And yes, this is my take on the classic Kentucky Butter Cake. My internet sleuthing reveals that the first mention of a Kentucky Butter Cake was when Ms. Nell Lewis won the 1963 Pillsbury Bake-Off with it. Though, I can’t really find out why it was called Kentucky Butter Cake because Ms. Lewis was from Missouri.
I couldn’t just share the recipe without putting my own spin on it, though. So I’ve taken one of my classic pound cake recipes, added some finely chopped pecans (because butter and pecans go so well together), and used a very similar butter sauce that Ms. Lewis used in 1963.
And like I said before, it’s seriously amazing. This delicious confection lives somewhere between a bundt cake, a poke cake, and my Pineapple Juice Cake.
After baking the cake, you poke holes all in it and drizzle the butter sauce down into the holes, adding some serious moisture and amazing flavor. I always save a little of the sauce to drizzle over the outside of the cake once I take it out of the pan, too. It looks pretty and adds a little crunch to it once it’s cooled.
Like most pound cakes, I think this one is better after it has some time to rest. It’ll last on the counter for 4 to 5 days or so. I’m sure there’s some science-y reason for that, but I can’t say for sure. I think it’s kind of like how soups and stews taste better the next day. Some say the time allows the moisture to distribute evenly throughout the cake and that it has an effect on flavor and texture as well. I just say, it’s delicious.
Y’all enjoy!!
Recipe Card
Bama Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cup sugar
- 5 large egg, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
For the butter glaze
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease and flour a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan.
- Use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at at time, mixing well after each addition.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Turn the mixer on low, and add about half of the flour mixture. Mix well. Add about half of the buttermilk and mix well. Then add the remaining flour mixture and mix well. Add the remaining buttermilk and mix well. Add the vanilla and pecans and mix to combine.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes - or until the cake is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes all over the cake.
- Make the glaze by combining the sugar, water, and butter. Cook over low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has just dissolved. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla; stir well. Pour the glaze over the cake while it is still in the pan - paying special attention to make sure the glaze drizzles down into the holes. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the glaze for later. Allow the cake to cool for about 30 minutes in the pan before placing a serving platter over the pan and inverting the cake onto it. Drizzle the reserved glaze over the cake.
As a Kentucky gal, I was happy to see this recipe with pecans! I’ve made the Kentucky Butter Cake many times & my family LOVED it! With the addition of pecans, they may just swallow their tongues! Lol.. 😉 Sounds amazing! Thanks, Stacy! 🙂
Ha! Thanks so much, Kathy!
Can I use a regular pound cake Pan or would results be the same?
A bundt pan or even a tube pan should work.
Hi Stacy. Hope you and your family had a good holiday. If I choose to make this without nuts altogether, do I need to make any changes to the recipe? Can I use cake flour…or is that unnecessary?
Thank you. Kind regards.
You can certainly make this one without the nuts. You can also use cake flour if you’d like, just be sure to use the conversion on the box as you’ll need a little more cake flour than the all-purpose called for in the recipe.
This sounds so good! I will admit to giving serious thought to toasting the pecans in the butter that will be later used to make the glaze, then draining the butter off. That way, the pecans taste richer and the butter will be infused with pecan flavor. Do you think it would work?
I think it would certainly work and it sounds AMAZING!!
I was so excited to try this cake, mine didn’t turn out light and fluffy. The cake was more like a bread pudding texture. HELP!!
I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t turn out right for you! It’s so hard to know what went wrong since I wasn’t there with you. It could be that your baking powder or soda was bad or even that you didn’t whip enough air into the batter or that you mixed it too much.
Stacy, I made this cake before and like it said it was so good. Do you think I could add finely chopped apples and some spice to this? Thanks.
Hmmm. I don’t see why not.
Stacey, I made the cake with apples, etc and it is a keeper! Thanks again .
Awesome! So glad it turned out great for you! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I’ve made a lot of cakes in my day and oh my gosh this was one of the best. Amazing. The crumb is so light and fluffy like a mix, but the flavors are far superior. This recipe will be used again and again. Thank you!
I’m just tickled to read this comment! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it! I sure love it!
Stacy, I made the cake and it didn’t last long! My whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing and I will be making another one soon!!!
So glad to hear you and the family enjoyed it!!
I thought this was interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gooey_butter_cake
Who invented butter cake?
The cake was supposedly first made by accident in the 1930’s by a St. Louis-area German American baker who was trying to make regular cake batter but reversed the proportions of butter and flour.
So don’t worry about our kitchen mistakes; you may be famous for them later on!!
Wouldn’t it be nice if all our failures turned into to such a success! I suppose we should just keep on trying and one day, one might do just that!
I am not a huge fan of pecans…do you think this would work if I substituted finely chopped walnuts instead?
Absolutely! Walnuts should work just fine.
So yummy! May I ask what kind of flour do you use? Thanks for all the GREAT recipes!!!
I typically use White Lily or Martha White brand all purpose flour. You’re so welcome!
Pinned to make soon! Sounds wonderful, thanks Stacey!
Thank you, Jenna!
Thanks for this cake. It is so good words can’t describe how yummy it is. Of course I adore butter, vanilla and more butter. And 5 eggs makes it even richer. Guess I will have to make another very soon.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! We’ve become quite fond of it, too!
Hey Stacey! I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky…Grandfather and Dad born in Birmingham, and my Grandparents migrated to KY in the 50’s! I’ve actually made Kentucky Butter Cake before so you can see why this cake has definite appeal to me! I can honestly say that your version does look/read better than the original and I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks so much! I sure hope you’ll enjoy it!!
Making your tomato cracker salad tonight
Sure hope you enjoyed it!!
I love butter – so this has to be a winner! Thanks!
Thank YOU!