A deliciously vintage recipe, Grandma’s Butterscotch Cake is a light and fluffy cake topped with a smooth and creamy butterscotch frosting. A cake that you won’t soon forget.
We all have those recipes that are handed down to us from our elders, this Butterscotch Cake happens to come from my grandmother.
She has so many recipe cards that she kept over the years that were handed down to me, but I still remember her making this cake for special occasions.
Grandma’s Butterscotch Cake is really the perfect pairing, the frosting is what really ties the whole thing together. Made with dark brown sugar it tastes caramelized but still light and fresh.
If you’ve never had butterscotch frosting before, you are in for a treat, hand’s down it is one of the best frostings ever, paired with this cake, you have a match made in heaven.
This is one of those dessert recipes that you will wan’t to keep on hand because you will fall in love, especially if you are a butterscotch lover like myself.
If there is one cake that I urge you to try it’s my Grandma’s Butterscotch Cake! Tasty, filling and will not disappoint.
Some of my other favorite cakes we have on our site include: Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cake, Donut Cake and Spice Cake!
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- This cake is completely homemade with easy to find pantry staple ingredients.
- The pairing of the cake and frosting create a dessert that you can’t resist.
- You can add other things into the cake batter such as nuts or butterscotch chips to make it more unique.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Fine sea salt
Baking soda
Unsalted butter
Dark brown sugar
Eggs
Whole milk
Vanilla extract
Sour cream
Butterscotch chips
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE GRANDMA’S BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with baking spray, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, set aside.
- Cream together the butter and dark brown sugar in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until well incorporated and fluffy, scrape down the sides.
- Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until the first egg is fully combined until adding the next.
- Next add in the milk and vanilla, stir until combined. Scrape down the sides.
- Add half of the flour mixture, stir it in until combined.
- Add half of the sour cream, stir it in until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and sour cream. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting. Melt the butterscotch chips per the directions on the bag in a small bowl, let it sit out on the counter for about 5 minutes before making the frosting so it isn’t super hot.
- Add the butter to a large bowl and whip until smooth with an electric hand mixer.
- Mix in the melted butterscotch chips. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully mixed in, scrape down the sides.
- Add the vanilla and milk, stir it in. Turn the mixer on to medium-high and whip it for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Once the cake is cooled all the way, top with the frosting and smooth it out. Cut and serve.
WHAT IS BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE MADE OF?
The primary ingredient in this cake besides your normal baking ingredients is the use of dark brown sugar. Brown sugar is the main flavor in butterscotch.
Brown sugar is the only sugar that is used in the cake itself, we use dark brown sugar in this as it has a more potent and caramelized flavor that light brown sugar.
If you do not have dark brown sugar, you can substitute light but it will have a lighter taste to the cake itself, which is still good but we prefer it best with the dark.
WHY DO ALL THE INGREDIENTS NEED TO BE ROOM TEMPERATURE?
Believe it or not, room temperature ingredients make a difference. When a recipe calls for room temperature butter, eggs, milk ect. there is a reason by hind that!
You will wan’t to follow those directions because baking is a science. Room temperature ingredients create a nice silty batter and when baking forms an emulsion and traps air.
This in turn is what will give your cake it’s light and fluffy texture rather than a dense and heavy texture where you would get if you were to use cold ingredients.
Now if you use cold ingredients, the recipe will still usually turn out, but not how the baker/recipe developer intended it to.
HOW TO STORE:
This Butterscotch Cake Recipe can be stored in an airtight container or covered in the pan at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
This can also be frozen, to freeze we like to freeze the cake alone and without the frosting. When the cake defrosts with the frosting since it is made with butterscotch chips it defrosts differently.
Wrap your cake pan (make sure it is freezer proof) in a layer of plastic wrap and then with a layer of foil. Place in the freezer and this will keep for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove from freezer and let come to room temperature on the countertop, make your frosting, frost and enjoy!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Make sure that you use room temperature ingredients, this is an important step for this recipe.
- Dark brown sugar in this cake is preferred for it’s flavor, but in a pinch you can substitute it for light, but you will not get the same flavor.
- This cake can be frozen, see my tips above.
- You can make this in a 9″x13″ cake pan or a half sheet pan for thinner slices and more servings, the baking times may vary.
- Make sure your cake is completely cooled before frosting.
- Let your butterscotch chips cool after melting, they will not harden up but you do not want to add them when they are hot or the frosting won’t set up.
If you wan’t a fun vintage cake from years back that is absolutely addictive, then you have to try my Grandma’s Butterscotch Cake!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
- Tomato Soup Cake
- Homemade Butterbeer
- Grandma’s Butterscotch Oatmeal Crinkle Cookies
- Texas Sheet Cake
If you’ve tried my GRANDMA’S BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Grandma's Butterscotch Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅓ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temp
- ¾ cup whole milk room temp
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream room temp
For the frosting:
- ¾ cup butterscotch chips melted and cooled
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with baking spray, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, set aside.
- Cream together the butter and dark brown sugar in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until well incorporated and fluffy, scrape down the sides.
- Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until the first egg is fully combined until adding the next.
- Next add in the milk and vanilla, stir until combined. Scrape down the sides.
- Add half of the flour mixture, stir it in until combined.
- Add half of the sour cream, stir it in until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and sour cream. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting. Melt the butterscotch chips per the directions on the bag in a small bowl, let it sit out on the counter for about 5 minutes before making the frosting so it isn’t super hot.
- Add the butter to a large bowl and whip until smooth with an electric hand mixer.
- Mix in the melted butterscotch chips. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully mixed in, scrape down the sides.
- Add the vanilla and milk, stir it in. Turn the mixer on to medium-high and whip it for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Once the cake is cooled all the way, top with the frosting and smooth it out. Cut and serve.
Notes
- Make sure that you use room temperature ingredients, this is an important step for this recipe.
- Dark brown sugar in this cake is preferred for it's flavor, but in a pinch you can substitute it for light, but you will not get the same flavor.
- This cake can be frozen, see my tips above.
- You can make this in a 9"x13" cake pan or a half sheet pan for thinner slices and more servings, the baking times may vary.
- Make sure your cake is completely cooled before frosting.
- Let your butterscotch chips cool after melting, they will not harden up but you do not want to add them when they are hot or the frosting won't set up.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Alyrae
Made this for our branding; lots of seconds were served!
cathy johnson
I haven’t see “fine sea salt” anywhere, must it be fine or can that be adjusted ?
or maybe could I pulse my regular sea salt in the food processor to grind it down a bit ?
thank you !
Tornadough Alli
You can honestly use any salt that you’d like. We just like this type, but other salt’s will not change the recipe.