Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe
Kentucky butter cake is a Southern delight! Made with a buttery soft pound cake and a crystalized sugar glaze this Kentucky better cake is the real deal!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 397kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp shortening or oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the Brown Butter Glaze
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- In a small saucepan, add butter and melt over medium heat. Once the butter has fully melted, a white foam will begin to appear over the top of the butter.
- Watch carefully as the butter’s color changes to brown and the smell of the butter becomes somewhat nutty.
- As soon as the butter is an amber brown color, remove from heat and cool in the refrigerator until it the butter has become solid again (can take 1-2 hours so I sometimes do this the night before baking the cake).
- Once butter is solid, preheat oven to 325 degrees then liberally spray 10 cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In your mixer bowl, add butter and shortening and beat for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add in sugar beat on high speed for an additional seven minutes until very pale yellow and fluffy.
- Next, add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour into batter in two increments then add salt, baking powder and baking soda. Be careful not to overbeat.
- Lastly, pour in buttermilk and vanilla extract, scrape down sides and mix until just combined and turn off mixer.
- Add batter to prepared cake pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out mostly clean but still moist. While cake is baking, work on the butter sauce below.
For the Brown Butter Sauce
- While cake cools, add butter to saucepan and again melt then brown until the butter turns an amber color.
- Turn off heat and whisk in sugar, water and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Remove cake from the oven and poke warm cake with a toothpick or skewer in several places all over the cake then pour 3/4s of the sauce into the cake, allowing it to seep in.
- Once sauce is settled, remove cake from pan then brush remaining sauce over the top.
Notes
- Watch the Butter Closely. You want it to brown and not burn so it's a good idea to stay close to the pan while it's cooking. The butter will first melt and then begin to foam a bit as it cooks. Then you will start to see browned flakes appear on the bottom of the pan. Cook until it's an amber color and then remove it from the heat.
- Cooled Browned Butter. The cooling process can take a few hours so I suggest making your butter the night before. Even if that is not possible for you, I can’t stress enough that your butter needs to be completely cool. Using brown butter that is still warm will change the texture of the cake. You’ll end up with a dense, not fully risen, and eventually hardened cake that won’t last through dinner.
- Do Not Over Mix. This is THE key to tender cakes! Mixing too much causes the gluten to activate more which leads to a more dense texture.
- Make to Poke Holes Over the Whole Cake. The holes will allow the glaze to thoroughly seep into the cake so make sure you cover the entire thing so it soaks into the cake evenly.
- Cool the Cake in the Pan for a Bit. This makes it much easier to remove the cake from the pan while keeping it intact.
Nutrition
Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 555IU | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 0.5mg