Brown Butter Cake

4.88 from 24 votes

Tender, flavorful and moist brown butter cake layers with silky smooth brown butter buttercream.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cake

Keyword: brown butter, brown butter buttercream, Brown Butter Cake, Brown Butter Frosting

Servings: people

1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature and browned (see instructions in blog post)
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar, packed
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp. (13 g) vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
3 cups (345 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. (10 g) baking powder
1 tsp. (5 g) salt
1 cup (360 g) buttermilk, room temperature

2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slighly cold, browned (see instructioned above)
6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy cream, cold
1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt
*This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and then line with parchment. Spray again. Set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the brown butter and the sugars for about 3 minutes on medium-high speed.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and begin to add the eggs on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between addition, continue beating on medium-high speed until the texture is smooth and the volume is nearly doubled, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla bean paste or extract and beat until incorporated.
With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the buttermilk. Repeat the additions, 1/3 flour mixture, second half of the buttermilk and the final 1/3 flour mixture. Only mix until the flour mixture is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for another 20 to 30 seconds on low.
Divide the cake batter into each of the two 8-inch cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. (Tip: spray your wire cooling racks with nonstick spray).

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown butter for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy and pale in color.
With the mixer on slow, gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the heavy cream, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
Once all of the ingredients are combined, turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a couple minutes more.
Before using the buttercream, make sure to beat it by hand with a wooden spoon or large spatula to help push out the air pockets.

Place the first cake layer top side up, in the center of the cake board.
Spread about 1 cup of the the buttercream over the cake layer.
Place the second cake layer on top of the buttercream, top side down, and apply a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes. This is your crumb coat.
Once the crumb coat is set, continue frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream.
Optional: use the Wilton 1M piping tip to create design around the top edge and bottom edge of the cake.