Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Nell Lewis

Adapted by Margaux Laskey

Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
4(2,444)
Notes
Read community notes

If you think you don’t need another Bundt cake recipe, this one exists to prove you wrong. Adapted from Nell Lewis of Platte City, Mo., who entered the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest in 1963, it is a favorite of food bloggers and Pinterest lovers alike. On the surface, it’s not that different from your typical pound cake, but what makes it special is a vanilla-scented, buttery sugar glaze that’s poured over the still-warm cake. Left to sit for several hours before unmolding, the glaze soaks into the cake, making it incredibly tender and rich while leaving behind a delightful sugary crust. There are a lot of variations out there — some with bourbon in place of the vanilla, others with sherry — so feel free to play around. —Margaux Laskey

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

    For the Cake

    • 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened, plus more for greasing the pan
    • 3cups/385 grams all-purpose unbleached flour, plus more for dusting the pan
    • Nonstick cooking spray (optional)
    • 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
    • 1cup/240 milliliters buttermilk (see Tip)
    • 4eggs
    • 2teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1teaspoon baking powder
    • 1teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ½teaspoon baking soda

    For the Butter Sauce

    • ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
    • cup/75 grams unsalted butter
    • 2teaspoons vanilla extract
    • Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

529 calories; 24 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 49 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 333 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter and flour (or spray with nonstick cooking spray) a 10-inch tube pan or a 12-cup bundt pan.

  2. Step

    2

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, combine the remaining cake ingredients and beat for 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour into prepared pan, level with a spatula and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes.

  3. Step

    3

    Shortly before the cake is done baking, make the butter sauce: Combine the granulated sugar, butter and vanilla with 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan over low heat until the butter just melts. (Do not let the mixture boil, as you do not want the sugar to completely dissolve.)

  4. Step

    4

    As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, leave the cake in its pan and gently poke it all the way through 15 to 20 times with a long wooden skewer or a long-tined fork. Slowly pour warm butter sauce over the cake. Let cool for at least 3 hours before unmolding from pan. Just before serving, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Tip

  • If you don’t have buttermilk, measure out 1 cup of whole milk and remove 1 tablespoon. Add 1 tablespoon white vinegar to the remaining milk and stir to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir gently before using in the recipe as you would buttermilk.

Ratings

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2,444

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Francie

Ms. Laskey: Mrs. Lewis's husband, Dr. Albert G. Lewis, practiced medicine with my father, Dr. H. Graham Parker, in Platte City, Missouri, in the 1960's. Our mother was thrilled when Nell Lewis took her cake to the Bake-Off. Sadly, the Pillsbury rules precluded the use of alcohol, so Nell had to use rum flavoring for rum at the Bake-Off. The original, much better, recipe called for adding 1/2 cup light rum after taking the sauce off the heat. It's fabulous; I make it for every New Year's Day.

M. Callahan

Re: the tip about buttermilk...why not measure a tablespoon of white vinegar into the 1 cup measure and then fill up to the one cup measure with milk?

Francie

Here are the directions for the sauce from my mother's copy of her friend Nell Lewis's recipe: As soon as the cake comes from the oven pour over it the following sauce:1 c. sugar, 1/4 c. water, 1 stick butter. Bring almost to a boil, remove from heat and add 1/2 c. (or more) light rum.

Margaux Laskey, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking

That is correct! That's the way Nell did it. ( : You certainly can cream the butter and sugar first, etc, and it won't negatively affect the recipe, but it's really not necessary. I didn't have a lumpy batter after a good 3 minutes of beating.

Tom Deacon

I have been making this regularly since the mid 1970s. Anyone who ever tastes it wants the revipe. If your butter is nice and soft you ccan simply dump all ingredients into the mixmaster bowl and let'er rip for three minutes. Have also substituted margarine in the cake without adverse effects. The sauce, however, needs the butter. The anniversary bundt pan from Nordic helps withclean removal of the cake, by the way.

Casey in Maple Ridge, BC

For a non-baker, this made me look like a rock star! I changed up the warm butter sauce to a lemon butter sauce, with 3 tbsps of Lemon juice and the zest from one lemon. We were fighting over the last piece of this!

Susan B. A.

Made this yesterday. Absolutely delicious! My only change was cutting the sugar in half in the batter and in the sauce. Perfect tenderness and plenty sweet all by itself, and served with berries, let the flavors shine through. A big hit.

John F

Note to Astrid Spencer and others: the swirly pan is the Heritage Bundt pan from NordicWare. I bought a 6-cup version at Williams-Sonoma. Butter the pan generously, chill it, then butter it again before flouring it; there's less chance the cake will stick.

Rolnrn

Wonder what’d happen if Bourbon was swapped in for the water in the glaze/frosting...has to be tried

Rebecca

Halved the recipe and baked it in a pretty 6-cup bundt pan for about 55 minutes. Gorgeous and delicious!

