Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe: The best cake made in a Bundt Pan!
Infused with a delectable butter sauce that soaks into the cake and then slathered on the cake, creating an enticing sugar crust on the exterior. Kentucky Butter Cake is a rich, buttery, insanely moist vanilla poke cake. This sweet and fluffy cake is great on its own, but it’s even better with some fresh fruit and whipped cream. Perfect for holiday celebrations or stress-free entertaining, this Kentucky Butter Cake is even wonderful the next day. The use of gluten-free flour improves the flavor even further!
Kentucky Butter Cake is like a cross between a pound cake with vanilla poppy seeds and a butter crunch cake if you’re not familiar with either.
Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe:
The signature flavor of a Kentucky Butter Cake is the luscious, buttery vanilla sauce. While the bottom of the cake is still hot, holes are poked into it and a delicious sweet sauce is poured in. Infusing the rest of the cake with its deliciousness! The sauce makes for a lusciously moist dessert that will have your taste buds tingling with delight. And I love the crispy, cracking bottom that the glaze creates on the cake!
A syrupy butter sauce is poured over the whole surface of a Kentucky Butter Cake before baking; this creates a crunchy, sweet crust that is reminiscent of a donut.
The Kentucky Butter Cake’s texture is similar to that of a velvet pound cake, with a rich, soft, thick, and indulgent cake base rather than a light, airy one.
It has a deep vanilla and butter flavor without being too sweet, with a soft, buttery, sugary center and a buttery, sugar-crunchy outside. This cake is worth drooling!
What you need to make this Kentucky Butter Cake:
The following items are required to prepare this butter cake, and they will be used in both the cake and the butter sauce:
Butter: When baking, unsalted flour is preferable so that the right amount of salt may be added. You’ll need to use less salt if you can only get salted butter.
Sugar: For both cake and sauce, use granulated sugar.
Eggs: Make sure to use room-temperature eggs.
All-purpose flour: For an even more tender cake, it is best to use gluten-free flour.
Baking powder and baking soda: These two make the cake tender and assist the cake to rise in the oven.
Buttermilk: Since it’s more acidic than milk, it helps tenderize the gluten, resulting in a cake with a smoother texture and greater volume. But if you don’t have any on hand, you may make a sour milk replacement by mixing milk and vinegar.
To make this recipe gluten-free (you should use this ingredient instead):
Use gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour (like Bob’s Red Mill) instead of all-purpose flour.
Steps To Make Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe:
Step 1: This Kentucky Butter Cake calls for a 10-inch, 12-cup nonstick Bundt cake pan. For this Kentucky Bundt Cake, I butter, sugar, and flour the pan. This helps make a sugar crust.
Step 2: Beat butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium-high speed.
This step is crucial because you only whisk air into the cake mixture to generate bubbles. Bubbles develop while baking, making the cake lighter. Your cake will be thicker, less tender, and higher if you don’t cream them sufficiently.
Step 3: After creaming the butter and sugar, whisk the batter slightly. After adding each egg, beat just until the yellow disappears.
Overbeating eggs makes the batter liquid and may overflow during baking.
Step 4: Don’t peek at your Kentucky Butter! Opening doors might make your cake cook unevenly and topple. Overbaking is a major cause of dry cakes. Remove your cake when a toothpick has a few crumbs. Check your Kentucky Butter Cake at 50 minutes and cook as required, setting a timer to avoid overbaking.
Step 5: Fun begins! After 5 minutes, poke 45 holes into the Kentucky Butter Cake’s bottom. The chopsticks’ thin ends are perfect. Skewers are too thin and spoons too large. Poke holes 3/4 down. The butter sauce penetrates the cake without leaking out and adhering to the pan.
Step 6: Make Butter Sauce just after poking holes in the cake. Too quickly, the sauce will crystallize and solidify. After the vanilla cake cools, make it. The cake will absorb all the glaze if you pour it on just after it comes out of the oven.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Step 7: Reserve 1/4 cup of sauce to glaze the cooled cake and pour the remainder into the cake holes. Slowly pour the sauce so it seeps into the cake holes rather than pooling and dripping.
Step 8: Leave the sauce on the Kentucky Butter Cake for 30 minutes. Let it cool quickly or the glaze will stick and solidify.
Step 9: Run a knife around the cake to remove it. After tapping the pan, flip the cake onto a plate or cake stand.
Note: If your Kentucky Butter Cake sticks, pick up the pieces and patch them back in. The glaze will bond them in place, and powdered sugar will mask any flaws.
B)
C)
D)
E)
Step 10: Reheat the Glaze without boiling it and softly brush it over the cake to allow it to soak in.
The cake is moister and tastier if left to rest overnight.
FOR A FOOL-PROOF BUTTER CAKE
Pay attention to these small areas for a successful butter cake:
- If you want perfect results, bake the cake in a Bundt pan measuring 10 inches in diameter and holding 12 cups of batter. To avoid having your cake cling to the pan, make sure it is a nice nonstick pan.
- The key to successful recipe delivery is in the preparation: read the recipe in its entirety, and get any specific ingredients, such as butter, eggs, and buttermilk, to room temperature, in advance.
- To get eggs to room temperature without breaking the shell, place them in a dish of warm (not hot) tap water for 20 minutes. Heating buttermilk in the microwave to room temperature (NOT hot).
