Boozy Kentucky Bourbon Bundt Cake Recipe (2024)

In the south, we say our prayers and never pass up a good cake. Southern cakes are one of my favorite traditions and I love that I can serve a crowd off of one cake. If there’s one thing my Grandmother taught me, it’s to throw a little bit of booze into your cake. This Boozy Kentucky Bourbon Bundt Cake recipe is classic and perfect for summer months. It’s got a dense pound cake texture that finished with a sweet glaze.

Since there’s no frosting on this cake, it’s so versatile. I love to add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and fresh peaches or berries along the side. Even though it’s dense, it’s still a lighter cake because of the glaze in place of a frosting. It’s part of my summer entertaining and guests always ask me for some to take home.

Looking for moreboozy cake recipes? Call me a pro,because I’ve got plenty on Savvy Mama Lifestyle! Here are some of my favorite cakes with alcohol:

• Amaretto Pound Cake
• Classic Bacardi Rum Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Kahlua Cake

How To Make Kentucky Bourbon Bundt Cake

You’ll want to start with a great bundt cake pan – I trust Nordic Ware brand. The more complicated the design is, the harder it will be to get the cake out of the pan. I’ve got some great tips too, listed below, to ensure your cake comes out of the pan beautifully. That’s the only tricky part to this recipe. Everything else is a breeze!

What To Serve With Bourbon Bundt Cake

Whatever fresh fruit is in season, will go perfectly with this bund cake. Add berries in the springtime, peaches during the summer and you can even do baked apples in the fall. Make some homemade whipped cream or serve some vanilla ice cream along the side.

How To Store Leftover Bourbon Bundt Cake

Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and it will keep, unrefrigerated, for 3-4 days. You can easily freeze any leftovers you have too. When you’re ready to serve again, after freezing, just let it come to room temperature for several hours. When frozen, the Bourbon Bundt Cake is good for three months.

How To Pick Out A Bourbon For Baking

I’ve broke my Husband’s heart before by using his favorite sipping whiskey in a recipe (sorry, honey). All is forgiven, but I’ve learned my lesson about picking out the best bourbon for baking. Since you’re cooking down the alcohol, a less expensive whiskey would do just fine.

However, if you pick a flavored bourbon, that will come through in the cake. Fruity bourbons that are sweeter are delicious for this cake. I used a Chattanooga Whiskey experimental batch that we picked up from our Chattanooga, Tennessee family trip. We purchased a few bottles at their distillery after a day at Rock City Gardens (I highly recommend this itinerary).

And yes, I know *technically* the bourbon I used isn’t from the state of Kentucky, but feel free to use what you’ve got!

What You’ll Need From The Grocery Store:

• Cake Flour
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Sea Salt
• Butter
• Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Bourbon
• Buttermilk
• Skewer

Step-By-Step Directions To Make Kentucky Bourbon Bundt Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare your bundt pan with cold butter and flour – set aside.

Sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine all ingredients.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Typically, this takes about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, with a spatula, every so often for even mixing.

Next, set the mixer on low speed and begin adding one egg at a time. Add the next egg once the previous one is barely mixed in.In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and bourbon.

Back to the mixer, on low speed, alternate adding one third of the flour mixture and one half of the bourbon mixture; repeat until all ingredients have been incorporated.Then, pour the cake batter into the pan evenly.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until the cake is a golden brown. It should spring back when pressed. Let it cool completely, still in the cake pan.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the remaining butter, sugar and bourbon on low heat until the butter and sugar have melted. Remove from heat.

Poke numerous holes in the top of the cake with a wooden skewer. Pour three-quarters of the glaze over the top, letting the mixture soak into the holes. Let the cake rest for another 15 minutes.

To finish, flip the cake onto a cake plate. Gently brush or pour the remaining glaze on top of the cake. Optional: you can add powdered sugar on top to cover any flaws (if your cake didn’t remove easily from the pan).

Serve with fresh fruit, ice cream and whipped cream.