Butter Tart Bundt Cake

As a kid, I adored everything about Christmas—decorations, gifts, snow, family gatherings, and especially the food! Christmas meant indulging in special treats we only enjoyed once a year, like my Grandma's homemade butter tarts. These inspired this Butter Tart Cake, a moist bundt cake swirled with gooey butter tart filling and topped with a rich brown butter maple glaze—a classic treat transformed into a decadent dessert!

Butter Tarts symbolize Christmas not only for me but for many Canadians. They are the quintessential Canadian comfort food. But I love butter tarts so much that I needed more butter tart-flavoured food than existed. That's why I created this Butter Tart Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Maple Glaze, as well as these Butter tart Cookies, Butter Tart Waffles, Butter Cupcakes, Butter tart ice cream and this Butter tart Slice. Not only is this cake simple to make, it's the perfect dessert for your Christmas dinner. And it's the ultimate Canadian Christmas food!

🥘 Ingredient Notes

For this butter tart cake recipe you'll need: 

• Extracts. The extracts give this cake a lot of flavor, so don't just sub in vanilla extract for the others. You can get maple and butter extract online (through Amazon) if you can't find them in the grocery store or at a craft or cake decorating store.
• Brown Sugar. It makes a big difference in color of the cake and swirl filling whether you use light or dark brown sugar. However, it does not affect the taste that much (in my opinion), although dark brown sugar has more of a molasses taste. The main photos of the cake use light brown sugar (golden yellow) and the process photos use dark brown sugar.
• Whipping cream. Whipping cream (the liquid- not whipped cream) gives this cake a creamy texture in both in the filling (swirl) and in the cake. *You need to use between 33% and 36% fat.
• Unsalted butter. I like to use unsalted butter so I can control the salt in my cake. I don't recommend using a no-name butter. It has a higher water content than some of the higher quality butter (Lactantia has the least water content, so I recommend using that.)
• Vinegar. Vinegar balances the sweet, buttery flavor.

*see recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities

📖 Variations

• Mini Butter Tart Bundt Cakes: You can also make these mini bundt cakes. Bake for half the time, about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean (serves 2). And they are great for bake sales (I have done them for my kids' bake sales).
• Raisins: Raisins are traditionally in butter tarts but you can substitute pecans.
• Cornstarch: If you don't have cornstarch you can make a roux with a little flour and oil to thicken the filling, or you can use arrowroot powder.

🔪How to make Butter Tart Cake

PREP: Grease bundt cake pan with non- stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F/162 degrees C.

MAKE THE BUTTER TART SWIRL FILLING (STEP 1): In a medium pot on the stovetop, add 1 teaspoon vanilla to ¼ cup and 2 tbsps whipping cream, heat to medium-low (Image 1)Then add 2 Tblsp and 2 teaspoon of butter (Image 2)In a separate large bowl, combine 3 eggs, and 1 ½ cups brown sugar and whisk together. (Image 3)Add egg mixture to warm cream mixture and simmer on low. (Image 4).

THICKEN THE FILLING (STEP 2): Then add 1 ½ teaspoon vinegar and whisk in 2 teaspoon of cornstarch. Add ½ cup raisins or chopped pecans. (Image 5). Keep whisking until thickened on med/ low heat for about 12 -15 minutes. Be patient and keep whisking, as it won't really start to thicken until the last 5-7 minutes. It should be the consistency of thick gravy after 15 minutes. If it's not, then you need to add more cornstarch and keep whisking. (Image 6). Remove from heat and cool. Once it's cooled, it will be very thick like pudding.*If it is not this thick it won't work - the cake won't cook properly!*This is why I often make it the night before so it has time to cool and sit in the fridge and thicken.**To thicken it quickly, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Image 7).

MAKE THE CAKE (STEP 2):Pour 1 teaspoon vinegar into 1 cup milk and let stand (Image 8) .Mix 2 ½ cups flour and ½ teaspoon baking powder together – set aside. (Image 9). Beat 1 cup unsalted butter and 2 cups brown sugar with an electric hand mixer(or with a paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer) (Image 10). Then beat in 1 teaspoon each of butter and vanilla extracts, 2 eggs, and ¼ cup whipping cream. (Image 11).

Mix dry ingredients into wet and stir until combined (Image 12). Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda into milk mixed with vinegar, stir and allow a moment for it to bubble up. Then fold into cake mix and stir until just combined. (Image 13)

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE (STEP 3): Pour ½ the cake batter into the bundt cake pan.(Image 14) Drop spoonfuls of the butter tart swirl filling (about ½ of the filling) (Image 15) over the cake. Swirl gently with a knife, cutting into the bottom and lifting the batter while twirling the knife. (Image 16). REPEAT: Pour in the remaining batter and swirl in the remaining butter tart swirl filling, using the same technique. (Image 17). *Alternatively, you could do a layer of cake batter, then one layer of the filling, then another layer of cake batter and use a spatula to swirl it together as in this video on how to swirl cake batter.

BAKE THE CAKE (STEP 4) : Bake in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour (Image 18) or until cake tester/toothpick  comes out clean.(IMAGE 19) If it's not done, cover with foil so it won't darken anymore and put it back in the oven, check it at 5 minute intervals (Image 20). Allow it to cool in pan on trivet for at least 10 minutes.Remove from pan and cool for another 15 minutes on a wire rack.(Image 21).

MAKE THE BROWN BUTTER MAPLE GLAZE (STEP 5): Meanwhile, brown the butter by melting ¼ cup unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until the butter turns a light golden brown, has little brown bits on the bottom of the pan, and is fragrant (caramel odor). *don't worry about the little bit of foam on it *See this video: How to make brown butter, if you're not sure how (Image 22). Remove from heat and add wait a couple of minutes before adding 1 teaspoon maple extract (* be careful because it will bubble up and could splatter a little). Then cool to room temperature (Image 23). Whisk the butter mixture with 1 cup of confectioners sugar/powdered sugar and add 3 Tblsp of whipping cream (Image 24) It should be thick, but if it's too thick to pour/spoon brown butter maple glaze over the cake, then add a little more whipping cream (try a tablespoon at a time). If it ends up too thin after it cools and hardens, you can always make another batch and pour it over the cake again and double glaze it (I have done this). Allow to harden a few minutes. *It's important you refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour before serving! Sprinkle on a little powdered sugar before serving. Serve COLD. (Image 25).

🥗What to Serve with Butter Tart Cake

This butter tart bundt cake is a pretty dense cake, similar to a pound cake or coffee cake so it makes a great Christmas Brunch cake and goes perfectly with a cup of coffee!

It also pairs well with a lighter holiday meal such as these Baked Cornish Hens and Mandarin Orange Salad!

🌡️Storage

• Fridge: This cake can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container for 2-3 days. 
• Freezer: Leftovers freeze well for up to 3 months. *If you want to make it more than a day or two in advance, you can freeze it in an airtight container, but you are best to glaze it after it's been defrosted.

❔Recipe FAQ's