How does a buttery, pecan-studded cake that’s been both soaked in and topped with oaky bourbon sound? If you’re thinking positively irresistible, then you would be correct. This cake is the belle of any ball – it’s moist and just sweet enough with a buttery bourbon-laced bite that’s hard to get enough of. And while bundt cakes always feel like a special treat, this one especially does with its simple-to-make but slightly boozy glaze.
This cake here is not your basic pound cake. It shares some similarities, sure, but aside from the butter, flour, and eggs, there’s brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, pecans, and bourbon packed right into the batter for ultimate flavor. In other words, it’s not just basic and buttery, it’s so much more.
But the bourbon doesn’t end there. After the cake comes out of the oven, which will take about an hour and forty minutes to fully bake through, you pour some pure, unadulterated bourbon right over the edges of the warm cake so it can soak down into the crumb. That means you get a softened bourbon flavor that’s baked into the cake and a sharper raw one too.
Oh, we’re still not done! There’s also a bourbon glaze to finish it all off once you’ve inverted the cake onto your serving dish. Don’t fret, you don’t even need to get out a saucepan to make it. Just melt some butter whatever way you prefer and mix it with some powdered sugar and a touch more bourbon and then pour that beautiful glaze alllll over the cake before topping it with a sprinkle of chopped pecans.
This is a cake that’s simple to make but really has it all. Like a rum cake, the boozy bite keeps it from tasting too sweet but it does it in true southern style with the caramelly vanilla flavor of bourbon.
Southern Bourbon Cake
Allergens: Eggs
Ingredients
- 2 cups (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, plus more for pan
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups pecans, chopped
- 3/4 cup bourbon, plus 3 tablespoons, divided
For the glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a bundt pan with butter. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and shake to coat pan, tapping out excess.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1/2 cup of bourbon and mix to combine.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually add to butter mixture and mix to combine.
- Stir in remaining 1/4 cup bourbon and the 2 cups pecans. Pour into prepared bundt pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, about 1 hour 40 minutes.
- While cake is still hot, pour 3 tablespoons bourbon around the outside edge of the cake. Let cool in the pan.
- While cake cools, make the glaze:
- In a medium bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon bourbon.
- Turn cake out onto a serving plate and pour glaze over the top. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Restless Chipotle.