Alexandra

2 and 3/4 cups of sugar is not "almost 4 cups of sugar".

Kathy S

A New Canaan, CT, staple in the 1960s-1970s, still holds its own as one of the top cakes ever. Breakfast, lunch, snack, teatime, dinner dessert --- Absolutely a favorite. I emailed my two 50-something kids; its re-emergence in this amazing column gave us the warm and cozies...For those who haven't made it, do yourselves and your loved ones a huge favor. I salute an old friend, Martha Hutter, who introduced me to it.

Margaux Laskey, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking

Hi All! We had a technical issue on the back end that prevented the butter sauce ingredients from showing up. They're there now!

Andrea

This cake was delicious. Very light and moist. It was very easy to put together too. No need to cream the butter and sugar first. Upon tasting the batter I thought it would be a little “one note” to use granulated sugar in the glaze so I subbed in light brown sugar. If I hadn’t been cooking for a child and a pregnant woman I would have used bourbon in place of the water in the glaze. Yes I know that if all the alcohol had not burned off the final residue of bourbon would be minuscule.

Randy

Hey, Justine. I've made this cake several times. You could probably just dump it all together ("dump cakes" are a thing), but I prefer to cream the butter and sugar in the mixer, then add the other wet ingredients to make sure they're well-combined. Then I whisk the dry ingredients together before adding them to the wet mixture. Also, if you're using a cooking spray it should be done just before adding the batter, lest it pool on the bottom. You're going to love this cake.

Loretta

I made this twice. The first time exactly as written, which was good, but we thought the crumb could be better. The second time I creamed the butter with the sugar before adding the other ingredients and added a 1/2 cup of Knob Creek bourbon to the butter sauce. The second cake was magical with a perfect crumb and taste. My family raved about it telling me THIS is the cake to be made for all future family events.

Lilly Naveh

Wonderful cake! I have been making a pound cake for many years, was even known for it by family and friends. This has been universally acclaimed as the new family favorite. The only change I made was a little less sugar in the cake and syrup. 350 and 120 grams respectively. Personal taste.Highly recommended

Ellen

This was very simple and incredibly delicious. The one thing I would note is that before you turn on the stand mixer to give the ingredients a smash / muddle. I started it on low and still got some flour on me / the floor.

Sam Shepperd

Made this for a family get together and everyone, especially our grandson, loved it. Moist and not too sweet. Turned out perfect.

Diane K

This really is the best cake I've ever made! I took it to Thanksgiving dinner with friends and everyone raved about it and had seconds. I must say, though I inserted bamboo skewers through the cake in at least 25 places, most of the butter sauce stayed towards the bottom of the cake, rarely going more than about an inch deep. I don't know how I can get it distributed better.

Pamela

The instructions on this recipe need to be modified.

Lilly Naveh

My family has rated this as the new go-to cake for all occasions! High praise indeed for the previous one has lasted for over 20 years.Slight changes were to cut back a bit on the sugar. 350 grams for the cake, 120 grams for the syrup. All else as written

Courtney

Possibly the bwat cake ever!!

essa

Please add the 3T water in the glaze to the ingredients list. I have made the cake as written the first time and I read the full steps but the 2nd time I just checked the list of ingredients and the glaze ruined it as I did not add the water :(

Lilly Naveh

350 grams sugar in the cake120 grams sugar in the sauceVery tasty!

Pamela

My dear husband baked this for my birthday...we found it merely okay, but one-dimensional. The few bites that included the poke-sauce were the best. If there's a next time, I think we'll double the sauce and serve some on the side. With some pecans.

Sherry

It would be helpful if the water for the butter sauce was listed in the ingredients instead of just in step 3! I didn't catch that and mine ended up with a sauce layer on the bottom. Still a big hit! Next time I'll add bourbon to the sauce and use a wooden spoon handle to poke the holes (as suggested by commenters).

Elin S

I made this today and it looked pretty but I wasn’t bowled over (pun intended). Added 1/3 cup of bourbon to sauce after I took it off the stove. It was delicious but the sauce pooled in pockets that weren’t even throughout the cake. If I make again, I will poke larger holes, then make another batch of sauce to glaze the top.

Gabby

I’ve made this a bunch in the past bc it’s so yummy and easy to put together. However, I have a memory of applying the butter/sugar glaze on top of the cake, after it is removed from the Bundt pan. Am I confusing this with a different cake or did the recipe change…?

MCM

Oh how I love this cake! It's become my go-to for when guests come to town (and for whenever I want cake). I add a couple of tbsp of bourbon to the glaze, because I like the complexity. Side note: I've made it as a dump cake and as a cream-the-butter & sugar cake and the texture is different. The dump cake has a slightly coarser, moister crumb whereas the cream-the-butter cake had a much dryer, finer crumb. I prefer the former.

