CAKE: 1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan. In a bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a small bowl, mix egg yolks, maple syrup, oil, and brandy. Pour into flour mixture; stir to combine.

4. In a large bowl, with a mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until glossy, about 2 minutes. Stir a quarter of the egg-white mixture into yolk mixture. Scrape into remaining egg-white mixture and fold in gently.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Transfer in pan to rack and let cool 1 hour.

6. Remove pan rim. Cut in half horizontally and place bottom layer on a cake plate. Spread with half the maple-cream cheese frosting. Top with remaining layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and top with pecans.

FROSTING: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring maple syrup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until reduced by about a third, 10-12 minutes. Pour into a glass measuring cup nested in a bowl of ice water and stir constantly until syrup is very thick and barely warm to touch, 3-4 minutes. Remove from ice water. In a bowl, with a mixer on low, beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Beat in powdered sugar; scrape in reduced syrup; beat until smooth.