Salted Caramel Kentucky Butter Cake

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🧈🍰 Salted Caramel Kentucky Butter Cake

Servings: 12–16
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 55–65 minutes
Total Time: ~1 hour 20 minutes

⭐ Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil (optional — adds extra moisture)

For the Warm Butter Sauce (to soak the cake)

  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Salted Caramel Drizzle

(You can use homemade or store-bought.)

Homemade Salted Caramel

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½–1 tsp flaky sea salt

🥣 Instructions

1. Preheat & Prep

  • Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
  • Thoroughly grease and flour a 10–12 cup Bundt pan (important for clean release).

2. Make the Cake Batter

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together:
    • flour
    • sugar
    • salt
    • baking powder
    • baking soda
  2. Add softened butter, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and oil.
  3. Beat with an electric mixer for 2–3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
    The batter will be thick and silky.

3. Bake

  • Transfer batter to the Bundt pan.
  • Bake 55–65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes — do not remove yet.

🧈 4. Make the Butter Sauce

In a small saucepan over medium heat:

  1. Combine sugar, butter, and water.
  2. Heat until fully melted and sugar is dissolved.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Do not boil — you want a smooth warm syrup.

5. Soak the Cake

  • While the cake is still in the pan, poke holes all over with a skewer.
  • Slowly pour the warm butter sauce over the cake, letting it soak in.

Let the cake absorb the sauce fully before turning out.

6. Turn Out & Cool

  • After another 15–20 minutes, invert the cake onto a serving plate.
  • Let cool completely before adding the caramel.

🍯 7. Make the Salted Caramel (if homemade)

Caramel Steps

  1. Heat sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until melted and amber.
  2. Add butter; whisk until combined.
  3. Slowly add cream (it will bubble).
  4. Remove from heat and stir in flaky sea salt.
  5. Cool 10–15 minutes to thicken.

🍰 8. Drizzle

Generously drizzle salted caramel over the cooled butter cake.
Add extra flaky sea salt on top if desired.

🌟 Tips for Success

  • Grease the Bundt pan extremely well.
  • Pour butter sauce slowly so the cake absorbs all of it.
  • Let caramel cool slightly before drizzling for thicker ribbons.
  • This cake tastes even better the next day.

🔄 Variations

  • Brown Butter Version: Toast butter for nutty flavor before adding to batter.
  • Bourbon Caramel: Add 1 tbsp bourbon to the caramel.
  • Salted Caramel Filling: Pour half the batter in the pan → drizzle caramel → add remaining batter.
  • Vanilla Bean Version: Add seeds from 1 vanilla bean to the batter.

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