Kentucky Butter Cake

An easy-to-make scrumptious butter vanilla cake with a four-ingredient glaze that creates an amazing crust and soaks into the cake, keeping it moist for days.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Southern

Keyword how to make Kentucky butter cakes, Kentucky butter cake recipe, what does Kentucky butter cake taste like, What is Kentucky butter cake

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 416kcal

Author Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Butter Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter Glaze

1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons brandy water can be substituted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour or spray with nonstick Baking spray a 10-inch Bundt cake pan (12 cups).
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
Mix milk and vinegar together in a separate small bowl or measuring cup.
Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture stirring just until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the buttermilk mixture and dry ingredients in intervals alternating between the two: stirring just until combined. Scrap down the bowl and beater as needed. Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven but do not remove from the pan.
In the last few minutes of the cake baking, add the sugar, butter, and brand to a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and stir very frequently until the sugar dissolves. Do not allow it to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Reserve 1/3 cup of the butter glaze.
Poke holes in the butter cake using the smaller end of a chopstick or similar-sized instrument. Go close but not all the way through to the bottom.
Slowly and carefully pour the butter glaze over the poked holes. Allow the cake to cool on a wire cooling rack for 30 minutes from the time it is removed from the oven to the time it is inverted. Once inverted and cooled, gently brush the remaining glaze over the top of the cake.

Notes

Butter and flour the cake pan very well, as there is a lot going on here, and you don't want it to stick. I love Bakers Joy, which is a nonstick baking spray, but I was out of it this time, so I really had to work with the butter and flour to get all those nooks and crannies.
Alcohol and its fumes are flammable, so put the brandy for the butter glaze in the pan away from the flame.
Use the smaller end of a chopstick, a thick bamboo skewer, or even a straw to poke holes in the cake.
The cake should cool for about 30 minutes total time after taking it out of the oven before inverting, so plan everything accordingly. Too little time or too much time could cause the cake to stick.

Nutrition