Moist Vanilla Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze (2024)

Follow these steps to make this tender, super moist Vanilla Bundt Cake recipe with an abundance of vanilla bean paste (substitute fresh vanilla beans if you have them) for a big bold vanilla flavor. The cake comes out of the oven with a beautiful golden brown crust and releases easily from the prepared bundt pan. Once the cake has cooled it’s covered with a creamy vanilla glaze, for even more vanilla flavor.

A bundt cake is simply any cake that is baked in a bundt pan. The pan not only provides a show-stopping appearance, but the design of the pan allows you to add more butter and eggs to create an incredible cake that will stay moist for days.

Bundt cakes are an easy and delicious way to feed a crowd. If you're in the mood for chocolate instead of vanilla, try my incredibly moist Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake with a chocolate glaze. And for a classic then you want my Southern Lemon Pound Cake, a recipe I learned from my aunt. And for a fruity option get this recipe for Blood Orange Pound Cake.

Why You'll Love This Cake

• Melt-in-your-mouth texture: This recipe delivers a perfectly moist and tender crumb, thanks to the creamed butter, sugar, and whole milk. Each bite is a cloud of vanilla-infused delight.
• Flavor explosion: The taste of the pure vanilla bean paste shines through, creating a classic and homey taste that your friends and family will love. It's simple yet satisfying, perfect for any occasion.
• Effortless baking: Don't be intimidated by the size or the beautiful pattern. This cake recipe comes together with ease. No complicated steps, just straightforward baking joy.
• Guaranteed Crowd-Pleaser: Watch this cake disappear faster than a magic trick. Its crowd-pleasing flavor and elegant presentation make it the star of any potluck, birthday, or celebration.

Vanilla Bundt Cake Ingredients

Here are the ingredients that you'll need for this incredibly moist vanilla bundt cake:

• Unbleached All-Purpose Flour: The flour adds structure to the cake. Sift the flour to aerate and use a scale to weigh to ensure you’re not using too much or too little.
• Granulated Sugar: Sugar not only adds sweetness, but it also adds moisture and structure to the pound cake.
• Unsalted Butter: Butter gives richness, tenderness, and structure to this recipe. Start with room temperature butter (65-68 degrees F) so that it emulsifies with the other ingredients. Unsalted butter is recommended so that you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. Salted butter can contain up to 7 grams of salt per every 4 ounces of butter.
• Vanilla Bean Paste:The vanilla bean paste adds an abundance of vanilla flavor, plus you see the tiny specs of vanilla. To take it to the next level, use 2 vanilla bean pods in place of the vanilla bean paste.
• Large Eggs:The eggs combine with the sugar and butter to add flavor, richness, moisture, and tenderness to the cake. Combined with the flour they also add structure to the cake.
• Kosher Salt: The salt helps elevate all the other flavors in the cake.
• Baking Powder: Baking powder is a chemical leavener and reacts with the air bubbles in the cake batter to help the cake rise.
• Whole Milk: Milk adds moisture and tenderness to the cake. Use whole milk for the best results.

Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Equipment

For this recipe, I used the Nordic Ware Anniversary Braided Bundt Pan. A beautiful pan with a braided pattern. You can also use the Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt Pan.

Both of these pans hold at least 12 cups of batter, which is needed for this recipe. Don’t use a smaller pan. If you do the batter will overflow when the cake bakes.

For Nordic Ware pans the number of cups that the pan will hold is on the bottom of the pan, so check before you start this recipe.

How to Make Vanilla Bundt Cake

Step 1: Prep the bundt pan. Melt the butter and then stir it together with the flour. Use a pastry brush to evenly cover the inside of the pan. Be careful to get into every crevice.

Step 2: Sift the flour and whisk in the baking powder and kosher salt until well combined.

Step 3: Crack the eggs open into a medium-sized bowl or a 2-cup measuring cup. The eggs will be added to the cake batter one at a time.

Step 4: Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla bean paste. Next add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition.

Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 7 minutes until the mixture appears creamy, and lighter in color.

Step 5: Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Make sure to scrape the batter off of the paddle attachment also.

Step 6: Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium until each egg is incorporated. The batter will look curdled which is okay.

Step 7: Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated. Add half the milk and mix until just incorporated. Repeat these steps, alternating the addition of the flour and milk.

See Also

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Step 8: Add half the milk and mix until just incorporated. Repeat these steps, alternating the addition of the flour and milk.

Step 9: Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix the cake batter on low for another 20 seconds.

Step 10: Spoon the batter into the bundt pan, evenly distributing the batter around the pan. Once all the batter has been added use an offset spatula to spoon and even out the batter. Tap the bundt pan against the counter 4 times to remove air bubbles from the batter.

Step 11: Bake the cake until it has risen, is golden brown, and the temperature in the center registers about 202 degrees F.

The center of the cake is the space halfway between the center and outer edge of the pan. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature.

Step 12: Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.

Baking Tip: Don’t let the cake cool longer than that. If the cake is left in the pan too long it will stick and break apart when you invert it from the pan.

Step 13: When ready to invert the cake, place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the pan so it covers the cake. Place a large wire rack over the parchment paper and flip the cake over.

Step 14: Let the cake completely cool before adding the vanilla glaze.

How to Make the Vanilla Glaze

Combine the powdered sugar, the vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Stir until the glaze is smooth. At this point, the glaze will be very thick. Add the remaining milk 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Spoon the glaze over the cake once it has completely cooled.

How to Store This Cake

• Room Temperature: The cake is good at room temperature in a cake container for up to 2 days.
• Refrigerator: The best way to store it in the refrigerator is to cut the cake into pieces (about 2-3 servings in size) and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Wrapping the cake pieces will help it stay moist. When ready to serve let it come to room temperature or warm it in the microwave for about 15 seconds
• Freezer: To freeze the cake wrap individual slices in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer storage bag. To freeze a whole cake, wrap it in two layers of plastic and then one layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the cake for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, thaw in the refrigerator 24 hours before serving.

Tips for Successfully Making This Recipe

• Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour, butter, and eggs. Weighing the eggs is especially important if you’re using organic cage-free eggs. I typically use conventional large-grade AA eggs, which have a consistent weight of 50 grams.
• Cream the butter and sugar and don’t skip this step. Creaming the butter and sugar creates air bubbles and when the cake is put into the oven the baking powder reacts with these air bubbles and causes them to grow and expand.
• Add the eggs one at time to ensure they emulsify with the butter and sugar. A large portion of the egg is water and since the sugar and butter mixture you’re trying to emulsify fat and water. Add too many eggs at one time will make it harder for this emulsification to take place.
• Follow the cooling time for the bundt cake. Once the cake comes out of the oven it needs time to finish setting and to start to release from the pan. If you invert it too soon the cake will stick. If you wait too long, the cake will start to restick to the pan.

If you make this delicious and moist vanilla bundt cake please leave a rating and a comment below.

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