Brown Butter Cake
This single layer brown butter cake is tender, soft and bursting with flavor. It's a simple brown butter cake topped with a brown butter and cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter browned
Brown Butter Cake:
- ¼ cup (52.5 g) browned butter from the 1 cup browned
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) neutral oil
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1¼ cups (175 g) cake flour all-purpose will work also
- ⅔ cup (160 g) buttermilk room temperature
Brown Butter Cream Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ cup (105 g) browned butter from the 1 cup browned
- 4 ounce (113.4 g) cream cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- ½-1 teaspoon (-0.5 teaspoon) heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- Start by browning 1 cup of salted butter that will be used for both the cake and the frosting. You'll melt two sticks of butter in a medium saucepan, and then continue to cook past the point of boiling. You will do this over medium heat, past the point of the butter foaming, until it turns a nice golden brown, and has a nutty smell. Make sure you are stirring and watching it, because it will turn from perfectly brown to burnt fairly quickly. Once finished browning, pour all of it into a bowl and allow to cool completely. If you want to rush the process you can stick it in a fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes.
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 F, and spray and line an 8 or 9 inch round or square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Measure out ¼ cup of the browned butter into a medium bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add oil, eggs and vanilla and beat again for another 2 minutes.
- In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in three parts, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Pour the batter into prepared baking pan.
- Bake for about 26-32 minutes or until a light golden brown around the edges, and a toothpick comes out clean from the middle. Set aside to allow to cool.
To make the frosting:
- In a medium size bowl mix together the rest of the browned butter (which should be about ½ cup) and the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in the salt, vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in a little whipping cream or milk if needed to reach desired consistency.
- Top cake with frosting. Cut and serve.
Notes
Once you brown the butter you will lose volume/moisture which is why you start with 1 cup of butter and end up with about ¾ cup.
Cakes will have the best results if made with room temperature ingredients. I like to pull my eggs, milk, cream cheese and butter out of the fridge an hour or two before I start baking.
This cake can also be made in a 9x13 pan for a thinner cake. If doing that I would bake it for 22-26 minutes. OR, double the recipe and bake on a cookie sheet to serve a crowd, or two round cake pans for a layered cake.
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.
Nutrition
Calories: 404kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 328mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 33gVitamin A: 667IUCalcium: 65mgIron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!