This bundt came out great! It’s not particularly tart, or anything else that really comes to mind with buttermilk, it’s just…cake flavored. Good cake flavored? It doesn’t feel heavy, but it is dense enough that I’ve been feeling satisfied after eating normal human slices, not the mega chunks of cake I may at other times consume. (Looking at you, Moravian Sugar Cake…) It also freezes and bounces back fast! I made this the day before leaving on a trip, cut it into rough quarters, and froze 3. I kept the thawed part in a ziplock, and (once I was back home) when I ate the last thawed slice, would just move another frozen piece out into the bag to thaw for the next day’s dessert. Handy-dandy! Even the chocolate on top freezes/thaws no problem.

Cut up to freeze a bit before bagging and longer storage.

I never end up using all the milk/buttermilk I buy at once, so to prevent it going bad I tend to measure 1 cup into (pre-sharpied) ziplocks. If you lay them in the freezer on a sheet pan, they’ll freeze flat, and then you can take them out of the pan and store them as a little flat sheet whichever way is most convenient, and they thaw again quickly, with all that surface area. When thawed they may look a bit weird, but have always worked great for baking in anything I’ve put them in.

The only thing to be aware of when starting this cake is that many of the ingredients should be room temperature when you start, but if you’ve thawed your buttermilk (if needed) and given everything else a while to come up to temp, get at it!

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup salted butter, room temperature (how many years since I last bought salted butter?!)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Glaze (can be made thinner than shown, to drizzle more nicely):

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 or more tablespoons very hot water

Preheat oven to 325. Heavily grease a bundt pan using shortening, then flour the pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each.

Add the dry goods in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2, beating until just combined.

Gently transfer to the prepared pan and bake 1 hour, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then flip a wire cooling rack onto the pan and then turn the pan/rack so that the bundt is upside-down. Let sit for 1 minute, then lift the pan off. If it doesn’t come easily, run a thin knife along the inside of the pan and try again.

Once the cake has mostly cooled, combine the butter and chocolate of the glaze in a medium dish. Microwave 30 seconds, then stir/swirl. Microwave again in short burst, stirring in between, until the butter and chocolate are completely melted, then stir in the powdered sugar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of hot water, then add more as desired to thin for texture.

I left mine more of a soft clay than a glaze, because I wanted to hurry up and get it in ziplocks, but you can do what looks nicest to you! Drizzle/pat on, and enjoy!

Buttermilk Bundt

Cake from Bake at 350, glaze a bit adapted from The Spruce Eats.

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup salted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 or more tablespoons very hot water

Preheat oven to 325. Heavily grease a bundt pan using shortening, then flour the pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each. Add the dry goods in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2, beating until just combined.

Gently transfer to the prepared pan and bake 1 hour, or until it passes the toothpick test. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then flip a wire cooling rack onto the pan and then turn the pan/rack so that the bundt is upside-down. Let sit for 1 minute, then lift the pan off. If it doesn’t come easily, run a thin knife along the inside of the pan and try again.

Once the cake has mostly cooled, combine the butter and chocolate of the glaze in a medium dish. Microwave 30 seconds, then stir/swirl. Microwave again in short burst, stirring in between, until the butter and chocolate are completely melted, then stir in the powdered sugar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of hot water, then add more as desired for texture. Drizzle over cooled cake.