Thursday, April 7, 2016

Kentucky Butter Cake



I learned two things over the weekend. First, I really love Cookies and Cups’ recipe for Kentucky Butter Cake and, second, I do not, in a BIG way, like Nordicware's cathedral style Bundt pan.

The cake, slightly adapted by Cookies and Cups from Allrecipes.com is an easy to make, totally delicious, dense and buttery cake that, admiringly, only gets better with age. We enjoyed ours for dessert, but my guess is that it would make an excellent brunch cake, and I am about to find out if it makes for a good trifle.

As far as preparation, it just could not be easier, as everything is dumped into a mixing bowl and then beaten together all at once. I initially balked at this, hearkening back to my old Home Ec days when butter and sugar was supposed to be creamed together before adding flour, and then flour and buttermilk was to be added alternately, but I followed the directions to the letter and the cake was divine.
And this brings me to the wretched Bundt pan that, having now tried five times, has yet to result in a full cake. Yes, I greased. Yes, I floured. More than I should have, in fact, and still, the proper use of this pan ended up yielding a cake that looked like this. You can only imagine the difficulty in photographing this one.
Initially, after my fifth failure, I'd placed the pan into the donation box, but then I thought that a bit of a cruelty. I mean, this thing is a menace to society. Why inflict it on anyone else? And so, into the recycle bin it went, hopefully giving it new life as, I don't know, a cookie sheet, or something.

Needless to say, it is back to my vintage tube pan for the next cake, or perhaps a spring-form pan, or maybe even just a simple loaf pan. The cake is well worth trying, the pan, well, run from it!

Kentucky Butter Cake
Cookies & Cups

1 cup butter, cubed at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Butter Glaze
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Grease a 10” Bundt pan with butter or shortening very liberally. Dust the pan with flour and set aside.

Place all the cake ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for 30 seconds and then increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 65-75 minutes until a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean.

When the cake is done make the glaze. Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir continuously until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Do not bring to a boil.

Poke holes all over the warm cake using a knife and pour the glaze evenly on the cake while still in the pan.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan and then invert the cake onto a serving plate.

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9 comments:

thepaintedapron.com said...

Oh Pattie, I feel your pain! I bought a Nordic snowman pan last fall thinking of the incredible cakes it would make and although it did produce a passable snowman, but how do you frost a snowman with a carrot nose and all the details without it looking like a hot mess? Which it did so I tossed it, and used it as an ice mold! I sprayed it heavy with olive oil spray and had no issues. Your cake sounds divine, I still have your rum cake on my to do list.
Jenna

~~louise~~ said...

Hi Pattie,
I'm amazed at the simple directions for this luscious sounding cake. So easy and I'm sure just as delicious!

As for that pan, well, I wish I could think of some use for it but alas, I have one of those minature bundt pans that also balks at releasing nicely. As soon as I find it, I will be adding it to the recycling bin too. Really not fair to garage sale it and give the problems to someone else.

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Pattie...I'll be pinning it for the future:)

P.S. I've restarted Cookbook Wednesday over at my blog. You are more than welcome to join in on the share whenever you get the chance:)

martinealison said...

Bonsoir chère amie,

Je comprends que cela doit être agaçant de ne pas réussir le démoulage de votre gâteau ! Grrr...
En revanche il doit être délicieux rien qu'à regarder sa texture.
Je vous embrasse,

Gros bisous ♡

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Oh my goodness dear Patti! I came to see your cake because I loved your NW great pan shape. Anyway, it's happened to me before. It could be the cake recipe or why don't you try NOT flouring it, but try "bread crumbs" instead, it never fails. This was my Mil's secret and I do this always on the most intricate shape cake pans and it works!
Thanks for the recipe. Pinning.
FABBY

Cristina - Memories of the Pacific said...

That's a gorgeous looking cake! I bet it must be delicious and looks like it's easy to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
By the way, I love the name of your blog. It's funny and original!
(Found your blog on the Dwellings link party)

Julie's Lifestyle said...

That is too bad about the cake pan but the cake sounds delicious.
Thanks for sharing at Cooking and Crafting with J&J!

The Lazy Gastronome said...

Thanks for sharing on the "What's for Dinner" link up!

Unknown said...

Pinned it! It sounds amazing!

I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

Unknown said...

The cake sounds wonderful! I've had that happen before, and it's not pretty, but my kids ate it anyway! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday! :)