Kentucky Butter Cake

Extra moist and crumbly pound cake with a sweet butter glaze and dusted with powdered sugar. A deliciously addictive bundt cake that’s perfect for all holidays!

This post contains affiliate links. Read the disclosure policy.

About Kentucky Butter Cake

Bundt cakes are always popular, and for very good reason. Not only do they make some of the most deliciously dense and velvety cakes, but they’re also elegant and just plain pretty. The bundt cake was clearly invented to impress.

And all of this couldn’t be more true for this Kentucky butter cake. Made with moist vanilla pound cake and coated in a butter glaze crust, this is the type of cake that’s always crowd-pleasing and delicious all year round.

What type of cake pan should you use?

This recipe is designed for a bundt cake pan, and you can you any variety (simple, decorative, etc) that’s at least 10 inches in diameter or has a 10 to15 cup capacity. I personally used this 10-inch classic bundt cake pan.

How long is Kentucky Butter Cake good for?

Once prepared, this butter-glazed cake can be stored on the counter in a sealed container for up to five days.

And keep in mind, many baked goods taste better the day after baking, and this cake is no exception.

Can you freeze Kentucky butter cake?

Yes, you totally can! Cakes are amazing for freezing.

Once prepared and cooled, wrap the whole cake (or individual pieces) in plastic wrap, then store it in a sealed container or a freezer bag for up to six months.

When ready to eat, transfer the cake to the refrigerator to thaw overnight, then place it on the counter to come to temperature.

Tips for ensuring cake release

One of the trickiest (and potentially devastating) parts of cake making is ensuring that the cake will cleanly release from the pan. And this problem increases ten-fold when you’re dealing with a deep, decorative bundt cake pan.

But fear not! There are a couple of tips, methods, and tricks to help ensure that the tops and sides of your cake are as pretty as the bundt pan itself.

Properly inspect and prep your bundt cake pan for baking, which means:

• Check the condition of your bundt cake pan. Most modern bundt pans come with a nonstick coating, but continued use or certain methods of cleaning (like the dishwasher) can erode this layer away. For tips on checking the condition of your bundt cake pan, see this article: When to Throw Away Nonstick Pans. It’s written for items like frying pans, but the same basic concepts can apply to any cookware with a coating.
• Coat the pan with either baking spray, homemade cake release, or a layer of butter and dusting it with flour. If you’re the type that tends to have bad luck with cakes releasing – and there’s no shame in that, because I’m raising my hand right along with you – feel free to be generous in how much you use. The worst thing that will happen is that the outside of the cake might appear a darker color, but that’s much better than releasing your cake only to find that half the cake is still stuck inside the pan.
• For best results, wait to coat your cake pan with the above methods until just before you’re ready to pour in the batter. So prepare the batter, coat the pan, then pour.

Once baked, help a stubborn cake release from the pan by:

• Always allow the cake to cool completely in the bundt cake pan before attempting to release it. Be prepared that this may take a while. You can try to speed up the process by placing the cooling cake in the refrigerator.
• Place the bundt cake pan (with the cake still inside) in the freezer for 30 minutes. This should cause the cake itself to shrink, helping it pull away from the sides of the pan and allow for easy release. You can repeat this step as needed until the cake has enough room to release. And don’t worry, the cake will bounce back to its intended size as it comes to room temperature.
• Submerge the top half of the bundt cake pan in hot water (and just to be clear, submerging the top half of the pan means keeping the bottom of the cake facing toward the ceiling). This should help the material of the bundt cake pan expand, pulling it away from the cake and allowing for an easy release. This method is sort of the opposite of freezing and whether either method works could depend on the type of cake or the material of the bundt cake pan.
• If you have a thin spatula made of silicone or soft plastic (avoid sharp metal objects) you can gently poke around the exposed bottom and sides of the cake to help free some areas it may be stuck. However, this method has iffy results, since you can only safely access a small portion of the cake.
• When in doubt, let gravity do the work. If you’ve tried the above methods and the cake still won’t drop, place a few kitchen towels on a wire cooling rack and rest the bundt cake pan, cake side down, on top of the towels. The cake may just need the help of its own weight and the towels will help cushion (and lessen the distance) as the cake falls out of the pan in its own time.

notes & tips for this Kentucky butter cake

• When making cakes like this, I highly recommend using a stand mixer with a flat beater or flat edge attachment. These are ideal for working with large amounts of batter and efficiently creaming butter and sugar. You can read more about different types of attachments here: Which beater do I use?
• Don’t have any buttermilk? No problem! To make 1 cup of buttermilk: Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup. Next, pour in milk, filling up to 1 full cup. Let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to curdle. Give the mixture a whisk to fully incorporate, then use in a recipe as directed.

More great Kentucky Derby recipes

How to make Kentucky Butter Cake

This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.

Step 1 – In large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Step 2 – Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), cream together the sugar and butter until nice and fluffy.

Step 3 – Turn off the mixer and toss in the prepared dry ingredients, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Turn the mixer back on and mix right up until the ingredients look incorporated. Once mixed, be sure to use a spatula to scrape the sides.

Step 4 – Grease a 10-inch bundt cake pan and pour in the cake batter.

Step 5 – Bake!

Step 6 – Once the cake is baked and cooling, prepare the butter glaze by melting butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, add the sugar, water, and vanilla, then heat and whisk until the butter is dissolved.

Step 7 – Use a long skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the bundt cake, then pour the butter glaze on top. Lift and tilt the cake as needed to get the glaze in the holes and along the sides of the pan.

Step 8 – Place the cake (still in its pan) on a wire cooling rack and allow the cake to finish cooling and for the glaze to set.

Step 9 – Release the cake from the pan, dust it with powdered sugar, and enjoy!