Butterscotch Buttermilk Cake

 

I have a beautiful Butterscotch Cake recipe to share with you today.  This is one of my favorite cakes to make and bake.  

Not only does it turn out perfect every time I make it, with a beautiful butterscotch flavor, but it is also incredibly moist and delicious. 

It smells amazing when it is baking.  My mouth waters in anticipation each and every time! 

 

 

One thing you can count on when making a cake with buttermilk is that it is going to be super moist. Add brown sugar into the mix and you have a recipe for a really delicious and moist cake.

There is nothing artificial in this cake or its lush frosting. Only natural ingredients.  Soft light brown sugar, real butter, buttermilk, eggs, and the usual suspects, flour, baking powder, soda,  and real vanilla extract.

 

The frosting is also natural.  Just butter, cream and brown sugar.  Put together in such a way as to create a lush penuche frosting.  Fudgy and buttery.

When we were children, my mother would sometimes make us brown sugar fudge as a treat. It was so sweet, but so good.  Other times she would make peanut butter fudge.  It was my favorite.

 

I used to do the same thing for my own children when they were growing up. When I was beating the frosting for this cake with my wooden spoon it reminded me of those times and how much they enjoyed being able to scrape out the fudge pot when I was done.

Children love simple things like that. I wonder if they remember those times with as much fondness as I do!  I sure hope so! 

 

    WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERMILK CAKE

Simple ordinary everyday ingredients. Nothing artificial here.

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 1/3 cups (280g) soft light brown sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups (280g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk

 

For the icing:

• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 cup (200g) firmly packed soft light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80ml) cream

 

HINTS AND TIPS FOR A GOOD CAKE 

Follow the recipe as written.  Most times when people fail at making cakes, it's because they didn't follow the recipe as written.

Always use the correct sized pan as directed in the recipe.

Get all of your ingredients ready before you begin and make sure they are all at room temperature. If you have everything out, you are less likely to forget to add any vital ingredients.

Sift together the dry ingredients so that you can aerate the flour and evenly distribute any leavening needed.

Don't be slack or lackadaisical in measuring your ingredients. Baking is an exact science.  Actually, baking by weight is the most reliable way to bake. 100g will always be 100g but a measuring cup can often vary a bit in size.

 

Push your brown sugar through a sieve to get out all of the lumps.  I find the brown sugar here in Canada to be a lot lumpier than the brown sugar I was used to in the UK. Pushing it through a sieve takes care of that problem.

Don't over beat the batter. Over-beating toughens cake batters.  Likewise, don't under beat. 

Don't open your oven door when baking a cake. Opening the door can cause a cake to fall or sink in the middle. If you need to look, turn on the oven light and look through the window.

 

HOW TO MAKE BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERMILK CAKE

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch round cake tin and line the bottom with some baking paper. Set onto a baking sheet and set aside.

Put the brown sugar for the cake through a sieve and then beat together in a medium sized bowl with the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and salt, blending well.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and soda together. Fold into the creamed mixture alternating with the buttermilk, blending until you have a smooth batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325*F/165*C/ gas mark 3 and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. The cake will spring back when lightly touched in the center and a toothpick inserted will come out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin completely. Tip out and remove the paper and place right side up on a serving plate.

To make the frosting combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook stirring over medium heat until the butter melts and everything is well blended.

Bring to a simmer and then simmer over medium low heat until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (see note). This will take from 7 to 12 minutes.

Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to thicken and loses its gloss. Spread the frosting over the cake decoratively while the frosting is still warm. It will set like fudge.

This is quite simply one of my all-time favorite cakes.  Its moist and delicious. You might think that the frosting would make it too sweet, but it really doesn't

Sometimes I find that store iced cakes can be overly sweet or almost cloying. This one isn't that way in the least. In fact, I would go so far as to declare it the perfect Butterscotch cake!  

 

The simple flavors of this cake tick all my boxes. If you are looking for something equally delicious but perhaps in a different flavor, you might enjoy these!

QUEEN ELIZABETH CAKE - We are especially fond of this old, old recipe for Queen Elizabeth Cake.  I don't expect there is a Canadian community cookbook without a version of this in it.  It goes way back. It is a simple and delicious cake!  The dates make it incredibly moist. It is also studded with plenty of toasted walnuts. Topped with a sweet caramel icing and sprinkle of coconut, this is a real treat! 

SPANISH CAKE - I have really saved the best for the last.  This is my all time, absolute favorite cake. So much so that I also recreated it in a small batch version.  This cake is so good that I once baked it about three times in one week! It has a lovely moist crumb, flavored with cinnamon and that brown sugar penuche frosting is to die for.   It is the absolute best! 

Butterscotch Buttermilk Cake

Yield: 8 - 10

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 5 MTotal time: 1 H & 15 M

A moist and delicious brown sugar buttermilk cake with a lush penuche frosting.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 1/3 cups (280g) soft light brown sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups (280g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk

For the icing:

• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 cup (200g) firmly packed soft light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80ml) cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch round cake tin and line the bottom with some baking paper. Set onto a baking sheet and set aside.
2. Put the brown sugar for the cake through a sieve and then beat together in a medium sized bowl with the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and salt, blending well.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and soda together. Fold into the creamed mixture alternating with the buttermilk, blending until you have a smooth batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325*F/165*C/ gas mark 3 and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. The cake will spring back when lightly touched in the center and a toothpick inserted will come out clean.
5. Leave to cool in the tin completely. Tip out and remove the paper and place right side up on a serving plate.
6. To make the frosting combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook stirring over medium heat until the butter melts and everything is well blended.
7. Bring to a simmer and then simmer over medium low heat until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (see note). This will take from 7 to 12 minutes.
8. Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to thicken and loses its gloss. Spread the frosting over the cake decoratively while the frosting is still warm. It will set like fudge.

Notes

You can test for the soft ball stage by dropping a bit of the mixture into a glass of cold water. You should be able to pull the drop together into a soft ball.

Did you make this recipe?

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