Bourbon-Brown Butter Cake Recipe (With Video)

Prep Time:

35 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 55 mins

Servings:

10 to 12

Our brown butter cake is a delicious masterpiece. Using brown butter in the cake batter adds a deeper flavor to this delicate Bundt cake. But we're not stopping there: brown butter is also the base of the bourbon glaze that finishes the cake. The richness of the brown butter complements the strong flavor of the bourbon. Because you make holes all over the cake with a skewer, the boozy glaze permeates the entire cake rather than just sitting on top. This is a great make-ahead dessert, too—its flavor only improves a day after it’s baked.

Use a high-quality bourbon for the glaze as the flavor will shine through.

Directions

Preheat oven and prep Bundt pan:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a standard Bundt pan with butter, then dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Make brown butter for cake:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high. When it boils, reduce heat to medium; simmer until foamy. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pan, until foam subsides, butter turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, and milk solids separate into brown specks that sink to bottom, 2 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a heatproof bowl and let cool 10 minutes.
Combine dry ingredients; whisk eggs, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla.
Add brown butter to egg mixture; stir in dry ingredients and transfer to pan:

Whisk brown butter into egg mixture, then stir in flour mixture just to combine (do not overmix). Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top with a spatula.
Bake and cool:

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes.
Make brown butter for glaze:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high. When it boils, reduce heat to medium; simmer until foamy. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pan, until foam subsides, butter turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, and milk solids separate into brown specks that sink to bottom, 2 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
Make glaze:

Carefully add bourbon to brown butter (mixture will bubble vigorously). When bubbles subside, stir in sugar to combine. Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, just until mixture is smooth and runs from a spoon in a thin, translucent stream (sugar will not dissolve completely; do not let mixture boil).
Drizzle glaze, let cool, and serve:

Pierce holes in cake (still in pan) to bottom with a wooden skewer at 1-inch intervals. Slowly drizzle glaze evenly over cake; let stand until glaze is fully absorbed, about 15 minutes. Invert onto a cake plate. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.