- It’s not required, but I find it helpful to measure all of my ingredients before I begin cooking. This way, if I am interrupted, I won’t have to worry about forgetting how much of anything I added.
- Cakes made using packed flour are denser and drier because the flour has been compressed during the measuring process. Instead, measure flour by spoonfuls and level with a knife.
- The cake batter needs air to bake up light and fluffy, but you don’t want the air bubbles that form when you pour the batter into the pan; otherwise, your cake will have holes and splits in it. After filling the pans with batter, tap them on the counter a few times and jiggle them back and forth to help eliminate air bubbles. In this way, the air bubbles in your cake will be forced to the surface.
- Do not delay in baking the cake; have the oven ready at the same time as the cake batter. Once the liquids are combined with the baking soda, a chemical reaction takes place. Your cake won’t rise as much or be as delicate if you wait until the reaction subsides before using it.
- Turn the cake upside down onto a baking sheet. Fill the craters with the glaze that accumulated on the base of the cake. To prevent the cake from sticking to the serving dish, flip it onto a plate lined with parchment paper if there is any glaze left on the bottom.
- If any parts are left behind, you can easily pick them up and incorporate them back into the cake. Any flaws in the cake will be concealed by the glaze that is applied to the top.
Frequently asked questions
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PREPARE THE CAKE IN ADVANCE?
I strongly suggest it! Please try to plan ahead, because the flavor of this Kentucky Butter Cake improves and the cake becomes moister if you make it a day in advance.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREP:
After the cake has cooled and the icing has set, wrap it securely in plastic wrap or place it in an upside-down dish or cake carrier. The microwave is also a convenient place to keep your cake.
Put in a cool, dry place until ready to serve.
When I want to eat it right away, I usually nuke a slice for around 10 seconds.
This cake may be stored for several days without losing its flavor, although it tastes best on the second day.
KENTUCKY BUTTER CAKE: SAFE TO FREEZE?
The cake’s icing needs time to harden completely before you cut into it.
Double-wrap the cake in plastic wrap.
Cake may be frozen for up to three months.
Take the cake out of the freezer the night before you plan to serve it, and let it defrost in the fridge.
WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND I PAIR WITH KENTUCKY BUTTER CAKE?
The buttery vanilla flavor of Kentucky Butter Cake is irresistible, but there are other ways in which I enjoy it more.
- Fresh berries: Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries
- A dusting of powdered sugar
- A dollop of whipped cream (and berries!)
- Strawberry syrup or raspberry syrup
- Vanilla ice cream (and berries!)
- Caramel sauce
- Lemon curd (and berries!)
- Chocolate ganache
<Remember it later>
Planning to try this recipe soon? Pin it for a quick find later!
<Remember it later>
Planning to try this recipe soon? Pin it for a quick find later!
Deliciously Moist Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- 24 tbsp 3 sticks unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3 c. all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour I use Bob's, Red Mill
- 2 c. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 c. buttermilk or sour milk
BUTTER SAUCE/GLAZE:
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 c. water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon optional
Instructions
- The oven has to be preheated to 325 degrees F. Prepare a 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan by greasing and flouring it liberally.
- Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt should be mixed in a medium bowl. Leaving aside. Combine vanilla extract with buttermilk and leave aside.
- Put the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed for at least three or four minutes (no less! ), until the mixture is light and fluffy. Turn the mixer speed down to medium and add the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition just until the yolks are completely incorporated.
- Put the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat until barely mixed, then give the batter a last stir by hand to incorporate any flour that may have settled to the bottom.
- Once the Bundt pan has been prepped, transfer the batter to it and tap it on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Cook for 50-60 minutes at 325 degrees F, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs.
- After 5 minutes, set the cake on a cooling rack, and using the thin end of a chopstick, make holes all over the cake, going approximately 3/4 of the way down. To make the holes bigger, you can use the back of a spoon or a skewer instead.
- Make the Butter Glaze just after you poke holes in the cake. Put the sugar, butter, water, and salt in a medium pot and stir to combine. Melt on low heat, stirring regularly, making sure the mixture doesn't boil. When the butter has melted, add the vanilla and cinnamon (if using).
- Put aside a quarter cup of the glaze for later use. Carefully drizzle the remaining Glaze over the top (now bottom) of the cake, taking your time so that it may seep into the holes and not spill over the sides.
- After 30 minutes (no longer or the glaze will set like glue), loosen the sides of the cake with a knife and invert it onto a plate or cake stand.
- Reheat the Glaze (but don't let it boil) and carefully brush it all over the cake after it's cooled entirely. The cake is best served after resting for at least an hour, but overnight is best for optimal texture and flavor. If you're not going to serve the cake right away, cover it securely in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature.
- It's great with just whipped cream or fresh fruit, but it's even better with fresh berries and strawberry or raspberry sauce!
Notes
- Some powdered sugar on top
- Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries, are all fresh.
- Strawberry or raspberry syrup - out of this world!
- Add some whipped topping (and maybe some berries)!
- Creamy vanilla ice cream with fresh berries.
- Yummy berry and lemon curd!
- Swirled chocolate filling
- Infused with caramel
CHECK OUT THESE AWESOME, EASY RECIPES:
- Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Tasty Swedish Meatball Noodle Bake Recipe
- Delicious Leftover Turkey Stuffing Balls
I’m Bitty, owner of nodashofgluten.com, where I share simple, delicious recipes for all tastes, including gluten-free. Check out my “About Me” page for more info!
