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–+ servings
Fork inserted into a slice of butterscotch cake.

Best Butterscotch Cake

Rich and delish
This butterscotch cake is made with moist and tender brown sugar cake layers, homemade butterscotch sauce, and topped and filled with butterscotch buttercream.
5 from 60 votes
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cool time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 16 slices
Calories 616 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 150 g Butter
  • 1 ½ cups Dark brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 teaspoon Vinegar
  • ⅓ cup Sour cream
  • ¼ cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 3 cups Flour
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Baking soda
  • 1 cup Buttermilk

Butterscotch sauce

  • 115 g Butter
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ¾ cup Heavy cream
  • 1 ⅓ cup Dark brown sugar

Butterscotch buttercream

  • 350 g Butter soften
  • 4 ½ cups Powder sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoon Milk
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ¼ cup Butterscotch sauce

Instructions
 

Make the butterscotch sauce

  • Into a saucepan, add all the butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and heavy cream, and melt them over medium-high mixing constantly until the sugar and butter melts.
  • Bring it to a simmer, and simmer for about 3 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and set it aside to cool.

Make the cake

  • Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter, dark brown sugar, and kosher salt. Mix with an electric hand mixer until well combined.
  • Add the eggs, and mix until well combined and the mixture is smooth.
  • Add the sour cream, oil, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Mix well until combined.
  • Add the ½ of flour, and add the baking powder and baking soda, add ½ of the buttermilk and mix until almost combined.
  • Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix this.
  • Divide the batter into 3 8-inch baking pans and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick is inserted into the cake and comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool to room temperature and remove them from the pans.

Make the buttercream

  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, salt, powder sugar, vanilla extract, cooled butterscotch, and milk. Mix with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until the buttercream is light in color and creamy.

Assembly

  • Pipe a small dollop of the buttercream on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Top the first cake layer with ⅓ of the buttercream and spread an even layer of the buttercream with a spatula.
  • Drizzle about 2 tablespoon of the butterscotch sauce and spread it with a spoon.
  • Top the cake with the second cake layer. Repeat adding the buttercream and butterscotch sauce and top with the third cake layer.
  • Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream and pour the rest of the butterscotch sauce over the cake. Smooth it out with a spatula, creating a marble effect.
  • This cake is best served at room temperature for the best texture.

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the amazon link.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the batter.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be more firm and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.

Nutrition

Calories: 616kcalCarbohydrates: 93gProtein: 5gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 24gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 584mgPotassium: 145mgFiber: 1gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 1245IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 2mg
Keyword butterscotch cake
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