Chef notes
This is pure comfort in cake form. The cake is moist yet dense and is the perfectly delicious treat to enjoy for dessert or with a cup of coffee for breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons maple extract
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Preparation
For the cake:
1.In a small saucepan, add butter and melt over medium heat. Once the butter has fully melted, a white foam will begin to appear over the top of the butter. Watch carefully as the butter's color changes to brown and the smell of the butter becomes somewhat nutty. As soon as the butter is an amber brown color, remove from heat and cool in the refrigerator until it the butter has become solid again (can take 1-2 hours so I sometimes do this the night before baking the cake).
2.Preheat oven to 325°F. Liberally spray a 10-cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and shortening and beat for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add in sugar and continue to beat on high speed for an additional 7 minutes until very pale yellow and fluffy.
4.Next, add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
5.Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add the flour in two increments. Then add salt, baking powder and baking soda. Be careful not to overbeat.
6.Lastly, pour in buttermilk, vanilla extract and maple extract, scrape down sides and mix until just combined and turn off mixer.
7.Add batter to prepared cake pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out mostly clean but still moist.
8.Cool for 10 minutes then invert cake onto serving plate.
For the glaze:
Add butter to a pan over low heat along with syrup and allow butter to melt together with syrup. Once butter melts, quickly whisk in sifted powdered sugar ensuring there are no lumps and pour over cake.
To serve:
Allow glaze to set then slice and serve.
