Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake

I took a brief pause from the blog but come back to you with a five-star recipe from King Arthur Flour for a buttermilk cake with a pecan glaze. I brought it to the Faulkner class I'm auditing because it felt like it had several southern elements. It was tasty although my cake rose higher than the picture on the KA website.

 

Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake
(recipe from King Arthur Flour)

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
• 2 cups (425g) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (454g) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups (361g) all-purpose flour

Topping

• 6 tablespoons (85g) melted butter
• 1 cup (213g) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (57g) milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 to 1 cup (74g to 113g) diced pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" cake pan.
   
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar together till smooth.
   
3. Add the eggs, beating till smooth.
   
4. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
   
5. Add the baking soda, salt, and flour to the wet ingredients, beating till thoroughly combined.
   
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
   
7. Bake the cake for 35 minutes. Towards the end of the baking time, prepare the topping.
   
8. Stir the butter and the sugar together. Add the milk, pecans, and salt. The glaze will be thick but pourable.
   
9. Top the baked cake with the topping, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
   
10. Remove the cake from the oven. The topping will look very runny. You can eat the cake hot, with the glaze still gooey; or let the cake sit at room temperature for a few hours, by which time the glaze will have set.