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Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Kentucky butter cake made of? ›

A Kentucky Butter cake is the simplest cake you can find. The ingredients are truly pantry staples: eggs, butter, flour, sugar, baking soda, and buttermilk. Don't skip the buttermilk. Butternilk is essential for the rise of the cake and its tender texture.

What is the difference between a butter cake and a pound cake? ›

Butter cakes (also referred to as creamed cakes) have a lighter texture and greater volume than pound cakes. Pound cakes (named because they originally contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour) tend to be denser.

Why is it called butter cake? ›

A butter cake is a cake in which one of the main ingredients is butter. Butter cake is baked with basic ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda. It is considered one of the quintessential cakes in American baking.

Why is butter cake so good? ›

Made of little else but flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and corn syrup, it's immediately satisfying and luxurious to eat. The result is chewy, rich, and creamy, almost like a vanilla pudding that's been nestled into a blondie.

What is another name for a butter cake? ›

Butter cakes (also referred to as creamed cakes) have a lighter texture and greater volume than pound cakes. Pound cakes (named because they originally contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour) tend to be denser.

What state is known for butter cake? ›

Gooey butter cake is a type of cake traditionally made in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a flat and dense cake made with wheat cake flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, typically near an inch tall, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Why is it called Elvis Presley pound cake? ›

Elvis favored classic southern sweets for dessert, and one favorite happened to be pound cake. Not just any pound cake but a particular one. The Sterns say pound cake for Elvis meant a cake baked by his childhood friend, Janelle McComb.

Why is my butter cake dense? ›

Using too much liquid or fat in the recipe can also weigh down the cake, making it dense and sticky. Insufficient leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda, can prevent proper rising and result in a gluey texture.

What is a cake without cream called? ›

Oil Cake. Oil cakes follow the same principles as butter cakes, but use oil as the source of fat. Because oil is liquid at room temperature, oil cake recipes skip the step of creaming the fat and sugar; usually the oil is incorporated into the wet ingredients, which are whisked or folded into the dry ingredients.

Why is it called Texas cake? ›

The origins of this cake are murky. Some sources say it may have first shown up in a Texas newspaper, which is why it's called "Texas" sheet cake, while others claim the name comes from the fact that it's the size of Texas. Regardless of its origins, this cake is truly a crowd-pleaser.

What type of cake was invented by accident? ›

Back then lava cake was all the rage. Chocolatier Jacques Torres claims to have invented the dish, but Jean-Georges Vongerichten disputes him vehemently, saying that he accidentally pulled a chocolate sponge cake out of the oven before it was finished and discovered a runny center.

What country is butter cake from? ›

Origin. The pound cake is said to have originated in England as the first 'butter cake. ' France then adopted this cake and called it quatres-quarts. The American butter cake is a variation of this basic formula.

How unhealthy is butter cake? ›

Butter Cake
  • Total Fat 12g 15%
  • Saturated Fat 2g 10%
  • Polyunsaturated Fat 4.3g.
  • Monounsaturated Fat 5.1g.
  • Cholesterol 50mg 17%
  • Sodium 180mg 8%
  • Total Carbohydrates 38g 14%
  • Dietary Fiber 0.2g 1%

Why does butter cake taste bitter? ›

One of the most common misfortunes among bakers is that they are using too much baking soda or baking powder. Know that too much baking soda or baking powder in cakes will not just lead to a metallic and bitter taste, but it can also make a big mess in the oven as it will rise beyond expectations.

What makes a cake fluffier butter or oil? ›

The texture of cakes made with oil is—in general—superior to the texture of cakes made with butter. Oil cakes tend to bake up loftier with a more even crumb and stay moist and tender far longer than cakes made with butter. So why do most cake recipes start with butter? Flavor.

What is the difference between butter cake and margarine cake? ›

Margarine often has a lower saturated fat content and higher water content than butter does causing it to be much softer when cold. Because of it softer property, margarine can cause cakes to be less tender and cookies will generally spread out more and be less crisp when compared to the same recipe using butter.

What type of cake is butter cake? ›

Butter cake is considered the quintessential American cake. Variations of it are often served at weddings and birthdays. The most common forms are white and yellow cake. Both are fairly simple and contain flour, eggs, butter, sugar, sometimes salt, and a chemical leavening pair.

What is the difference between oil cake and butter cake? ›

Cakes made with oil rise a bit higher than those made with butter and the texture is a bit different - a little coarser with a more open crumb.

What is gooey butter cake made of? ›

Recipe 1 yellow cake mix 4 eggs 1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature) 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar Steps -Preheat oven to 350 degrees -Add the cake mix, 2 eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter to a large bowl and mix together using a hand mixer or stand mixer.

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