As many of you may know, I just turned twenty-one this past January. I cannot explain how long I’ve been waiting to bake with alcohol. Sure, I could have had my parents buy some for me to bake with. But honestly, I wanted to experience shopping for this stuff on my own. I think it’s such a cool experience to be able to find exactly what you want for your own recipes and not have to rely on other people. This recipe has been bopping around in my noggin for quite some time, but here it finally is, Bourbon Caramel Bundt Cake.
I think that there are few flavors in the world that top bourbon caramel. It’s just so rich, so indulgent, so adult. I love it, and I wanted the bourbon caramel bundt cake to reflect all of those attributes. For this cake, I used just about the fanciest bundt pan I have ever owned. I was so scared to use it. I always used to have issues with cakes sticking in the bottom of pans, which I now have solved by lining the bottom of my cake pans with parchment paper. Without parchment paper though, my cakes get STUCK. Obviously you can’t line a bundt pan with parchment paper, so I did some research on how to actually get the cake out of the pan.
How do I get my bundt cake out of the pan (and in one piece)?
To smoothly and cleanly remove your bundt cake from the pan, you’re going to need butter and flour. Take two tablespoons of butter and mix it with 3 tablespoons of flour. It will become a thick, opaque, paste, and this is exactly what we want. You will then, either using a paper towel or your fingers, rub this paste into every single nook and cranny. I recommend using your fingers for this task, especially if your bundt pan is as intricate as mine is. Don’t worry if you get some bigger globs of the paste in the corners of the pan. This paste will melt as the cake cooks, so there is no risk of it ruining the shape of the final cake. As long as you make sure the entire pan has a good coating of this stuff, I can almost guarantee you that your bundt cake will come out clean, perfect, and in one piece.
Bourbon Caramel Bundt Cake
Ingredients
To Grease Your Bundt Pan:
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
For the Bundt Cake:
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup Buttermilk
- ¼ cup Bourbon Whiskey
For the Bourbon Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream (room temperature)
- ¼ cup Unsalted Butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 tablespoons Bourbon Whiskey
- 1 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
For the Bundt Cake:
- Set oven to 350º F.
- In a small bowl, rub two tablespoons of butter together with 3 tablespoons of flour until it becomes a paste. Rub the paste into every crevice of the bundt pan possible. Make sure the entire pan is covered. This will help your bundt cake to come out in one piece.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together.
- In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Do this using either a hand mixer or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.
- One by one, add the eggs and the egg yolk, making sure each is incorporated fully before adding the next. When all the eggs are incorporated, add the vanilla.
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the bowl, and mix until just incorporated.
- Now, add ½ of the buttermilk to the batter and mix until that is combined. Repeat, alternating adding wet and dry until you run out, you should end the rotation by adding the last ⅓ of flour. MAKE SURE NOT TO OVERMIX YOUR DOUGH.
- When the last of the flour mixture is just incorporated and no flour streaks remain, add the bourbon whiskey and stir quickly to evenly disperse it through the batter.
- Pour your batter into your prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for at least 1 hour before attempting to remove from pan.
For the Bourbon Caramel Sauce:
- Combine the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
- Turn the burner on to medium-high heat. Leave it alone to let the sugar caramelize. Do NOT stir or touch the pan until the sugar has caramelized to the color you desire!
- The sugar mixture will go from being completely clear, to a champagne color, to a light golden color, and then to increasingly darker shades of amber. (Keep a close eye on the sugar at this stage, we don't want to burn it!).
- Once the sugar reaches a deep amber, and you are satisfied with its color, remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Right away, begin to slowly and carefully pour the heavy cream into the sugar mixture, whisking as you pour to incorporate the cream. Make sure that the cream is actually at or a little above room temperature. This will help the cream incorporate better. The mixture will bubble furiously, but not as badly as it might if the cream is cold. Add in the ROOM TEMPERATURE, soft, butter and whisk until combined.
- Add in the vanilla, bourbon and sea sea salt, and whisk until combined.
- Drizzle over cake and serve immediately.
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