Butterscotch Bundt Cake

• All-purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
• Leaveners: You will need both baking powder and baking soda to make this cake. They will help the cake batter rise and result in a fluffy cake.
• Unsalted Butter: It is very important to have your butter at room temperature. You can ensure this by lightly pressing your finger on the block of butter. It should slightly leave an imprint. I also prefer to use unsalted butter because salted butters have varying amounts of salt content in them and it is always a good idea to add it on your own and avoid your bakes from being too salty.
• Sugars: You will need both granulated and dark brown sugar to make this cake. Brown sugar helps to add moisture and texture to your bakes and is key to getting the butterscotch flavour.
• Yogurt: Using plain yogurt in your cakes helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt or sour cream instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk is more acidic. This helps it to cut through the sweetness of the cake, giving it a better flavour overall. It also helps to add moisture, softness & fluffiness to the cake.
• Eggs: Use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your cakes and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your cake batter. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
• Vanilla: You must use a high quality pure vanilla extract in your recipes. This helps to add a rich flavor to your baked goods especially when they contain chocolate. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavour of all ingredients and you should never leave this out.
• Heavy Cream: You will need high-fat heavy cream or heavy whipping cream to make a smooth and silky glaze. If you’re using low-fat cream, make sure to drain out the water content from it before starting.
• Maple Syrup: You will need around 1 tablepsoon of maple syrup to make this glaze.
• Powdered Sugar: You will need powdered of confectioners’ sugar to add to your brown sugar maple caramel glaze. It mixes in your glaze like a breeze and leaves no grainy lumps at all!
• Optional: Stir in some cinnamon and nutmeg for an extra depth of flavour.

This is one question I get asked very often whenever I make this cake. When it comes down to it, butterscotch, toffee and caramel are basically sisters of the same family. They are similar in most ways but also have subtle differences that set them apart from on another and give them their distinct flavours. All of them are essentially made with a combination of butter and sugar. The primary difference between butterscotch and caramel is the kind of sugar. Butterscotch is nothing but brown sugar caramel which gives it a richer and more depth of flavour. This is because brown sugar contains molasses which gives it a more intense flavour. I truly believe that the warm, rich & buttery goodness of butterscotch is an underrated version of liquid gold (aka caramel). If you’re not a fan of butterscotch, try this cake and trust me you’re going to fall knee deep in love with it.

This glaze comes together in minutes and begins to set and thicken as it cools. If your bundt cake is not cool enough, it will not allow the glaze to set and thicken on top and instead will slide right down the side of the cake. So you want to move quickly once you’ve prepared the glaze. If it becomes too thick, heat it a bit again on low heat and pour it warm on top of the cake immediately. Let the excess slide down the side of the cake and allow the cake to sit for 10 minutes before slicing giving time to the glaze to completely set.

1. Using plain yogurt in your cakes helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water.

Using a few extra ingredients can give you more depth of flavour and an even more cozy vibe. If you’re feeling creative and want to make this dessert even more cozy, stir in half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder and a quarter teaspoon nutmeg along with the dry ingredients. This will give this cake and even more warm touch in the cozy weather.

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  Do not over mix. Only mix until a few streaks of flour remain and then give the bowl a couple of quick turns with a large spatula to finish it off. Less is more when it comes to mixing your bundt cake batter. Over mixing can lead to a dense & dry crumb which will in turn not give you a fluffy and soft cake.

  
  

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  Take time to grease your pan. There’s nothing worse than spending time and energy prepping, mixing, and baking your new favourite dessert only to find out that your cake is stuck to the bottom of the pan. Been there, done that and it’s not at all fun. The cake almost always tastes great but it’s obviously not as pretty. So for the best results, be sure to generously grease a non-stick bundt pan with non-stick baking spray. I like to use sprays which also have flour in them to grease bundt cakes. If your spray doesn’t, then I’d suggest doing a second round of greasing with some amount of flour. I like almost all of the bundt moulds from Nordicware USA. You also want to take care that you don’t want to get pools of oil at the bottom of your bundt pan while pouring the batter into it.

  
  

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  Keep an eye on the cake. You should most definitely use an oven thermometer to make sure you are baking at the correct temperature. But also, start checking the cake for doneness at the 40 minute mark and if the top is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminium foil. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the top of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs remaining. Do not over bake the cake or it will be dry and crumbly in texture.

  
  

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  It’s all in the flip. This is the moment of truth! Take out the bundt cake from the oven and set a timer for exactly 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, invert the cake onto a wire cooling rack or a cake platter by carefully placing the flat surface on top of the bundt pan. Use hot mitts to hold the sides of the bundt and quickly flip the pan and the rack or platter over in one motion. If you greased your bundt pan well, the cake should slide right out. If it doesn’t, you can wait for an additional 5 minutes and try again. However, you should never let your bundt cake sit for more than 15 minutes in the pan. Tap it a few times if it is stuck and it should slide right out. If a few bits of the cake top stuck to the inside of the pan, do your best to piece them back together. The brown sugar glaze does wonders for hiding any mistakes and the cake will still taste amazing!

  
  

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  Cool completely. It’s tempting to glaze this beautiful cake right away, I know. But don’t even think about it until it’s cool to the touch or the brown sugar maple glaze will slide right off and not stay on top of the cake. Patience at this moment is key to getting a pretty bundt!

  
  

All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.

• In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
• Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!

If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back!

Happy Fall Baking!