Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Glaze is a perfect snack cake. The tangy-sweet buttermilk glaze forms an ultra-thin coating over the melt-in-your-mouth cake.

If you read my blog with any frequency, by now you know that buttermilk is one of my favorite ingredients. I use it in all sorts of recipes from mashed potatoes to scones. But I absolutely love using buttermilk in cake batter, not only for the special flavor, but mostly for the tenderizing effect that the slightly acidic ingredient has on the cake crumb. No other ingredient makes as soft and tender a cake as buttermilk does.

Buttermilk is a great all-purpose ingredient to have on-hand!

Don’t be tempted to swap out yogurt or soured milk, it’s really not the same. If you don’t want to buy buttermilk because you don’t want left overs in the fridge (seriously though, use it in mashed potatoes. It will change your life!!) the best substitute is buttermilk powder. The buttermilk powder will keep in the pantry for months and you just mix the amount needed for your recipe.

Otherwise, this is a pretty straightforward butter cake recipe. As always, I use my favorite reverse creaming method. If you’re interested in learning why I use this method for mixing butter cakes rather than the traditional “cream the butter and sugar” method, check out my Cake Batter Mixing Methods post (I’m talking to you, baking science geeks!).

buttermilk bundt cake with buttermilk glaze 4

Glaze the cake on a rack set over a clean sheet pan. Collect the run off from the sheet pan and re-glaze the cake until the entire surface is covered.

The cake is delicious all by itself, but I love to serve it with fresh berries or seasonal fruit. I find it pairs especially well with apricots or peaches.

Special Equipment Used: 12 cup Bundt pan, cooling rack, 1/2 sheet pan, Kitchen Aid 5 Quart Mixer

Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

Name: Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Glaze
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 12-16
Ingredients: 2 large eggs plus 2 yolks; 1 cup (8 oz, 250ml) buttermilk (see note); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups (10.5 oz, 300g) cake flour; 1 1/3 cups (10 oz, 280g) granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon table salt; 6 oz (1 1/2 sticks, 170g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1" chunks; 2 cups (8 oz, 230g) confectioner's sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/4 cup (2 oz, 60 ml) buttermilk

Yield: 12-16

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

Buttermilk Cake

2 large eggs plus 2 yolks
1 cup (8 oz, 250ml) buttermilk (see note)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (10.5 oz, 300g) cake flour
1 1/3 cups (10 oz, 280g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks, 170g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1" chunks

Buttermilk Glaze

2 cups (8 oz, 230g) confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup (2 oz, 60 ml) buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F convection or 350°F regular.
Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.

Make the batter

Whisk together the eggs, yolks, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk, set aside.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixer bowl.
Mix on low speed to combine the dry ingredients.
Toss the chunks of butter into the flour mixture.
Add the reserved 1/2 cup of buttermilk increase the speed to medium.
Mix on medium high for 2 minutes to aerate the batter.
Scrape the bowl.
Add the eggs in 3 batches, scraping the bowl between each addition.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes in the pan.
Invert the cake onto a cooling rack set over a clean sheet pan.

Make the Glaze

Combine the sugar, vanilla and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
Pour the glaze over the slightly warm cake (see note).
You can scoop up the glaze from the sheet pan and use it to fill in any gaps in the glaze.
Cool completely and allow the glaze to set.
Transfer to a serving plate.

Notes

I recommend using buttermilk powder as the best substitute if you don't want to buy fresh buttermilk.

Glazing the cake while it's slightly warm will allow the glaze to set to a shiny finish. If you glaze the cake while it's too warm the glaze will melt and if you glaze the completely cooled cake the glaze won't set as nicely.

Comments

Kelly
December 24, 2016 at 12:51 pm
Hi! Thanks for the amazing looking recipe! I have the cake in the oven right now. You don’t mention other than at the opening of the recipe how long the cake spends in the oven. So far I’m at 40 minutes and it’s still liquid in the center. How long do you typically bake this cake?
Eileen Gray
December 24, 2016 at 10:40 pm
Sorry for not responding sooner. The baking time will vary based on your oven and the cake pan. For me the baking time was about 35 minutes. The best test is not time but to check by using a toothpick or pressing on the cake as described in the recipe.
- Kelly
  December 25, 2016 at 5:44 pm
  Thanks, Eileen! I think I ended up baking it 50 minutes, but that was probably 4-5 minutes too long. Still an absolutely delicious cake! Thanks again for posting the recipe! 🙂
  - Eileen Gray
    December 26, 2016 at 11:12 am
    Sure, glad you enjoyed it. I recently discovered that my oven was running 25-50 degrees too hot so I may have baked this cake at a higher temp than listed in the recipe. I’ll have to remake it and double check the time posted. If your cake took 45 minutes that might be closer to the correct time. But always go more by how the cake looks than the clock. Thanks for checking in!
Julia
April 28, 2017 at 2:07 pm
I love your suggestion about using dry buttermilk powder! I use it for baking bread and making crepes but I didn’t know I could use it for cakes as well.
- Eileen Gray
  April 28, 2017 at 3:00 pm
  That’s great Julia. I almost always have buttermilk on hand because I love to use it. But I know it’s a pain to buy a quart and end up throwing half of it away. Buttermilk powder is great if you don’t use buttermilk that often.
Lita
June 4, 2017 at 10:26 pm
I love the cake and the ideas what to serve with it like fresh berries, seasonal frui, apricots and peaches. Thank you, Eileen.
- Eileen Gray
  June 5, 2017 at 10:22 am
  You’re welcome.
TSandy
September 7, 2017 at 2:18 pm
I used to swear by buttermilk powder and then I purchased a heritage buttermilk starter culture. I make my own buttermilk weekly(or more frequently when I cook/bake more often). You keep 2oz out of the old buttermilk to add to a quart of fresh milk. Leave it out overnight and in the morning I have a quart of new buttermilk! Whether it’s baking, making buttermilk waffles for breakfast or a new batch of buttermilk ranch dressing everything is better when I use fresh buttermilk in the recipe. Thanks for a new buttermilk cake recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
- Eileen Gray
  September 7, 2017 at 2:34 pm
  Hi! What a great idea to use the starter. Personally, I never have trouble using up buttermilk. I almost always have it in the house. It’s absolutely one of my favorite baking ingredients.
Cheryl
August 13, 2018 at 8:50 pm
I freeze buttermilk in 1/2 cup portions in plastic baggies and then I use my food-saver for extra protection. Once it is thawed I just throw it in the blender.
- Eileen
  August 14, 2018 at 10:24 am
  Great idea! Thanks for sharing.