), and finally butter turns brown and smells nutty. You'll want to stir occasionally and keep your eyes on it constantly. Beautiful brown butter can turn into burnt butter faster than Trea Turner stealing a base.

5. Remove your brown butter from heat and pour into a large bowl to cool. Pop it into the fridge to speed this along (but not the freezer, because it can and will freeze. Trust me on this.)

6. Beat it! Beat your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Set aside.

7. Batter up! Add egg yolks and vanilla to the cooled, brown butter and whisk until combined. Stir in the pecan-salt-sugar mixture. The batter is going to be very thick. You can skip arm day at the gym.

8. Whip it good! Add 1/3 of the peaked egg whites to the batter and stir to the combine. This will loosen up the batter, and make it easier to fold in the remaining egg whites into the batter, which you should do now...softly. We don't want to deflate the peaky egg whites. Pour into the round pan, and smooth the top.

9. Bake it! Pop your cake into the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. Let it cool for a bit, then garnish with whatever's your fancy and eat eat eat.