Let's eat cake! Morning, noon or night, it's always a good time to eat cake, especially when it's a brown butter cake. Let's get one thing straight...I LOVE brown butter and this Brown Butter Cake with Brown Butter Swiss Meringue Frosting is everything you need in life. Brown butter is so versatile and is a delicious addition in anything sweet or savoury. As with French cooking, butter is a must so why not make it brown butter?
When I first attempted this cake, it came out more like a cookie, maybe I should've gone with it and created the cakie? The sheer amount of brown butter did not create a good cake batter but it tasted delicious and smelled heavenly.
The recipe is very easy, I would suggest making the brown butter in advance. A day or two even but it can also be made the same day just a couple of hours prior. Enjoy!
Brown Butter Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
Brown Butter:
- 3 cups butter divided between cake and frosting
Brown Butter Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¾ cup brown butter
- 4 large Eggs
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
Brown Butter Frosting:
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- 2 cups brown butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Brown Butter:
- Place 3 cups butter into medium pot or pan. Melt butter over medium heat. Swirl butter in pan or stir occasionally to make sure butter cooks evenly. As butter melts, it will begin to foam. Watch butter closely. The color will progress from bright yellow to golden tan, then to deep golden brown very quickly. When you smell nutty aroma, butter is deep golden brown and browned milk solids appear in bottom of pan, remove pan from heat.
- Stir brown butter well. Divide butter into two bowls. Place ¾ cup for cake in one bowl, 2 cups for frosting in second bowl. (Butter loses some volume during cooking process.) Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Brown Butter Cake:
- Heat oven to 350°F. Parchment and grease 2 (9-inch) round baking pans. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt in bowl. Set aside.
- Beat 1 ½ cups sugar and ¾ cup brown butter in another bowl at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add water and 1 tablespoon vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating at low speed after each addition just until mixed.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake 28-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Place onto cooling racks; cool 10 minutes. Loosen cake by running knife around inside edge of pans. Carefully remove cake from pans; cool completely.
Brown Butter Frosting:
- Heat saucepan of water over medium-high heat until it comes to gentle boil.
- Place 6 egg whites and 1 ⅓ cups sugar into bowl. Place bowl over saucepan with gently boiling water. Cook, stirring often, until mixture reaches 165ºF. Remove from heat. Beat with heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, 5-8 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
- Add 2 cups browned butter, a few teaspoonfuls at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may look curdled). Continue beating until mixture is fluffy. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
- Place 1 cake layer onto serving plate, bottom-side up; frost top. Place remaining cake layer over frosting, bottom-side down; frost top and sides of cake. Decorate as desired.
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