Enjoy this Fall-inspired take on a classic! This ultra-moist pumpkin spice cake is full of cozy cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Then while it’s still warm, it gets soaked in a velvety butter glaze that seeps into every bite, creating a subtle sugary crust on the outside that adds a hint of crunch. A perfect cake for any occasion!
This recipe is one that I’ve been toying around with in my mind for quite some time. I liked the idea of a moist, buttery pumpkin cake with some type of glaze. A lot of pumpkin cake recipes a heavily oil-based, which is great for making them ultra moist. I wanted to create something with a more buttery flavor though, while still keeping the all the benefits of oil-based cake. It’s a similar approach to my Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Icing recipe! After some tinkering around, the end result was this Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake.
What is Kentucky Butter Cake? It’s essentially a dense cake (usually baked in a bundt pan) that gets soaked in a warm butter sauce while it is still warm from the oven. Traditionally it is a vanilla flavored cake, sometimes with a touch of booze. The pumpkin version borrows the same concepts, but with a pumpkin spice flavored cake base. We bake a butter-forward pumpkin cake in a bundt pan, make a butter sauce, and then poke holes in the cake while it’s still warm and brush the sauce all over.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Texture: The pumpkin cake itself is tender and moist, and then gets coated with a sweet butter sauce that cools down to form a crunchy layer around the cake. It’s like a buttery glazed donut coating that also helps to keep the cake moist for days!
- Full of warm spices: The pumpkin cake is full of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, making it flavorful and cozy.
- A great fall recipe idea: Lets be honest I feel like each year we’re all just out here looking for more or more ways to use pumpkin. This cake is a fun way to add to your pumpkin recipe arsenal during the ‘ber months.
- Great for parties and get-togethers: This Kentucky Butter pumpkin cake is easy to make and keeps well (you don’t even need to pull out your mixer). Bake it in your favorite bundt pan for something that is pretty even with minimal decor.
For more bundt recipes as well my other favorites are a Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing or Fresh Blueberry Bundt Cake.
Ingredients for Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin Cake Ingredients
- Melted Butter and Oil: Butter serves as the primary source of fat for this cake, but I find that combining it with some oil ensures a moist and tender crumb.
- Pumpkin Puree, such as Libby’s: You will need a full 15oz can of pumpkin puree for this cake. I love Libby’s best for its consistency and flavor, but other brands work as well.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: For sweetness. The brown sugar adds a caramel-y flavor to the cake and gives it a deep color.
- Large eggs, at room temperature: Soak eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes before baking to bring them to room temperature.
- All-Purpose Flour: For best results, measure flour using a scale to avoid adding too much or too little.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt. These bring all of the yummy pumpkin spice flavor.
- Baking Powder: Leavening agent.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Or vanilla bean paste.
Butter Sauce
- Unsalted Butter: cant have a butter sauce without butter!
- Granulated Sugar: for sweetness
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Water: helps to dissolve the sugar and smooth out the sauce
- Pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg: adds a hint of spice to the sauce
You will also need a bundt cake pan with a minimum 10-cup capacity. For the cake pictured in this recipe, I used the Nordicware Braided Pan.
Tips for Success
- Use room temperature ingredients: This mainly applies to the eggs, but also anything else that might be cold. Cold ingredients do not incorporate together well and will impact that cake’s texture.
- Measure flour correctly: For the best results, use a scale. Flour is super easy to over or under-measure. If you don’t have a food scale, then just make sure you’re not packing the flour into a measuring cup. Spoon it in and level it off.
- Greasing the bundt pan: A baker’s spray such as Pam for Baking or Baker’s Joy is your best friend when it comes to making bundt cakes. There is no shame in using a spray designed for such things.
- Avoid over-mixing the batter: After adding flour, gently mix the batter until the flour is just combined. This keeps the cake soft and tender.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes before flipping it out: Fresh out of the oven bundt cake is too hot and fragile. It will break and the steam could burn you.
- Ensure that sugar fully melts in the butter sauce: to avoid crystallization, make sure that the sugar fully dissolves into the butter sauce. Otherwise the sugar will get grainy once it cools.
- Use a pastry brush for the butter sauce: For gentle, thorough coating, use a classic pastry brush to cleanly and evenly apply the sweet butter sauce around the pumpkin cake.
FAQs for Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake
- Can I use pumpkin pie filling?
- Do not use pumpkin pie filling as it has other added ingredients. Use plain pumpkin puree only.
- Can I skip the butter sauce?
- If that floats your boat I have no problem with it! The cake is pretty good by itself. I would recommend doing a dusting of powdered sugar or making a simple icing though in its place.
- How should I store leftover Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake?
- You can store the cake in a cake container or tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days. Keep it in a cool spot away from direct sunlight.
- To extend the cake’s life, store it in the refrigerator for up to one week. Note that this may dry out the cake.
- Can I make this cake ahead of time?
- Yes you can! This is one of those cakes that somehow tastes even better the next day after it has had time to what I call “marinate”. The sugars soak deeper into the cake, making it even more flavorful and moist.
Pin & Save for Later
Are you interested in making this recipe but not ready to bake yet? Not to worry! You can hover over (or tap on mobile/tablet) any image in this post to save it to Pinterest. You can also directly pin the recipe card down below. The recipe will be waiting for you when you need it. 🙂
Happy baking my friends and as always, hope you love your Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake!
You May Also Love:
Cinnamon Pumpkin Swirl Cupcakes
Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Blondies
Kentucky Butter Pumpkin Cake
This is what happens when Kentucky butter cake and pumpkin cake officially meet. A moist, butter-forward pumpkin cake glazed with a sweet butter sauce. A dusting of powdered sugar finishes it off for a perfect autumnal dessert.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted (12 tbsp)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup (220g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- One 15oz can of pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2¾ cups (330g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Butter Glaze
- ¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter (4 tbsp)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg
- Powdered sugar, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until they are combined. Then, beat in the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. After all the eggs have been added, continuing whisking for 30 seconds. Then add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and mix until the batter is very smooth.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground spices together until the ingredients are well distributed. Dump the flour mixture into the larger mixing bowl that has the pumpkin. Gently whisk the flour in until it is just combined and there are no more white streaks.
- Generously grease a 10-12 cup capacity bundt cake pan. Pour the batter into the pan, making sure to spread it out evenly. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or as long as needed until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the bundt cake to cool on the counter for 10 minutes in the pan.
- While the bundt cake is cooling, make the butter glaze. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, water, and sugar together over medium heat. Do not stir until the mixture until it begins to bubble and boil to prevent the sugar from crystallizing. Once it is boiling, however, you can use a flexible spatula to start stirring. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, remove the glaze from heat and stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- After the pumpkin cake has had a chance to cool a bit, invert it onto a large plate or pan. Poke holes throughout the cake using a skewer or thin chopstick. Brush the butter sauce all over the cake, allowing it to soak in and coat the outsides--it is okay if there is some sauce leftover. Allow the cake to cool completely before serving. Option to dust with powdered sugar.
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