Recently, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with lush cakes. Honestly, can you blame me? This dessert is so rich, so creamy, so…lush. When you dip your fork into a slice, it sinks through layers of fluffy whipped topping, creamy pudding, sweetened cream cheese, and finally a crumbly, cookie-like crust. Raise it to your mouth, and you get all four luscious flavors in one bite. Doesn’t that sound worth obsessing over?
So I’ve been experimenting with different versions of this dreamy dessert. I developed a Pina Colada Lush Cake, then followed up on that success with a tangy Lemon Lush Cake (recipe coming soon). Then I thought I should try to branch out a bit from fruit flavors, so I started thinking about what other flavors would work in this cake-pudding combo. And right away the answer leaped out at me: butter pecan.
Once I had the initial idea, this Butterscotch Lush Cake practically came together on its own. I just added some chopped pecans to the crust layer, spread on the sweetened cream cheese, spread on a layer of creamy butterscotch pudding, and topped it all off with whipped topping and more pecans. With its rich, sweet combo of pecans and butterscotch, this may be my most decadent lush cake ever. At least, so far.
SO WHAT IS A LUSH CAKE, EXACTLY?
Well, it’s not really a cake. It’s a sort of layered dessert with a cookie-like base topped with cream cheese, pudding, and whipped topping. Some versions leave out the pudding layer, and some have a more cake-like crust. Some people call it “lush dessert” or just plain “lush” to avoid confusion. Either way, it’s a super easy dessert everyone loves!
I CAN’T SEEM TO GET THE BUTTER AND FLOUR MIXTURE JUST RIGHT. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
First, make sure you’re using cold butter. Dump it into the flour and cut it in with a pastry cutter, repeatedly pressing it through the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can cut the butter into small pieces and mush it into the flour with a fork. Or just pulse the butter and flour together in your food processor, working in short bursts. Once it has the right crumbly texture, stir in the pecans and press it into the pan.