Butter Crunch Cake, a from-scratch rich yellow butter cake recipe with an easy homemade butter frosting and crunch topping.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Finlandia™. The opinions and text are all mine.
So excited to bring you this Butter Crunch Cake recipe today! This Butter Crunch Cake is an easy homemade yellow cake, with a creamy butter frosting, and crunch topping. Sounds like a lot to make, but it’s easy, I promise! Finlandia™ Premium Imported Butter turned this cake into an over the top dessert that would be perfect for your holiday meals and special occasions!
You may be familiar with Finlandia and their popular Swiss cheese, but have you tried their other dairy products like their other cheeses, butter, and creamy gourmet cheeses? I was so excited to give their butter a try recently. Their premium imported butter is out of this world! It’s made from the purest milk from Finnish family-owned farms and nothing artificial and no added hormones. Finlandia has been making cheese and butter in Finland for over 100 years, so they know their dairy!
If you like butter, you will LOVE premium imported butter. The taste, texture, and quality is amazing! Finlandia has both salted and unsalted varieties so great for all occasions whether you want butter for spreading on baked goods or butter for baking. If you’ve never tried premium butter, give it a try! It can make a big difference!
So to get started on this Butter Crunch Cake, you’ll need basic cake ingredients including all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and Finlandia unsalted butter. You could use regular milk, but I liked the slight tanginess of the buttermilk for this cake.
To start, mix together the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Then beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture. Then alternate adding the buttermilk and dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
The butter makes the cake so rich and creamy. I could have eaten the batter by the spoonful at this point but I tried to control myself! I didn’t share the beaters with the kids and kept them for myself. Ha!
I used a 9×9-inch square baking pan for the cake because I thought it would be a nice change from the usual round layered cakes. I lightly greased the bottom and sides of the pans with a little butter then lined the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Put a little more butter on top of the parchment paper so that the cake easily comes out of the pan.
Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the crunch topping. The crunch topping is really similar to a streusel topping, one of my favorite things! Mix together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Cut in the butter with two knives or a pastry cutter (I prefer a pastry cutter and find it a lot easier and quicker!) until the mixture is crumbly.
Once you have a crumbly mixture, stir in the nuts. I used chopped pecans, but chopped walnuts would also be great. You could even add a little cinnamon or other spices to the mixture. Spread the crunch topping on a large rimmed baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Bake the topping for about 20-30 minutes or until crispy and browned. Be sure to stir the mixture occasionally while baking so it evenly browns.
If you don’t like nuts or have nut allergies in your home, you can omit the nuts, and then mix in chocolate chips into the cooled crunchy topping.
When the cake is done baking, cool completely, then slice the cake in half horizontally to form two layers. If you’ve never cut a cake in half, I find it best to use a long serrated knife. Keep the knife flat and slowly rotate the cake stand.
To separate the layers, I like to use a large flat baking sheet. Slowly slide it into the cake and then lift up the top layer.
Once you have the cake and crunch topping, don’t forget to make the frosting! You can really taste the difference with Finlandia’s butter in the frosting! Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature, then beat in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Slowly add a little buttermilk as needed to make a smooth creamy frosting.
To assemble the Butter Crunch Cake, gently spread half the frosting over the bottom layer of the cake. The cake may be a bit crumbly so spread the frosting gently. I placed dollops of frosting all over the cake then gently spread the frosting to cover, rather than placing all the frosting in the middle of the cake. Top the frosting with half the crunch topping.
Gently place the top cake layer on the crunch topping, frost again with the remaining frosting, and then top with the remaining crunch topping.
The cake really comes together quickly even though it seems likes a lot of steps. You could even make the cake, crunch topping, and/or frosting ahead of time. Perfect for the holidays because you can make all of it or just parts of the cake ahead of time.
The cake has a rich creamy buttery flavor that you just couldn’t get with any butter. Perfect for special occasions and holidays!
Two thumbs up from the kiddos including the picky eater! They couldn’t wait to get their hands on a piece!
If the crunch topping is a bit much for you, you can omit, or cut the recipe in half for it. Likewise, if you like A LOT of frosting, you may want to double the frosting recipe. I thought there was plenty of frosting but I know some people LOVE frosting.
To simplify the cake even more, you can forget cutting the cake in half and just frost the top and add the crunch topping to the top. Would still be delicious!
Hope you enjoy this Butter Crunch Cake as much as we did! Happy Holidays! If you’re looking for other great cake recipes check out my Pumpkin Crunch Cake, Cannoli Cake, and my Brownie Cake!
Butter Crunch Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- Finlandia unsalted butter for greasing pans
Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup Finlandia unsalted butter softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Crunch Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold Finlandia unsalted butter cubed
- 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
Frosting:
- 3/4 cup Finlandia unsalted butter softened
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9x9-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper.
- Mix together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in small bowl until combined. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup butter with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time then vanilla. Alternate beating in dry ingredients and buttermilk until just combined.
- Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake cake at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely. (Leave oven on)
- Meanwhile, prepare crunch topping by mixing together 1 cup flour, 1/4 sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in small mixing bowl. Cut in 6 tablespoons cold cubed butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture turns crumbly. Stir in chopped nuts.
- Spread crunch topping mixture on a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crunchy and golden brown. Set aside to cool completely.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together 3/4 cup butter, powdered sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in buttermilk a little at a time until frosting is smooth and creamy.
- To assemble, remove cake from pan onto a serving plate. Carefully cut cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Slide a thin baking sheet or pan to lift the top half of cake off. Spread half of frosting over bottom half of cake. Top with half of crunch topping. Place top layer of cake on top, and frost with remaining frosting and top with remaining crunch topping.
Notes
Nutrition:
(Nutrition data is provided when available for informational purposes only and calculated using an online nutritional calculator. For the most accurate information please calculate based on specific ingredients and brands you use as well as any changes you made to the recipe. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietician and any nutritional information provided should only be used as a general guideline and estimate.)
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Finlandia™ . The opinions and text are all mine.
Shannon says
I made a creamy vanilla cake and was looking for an element to give it some texture and this sandy pecan crunch is what I decided to us. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!! Thank you! Next time I will try this full recipe.
Lisa Huff says
Thank you Shannon! :)
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
This looks moist, delicious and fluffy! I can’t wait to make this at my next get together!
Meg | Meg is Well says
The cake looks so fluffy and light! Looks delicious!
Claire @foodiequine says
Love the sound of the crunchy strusel topping and the square tin works perfectly
Amanda Mason says
This looks SO amazing!! I just hit the print button and I can’t wait to make it! Perfect recipe for the holiday season coming up!! YUM! Thanks for posting!
Kelly @ TastingPage says
You had me at butter :-) Seriously, this looks amazing!
Kristina Vanni says
What a great recipe Lisa! And thanks for linking to my Tosca Cake on the Finlandia website!