Kentucky Bourbon Butter Cake Recipe

It doesn't have to be someone's birthday or another special occasion to indulge in a slice of perfectly sweet and moist cake. In fact, cakes like the Kentucky bourbon butter cake are practically designed to be served up daily as an afternoon or after-dinner treat that goes perfectly with a cup of coffee ... or something even stronger (you know, like bourbon). 

"I love the glaze in this cake, especially. When you poke holes in the bottom of the cake [to] let the glaze soak in, it makes the cake extra moist. Drizzling it on top gives it extra flavor," says recipe developer Jessica Morone of Jess Loves Baking. "It's a little bit sweet, buttery, and adds a lot of vanilla and bourbon flavors."

While the glaze is something special, the addition of the bourbon is what really sets this cake apart. "Usually, Kentucky butter cakes don't have bourbon in them, but since bourbon is also from Kentucky, and bourbon adds a delightful caramel flavor to baked goods, adding bourbon to this butter cake made it fun as well as delicious," Morone says. So go ahead and give yourself about an hour and a half to make the cake and a couple of extra hours to let it fully set, and you'll have the perfect sweet treat ready to serve with your favorite night cap.

Start by gathering up your ingredients. Most of them are pretty standard baking fare: All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, butter, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and water. Then, of course, you'll need the special ingredient, which is the bourbon. Because you're baking this bourbon and not drinking it, it doesn't need to be a top-shelf variety — choose something you enjoy that's not excessively expensive. 

With your ingredients gathered, measured, and ready to go, go ahead and preheat the oven to 325 F. Grab a 10-cup bundt pan and grease and flour it before setting it aside. "You don't have to use a bundt pan if you don't have one, but it is the classic pan for this type of cake. You could use something like a tube pan with a similar baking time, or you could probably split the batter into two round cake pans and bake them for around 30 minutes," Morone says. 

With the pan prepped, put the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk them together. Set the dry mixture aside for just a bit.

Add 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of butter to a large bowl. Beat them together with an electric mixer or stand mixer until the consistency is light and fluffy. This should take about 3 to 5 minutes. Next, add the eggs, buttermilk, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and ¼ cup of bourbon (4 tablespoons). Mix these ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture until they're well combined. 

Start gradually shaking in the dry ingredients, continuing to mix until everything is stirred through. Just be sure not to overmix. "Overmixing the cake would overdevelop the gluten in it and make it tough. So you just want to mix it until everything is evenly combined," Morone explains. 

With the batter prepared, pour it into the cake pan you previously set aside. Make sure it's spread evenly within the pan. Pop the cake into the oven and bake it for 50 to 60 minutes. You'll know it's done when you can insert a toothpick into the center (all around the cake), and it comes out clean without crumbs or batter. Leave the cake in the pan and set it aside while you make the glaze. 

Place the remaining butter in a medium-sized saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Add the remaining sugar and the 2 tablespoons water to the pan, and whisk continuously as the mixture comes to a boil. Continue whisking and cooking until the sugar fully dissolves. "If you don't keep whisking it often, the sugar will just burn, and you will have to start over," warns Morone. When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining vanilla extract and bourbon. 

With the cake in the bundt pan, use a long, thin tool (like a skewer, or the handle of a wooden spoon) to poke holes across the bottom of the cake. Use about half the glaze and pour it over the bottom of the cake, allowing it to soak into the cake through the holes. Let the cake sit for about 30 minutes to let the glaze soak in. 

With the soaking period done, turn the cake out onto a cooling rack layered on top of a baking pan. Don't forget to use the baking pan! This will catch any of the remaining glaze that may drip off the cake. Take the remaining glaze and drizzle it over the top of cake as evenly as you can. 

Set the cake aside to allow the glaze to fully set. "It could take up to two hours for the glaze to be fully set. You could also put it in the fridge to quicken the process," advises Morone. 

When the glaze is set, the cake is ready to enjoy! "You could drink bourbon with it, but you could also serve it with coffee, tea, or milk," Morone says. The alcohol in the bourbon will have largely cooked off, so it's a cake that's okay to serve to all ages, although there may still be a small amount of alcohol remaining in the glaze. 

If you don't finish it all in one sitting, Morone says you can store it covered at room temperature for about three days. Or if you prefer, you can freeze it wrapped in plastic for about two months. You could even freeze the individual slices and simply remove them from the freezer and defrost, as desired.