This classic cake mix recipe is just as tasty today as ever. Butterscotch Poppy Seed Bundt Cake is a great choice for your next potluck, staff meeting, or school function.
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I found this recipe scrawled on a piece of notepaper and tucked inside a binder that holds all the recipes I’ve saved over the years. The paper has the logo of an electronics company where I worked when I was in my early 20’s, back in the early days of Silicon Valley. We had frequent staff potlucks and I was constantly asking for recipes from the older, more experienced bakers and cooks around my office. I’m so happy I had the state of mind at that young age to begin collecting recipes. The recipes and the memories go hand-in-hand.
Like many of my recipes, this one took me back to a time before cell phones, the internet, and social media. Our offices were equipped with IBM Selectric typewriters (shout out to those of you who can remember those font balls) and I was trained and certified and pretty darn proficient, I might add, on the Wang Word Processor. If you’ve never heard of the Wang (resisting the obvious jokes here) it was a dedicated word processor. Yup, that’s all it did. It was a great big computer that was only capable of one thing and friends, it was cutting edge technology. Imagine the only thing your computer could do is run your Word software. Period.
This is making me feel ancient but it really wasn’t that long ago. Technology has just moved at rocket speed. Yes that’s it.
Needless to say, Silicon Valley has undergone quite the transformation over the course of the past 30+ years and has changed the world in some pretty spectacular ways. We live less than a 10-minute drive from Apple headquarters and have witnessed our quaint Northern California community full of fruit orchards become the high-tech mecca that it is today. It’s pretty cool to be in the epicenter of it all but I’m so glad I can remember how it was here before it all hit!
It was definitely time to give this recipe another try and I’m so glad I did. It’s a light, easy-to-eat cake with just a hint of butterscotch flavor that goes perfectly with your hot beverage of choice. I think it is spot-on perfect for staff meetings, school functions, or any type of potluck gathering. We aren’t always in a position to bake from scratch and cake mix recipes are great to have on hand for a quick, stress-free treat.
On grocery list – a yellow cake mix, a small box of butterscotch pudding mix, and poppy seeds.
Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, 4 eggs, and 1/2 cup vegetable oil with an electric mixer, mixing just until moistened.
Add 1 cup of warm water and 1/4 cup poppy seeds – which just so happens to be the exact amount in a 1.25 ounce container. Continue to mix for about two minutes.
Transfer the batter to a bundt pan that has been coated well with non-stick cooking spray and pop it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
A light dusting of powdered sugar is all that this cake needs to keep it light, easy, and delicious.
Butterscotch Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce package yellow cake mix
- 3.4 ounce package instant butterscotch pudding
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup warm water
- ¼ cup poppy seeds
- 2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a bundt pan (don’t miss the sides and inner cone) with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl blend cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil with an electric mixer just until moistened. Add warm water and poppy seeds and blend again for abut 2 minutes. Transfer batter to the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Invert over a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
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Thanks for all the great memories of Silicon Valley in the 70s. I sure do remember those Selectrics and mag card readers and life without computers. Such a hoot to recall! I made this a lot in the 70s but got a hankering for it. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve been making this since late seventies. But instead of powdered sugar topping I frost it with coconut pecan frosting. It goes to another level
That sounds amazing, Kris! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
This recipe is very good. Brings back memories to me. My Mother made a cake like this in the 70’s excellent to take to pot luck!
Thank you for posting this recipe! It’s a favorite from my youth, many years ago. 😜 And it is indeed hard to find instant butterscotch pudding mix, but I located it on Amazon.com where I purchased 4 boxes. Cheers!
Here I am almost two years later. I do not have a clue where to find instant butterscotch pudding but no worries. Cook and serve worked perfectly at our last family reunion that everyone asked me to bring to this family reunion. This is such a great recipe. I bake this all the time and it turns out perfect. Leslie
Glad to hear that it worked well for you, Leslie. 🙂
Searched everywhere for instant butterscotch pudding to no avail. Can I use cook and serve instead? Leslie
Hi Leslie. I’ve never tried this with anything but the instant pudding so I can’t say for sure. If you try it, do please let me know how it worked out for you.
Butterscotch is my favorite pudding, can’t wait to bake this tonight. Love simple dishes, especially sweets.
Enjoy, Susy 🙂
I can’t wait to try out this recipie. In reading your blog I figured out that I live on the other side of the hill from you. It’s a beautiful area we live in. The beaches in Santa Cruz are great.
Well, hello neighbor! We are so blessed to live so close to the ocean and try to get “over the hill” as much as possible. Thanks for your comment and I hope you love the cake if you decide to try it 🙂
Love anything butterscotch and I have never heard of this recipe before! I will have to save it for my collection! 🙂