This brown butter bourbon pecan bundt cake is moist, delicious and surprisingly easy to make! With a crunchy brown sugar pecan ribbon through the middle of the cake and a rich brown butter bourbon glaze, it's as flavorful as it is stunning!
Bourbon and butter pecan are some of my favorite classic southern flavors, so it only makes sense to put them together in bundt cake form!
This recipe was created in partnership with Woodford Reserve; all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Barley & Sage possible!
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Why You'll Love This Bundt Cake!
- Rich bourbon flavor in the cake AND the glaze!
- Crunchy brown sugar pecan ribbon through the middle of the cake.
- Simple but show stopping dessert for fall holidays (like Thanksgiving or Christmas)!
You might also like this maple pumpkin bundt cake or these bourbon pecan pie bars!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make this brown butter bourbon pecan bundt cake!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Pecans - This recipe works best with plain, unsalted, dry roasted pecans!
Pecan Meal - Pecan meal is literally just finely ground pecans! I love using it in place of some of the flour for an extra nutty flavor. But it's completely optional!
Buttermilk - If you don't have buttermilk you can use either regular whole milk or sour cream! You can also make your own buttermilk by using 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice!
Woodford Reserve Bourbon - Woodford Reserve makes some of the best bourbon around! With more than 200 flavor notes, from bold grain and wood, to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes, it has a smooth beautiful finish! You can use either the Woodford Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey, or the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon for an even more complex flavor.
How to Make a Bundt Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the brown sugar pecan ribbon and set aside.
Whisk the cake flour, pecan meal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until combined.
Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract together until smooth.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture.
Then stir in the buttermilk, bourbon, and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
Prepare your bundt pan by spraying thoroughly with a vegetable oil based pan spray.
Pour about half cake batter into your prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
Then sprinkle the brown sugar pecan mixture over the top and cover with the rest of the batter.
Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean. Note: Pans with a darker interior will cook faster, as will a smaller 5-6 cup bundt pan. Start checking at 30-35 minutes in those cases.
Remove from the oven and let the cake rest in the pan for 1-2 minutes.
Use a butter knife and gently slide it between the cake and pan around the edges and the center hole. Place a cooling rack on top of the bundt pan and turn over. It should fall right out but if it doesn’t let it sit for a couple minutes and then tap the top of the pan to gently coax it out of the pan.
Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before glazing.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, brown butter, and bourbon until smooth. Add in heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze is a thick, but pourable consistency.
Drizzle the bourbon glaze over the top of the cake.
If desired, garnish with some finely chopped pecans! You could also use pecan halves for a different look.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Bundt Cake Tips
Using a high quality non-stick bundt pan will increase your odds of the cake sliding cleanly out of the pan! I only use Nordic Ware bundt pans because they’re extremely well made and won’t break the bank. You can also find them on sale all the time! For this brown butter bourbon pecan bundt cake I used my classic 12 cup bundt pan.
This recipe is designed for a 10-12 cup bundt pan. Simply halve the recipe to use a 5-6 cup bundt!
You also want to use a good pan spray! I love Everbake Pan Spray or Baker's Joy, but any vegetable oil spray will work. You do not want to use butter though as the milk solids can solidify during baking and cause your cake to stick in some of the smaller crevices.
Recipe FAQ's
This bourbon pecan bundt cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. I recommend getting an airtight bundt cake keeper for best results.
This can happen for a few reasons. The pan you're using and the nonstick spray are usually the biggest culprits! See the above notes on what I recommend!
Nope! I love the extra flavor that brown butter adds to the cake, but you can use regular unsalted butter if you prefer.
Just a little, but yes! The alcohol in the bundt cake does cook off, but there is bourbon in the glaze too so this cake should only be served to people over 21.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Bourbon Pecan Bundt Cake
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¼ cup cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- ½ cup pecan meal, substitute all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, substitute whole milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup bourbon
Brown Sugar Pecan Ribbon
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon unsalted brown butter, melted
Bourbon Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted brown butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed
- pecan halves, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the brown sugar pecan ribbon (brown sugar, pecans, melted brown butter) and set aside.
- Whisk the cake flour, pecan meal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until combined.
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract together until smooth.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture.
- Then stir in the buttermilk, bourbon, and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
- Pour about half cake batter into your prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
- Then sprinkle the brown sugar pecan mixture over the top and cover with the rest of the batter.
- Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean. Note: Pans with a darker interior will cook faster, as will a smaller 5-6 cup bundt pan. Start checking at 30-35 minutes in those cases.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake rest in the pan for 1-2 minutes.
- Use a butter knife and gently slide it between the cake and pan around the edges and the center hole. Place a cooling rack on top of the bundt pan and turn over. It should fall right out but if it doesn’t let it sit for a couple minutes and then tap the top of the pan to gently coax it out of the pan.
- Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before glazing.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, brown butter, and bourbon until smooth. Add in heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze is a thick, but pourable consistency.
- Drizzle the bourbon glaze over the top of the cake.
- If desired, garnish with some finely chopped pecans! You could also use pecan halves for a different look.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
John says
I have a question about the butter for the delicious sounding cake. Should I use 2 sticks of butter and then brown the butter, yielding about 1 cup minus about two tablespoons, or brown 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter to yield 1 full cup of browned butter after what evaporates away?
Kyleigh Sage says
Great question! The most accurate measurements would be to brown 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons to yield 1 full cup of brown butter. However, I’ve tried it both ways and the difference is minimal!