Take classic vanilla cake to the next level with this Brown Butter Cake! A simple change for an intense nutty flavor.
This was my first time baking with brown butter and, quite frankly, I don’t know what took me so long!! Who knew that such a simple (and easy) change could have such an amazing impact on flavor. I specifically went brown butter all out (in the cake and frosting) because I really wanted the flavor to stand on its own. That being said, it would work wonderfully paired with almost any other flavor combination.
If you’ve never made brown butter, or even heard of it, let me give you a little overview.
What is Brown Butter?
Brown butter (or beurre noisette) is butter that is cooked until the milk solids turn brown. When you’re cooking the butter, it will separate into fat and milk solids.
The longer you cook it, the darker the milk solids will become. Note that it doesn’t take a lot of time for the solids to go from brown to black (aka burnt) so you really need to watch it when you’re cooking.
How to Make It
To make brown butter, you place the butter in a light colored pan and cook it over med-low heat. The light pan is important (white or stainless steel) so that you can see the color of the butter. You won’t be able to tell if it’s in a dark teflon or casto iron pan, so make sure to use something light.
The butter will foam up a lot when it’s cooking, which can make it difficult to see the color of the solids, so I would stir it often or scrape some of the foam to the side to see how the solids were doing.
When the butter is reaching the right point or browning, it will also start to smell differently (amazingly!!). Most people say that it smells nutty (hence the beurre “noisette”) , but to me it smelled almost caramel-like. It smelled delicious, at any rate.
Once the butter is properly browned, remove it from heat immediately and transfer it to a heatproof bowl (I used a large measuring cup for ease for the next step). Make sure to scrape in all of those delicious brown bits as that’s where the flavor is!
Since we’re using it in the cake and frosting, you need to divide the brown butter. Once the butter is slightly cooled, give it a good stir to jostle the brown bits and separate it into two 3/4 cup portions. You may have a bit left over which you can save to use as a sauce on steamed veggies or a variety of meat dishes.
You need the butter to be solid and at room temperature before using it in the cake and frosting. I popped mine in the fridge overnight and then placed it on the counter for a few hours in the morning to come to room temperature.
The flavor of this Brown Butter Cake is truly amazing. To be honest, doing the brown butter in both cake and frosting was a bit of a test. I wanted to see if it would really make a difference in the flavor, and wow, did it ever! This is such a simple change but it really does make for a unique nutty, buttery, caramelly, delicious cake!
Tips for this Brown Butter Cake:
- Use a light colored pan to brown the butter so that you can actually see it getting brown. I used stainless steel.
- The butter will go from brown to burnt very fast, so work quickly to get it off the heat and transferred to a heatproof bowl or measuring cup.
- Allow the butter to cool and completely solidify before using in the recipes.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Brown Butter Cake
Ingredients
Brown Butter:
- 2 cups unsalted butter *
Brown Butter Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup brown butter room temperature, solid
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk room temperature
Brown Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 3/4 cup brown butter room temperature, solid
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Brown Butter:
- Place 2 cups butter into a large, shallow, light colored saucepan. Cook over med-low heat, stirring frequently until the butter starts to brown and smell nutty.**
- Immediately transfer to bowl or large measuring cup. Be sure to scrape in the brown bits. Measure out two separate 3/4 cup portions into separate containers for the cake and frosting respectively. Let cool to room temperature and solidify.***
Brown Butter Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8″ cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream browned butter and sugars on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 45mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
Brown Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.****
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add all of the regular butter and then the browned butter 1 Tbsp at a time and mix until smooth.*****
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 1 cup buttercream and spread evenly.
- Place second cake layer on top and apply a thin coat of frosting all over to crumb coat. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost & smooth the top and sides of the cake. Pipe rosettes on top using a 1M tip if desired.
Notes
** Be careful not to burn it. It will go from brown to black very quickly.
*** Once the butter is at room temperature, you can place it in the fridge to speed up the solidifying process. Be sure to bring it to room temperature before using in the cake and frosting recipes.
**** Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won’t stiffen.
***** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth. NOTE: The Brown Butter Swiss Meringue buttercream recipe has been revised to add in more regular butter. The original recipe was browning 3 cups of butter and using 3/4 of that for the cake and 1 1/2 cups for the frosting.
The frosting was:
6 whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown butter
1 tsp vanilla
Oli Perkins says
One of the few recipes I’ve found online that have succeeded beautifully on the first try. Tasted fantastic and the texture was great! Added blackberries for kicks and that tasted great as well.
Olivia says
So happy to hear that Oli!
Katie says
Hi Olivia! It looks like you have something in between your cake layers and your frosting filling. What is it? Extra brown butter or..? 🙂 Katie
Olivia says
Hi Katie! There’s nothing else in there actually, it’s just the crust from the cake layers since I don’t trim mine 🙂
Miranda says
I love this cake recipe and I am planning to make it for my daughter’s first birthday in cupcake form. Any ideas for a filling?
Olivia says
Hi Miranda! I think a caramel would be delicious as a filling!
Carol says
I’ve made 3 of your cakes so far and gotten rave reviews for all, but this was the recipe I made for my own birthday. It was perfect!
Olivia says
Yay! So happy to hear that Carol. Happy belated birthday!
Meghan says
So I made this today….delicious! But I was having some issues with my buttercream. The butter was a little too warm when I mixed it, so I used your trick of cooling it down. I ended up having to use my freezer, and whenever I would begin working with it for awhile it would just start melting again. Is this just a hazard with warm temps and buttercream, or did I mess something up? I had stiff peaks before I added the butter. Thanks for any feedback!
Olivia says
Hi Meghan! If your meringue was nice and stiff before you added the butter then it’s just a matter of temperature. Next time try it with butter that is still very slightly cool/firm and make sure the meringue is completely cool. The buttercream may curdle due to the colder butter, but I find that easier to deal with (aka fix – just keep whipping it until it comes together) than a soupy buttercream.
Meghan says
Thank you!
Leea says
Hi Meghan,
Just want to let you know if you’re having problem with soupy buttercream, just wet a towel with cold water and put it around the mixing bowl, and re-mix it. It will turn stable.
I learned it from YouTube and I tried it and it worked! 😊
Goldi says
Can I make this cake in 1 tall cake round rather than 2 separate — bake it at a lower temperature?
Then cut the cake in half and put it back “together” with a layer of frosting.
Thanks in advance
Olivia says
Hi Goldi! You can give it a try, but it would take a much longer time to bake due to the height and could dry out along the edges.
Sapna says
Hi! Is there a suitable substitute for egg whites or would regular buttercream work instead of Swiss buttercream? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Sapna! Regular buttercream would work just fine. You need the egg whites for the meringue buttercream.
Nedra says
I just realized that the butter that I browned is salted. Can I still use it? Will it ruin my cake????
Olivia says
Hi Nedra! You can leave the salt out of the cake if you used salted butter. As for the frosting though, this will really come down to taste. Some people don’t mind this, but I prefer unsalted butter.
Nedra says
Thank you for your reply. I made it anyways. It was delicious! I even made it gluten free. I have also made your chocolate cake with mint frosting GF. Both delicious. Thank you for the wonderful recipes.
Olivia says
So happy to hear that you liked them! 🙂
Celine says
This looks amazing!!! I’ve recently become obsessed with brown butter. I was wondering what other flavors you would pair with this cake and how you would incorporate them?
Olivia says
Hi Celine! Brown butter is so versatile, I think it could work with anything — caramel, chocolate, apples, etc.
Stephanie says
The most amazing cake recipe ever! I had never heard of brown butter cake before and I decided to give it a try. My husband and I loved it! I am a newlywed and am always looking for new recipes to try. It is not overpowering, it is just perfect! It pairs perfect with a cup of coffee. Thank you for this recipe!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Stephanie! I’m so happy to hear that you both liked it 🙂
Alia says
Hello! What altitude are you at? I’m planning on baking this for a birthday and we’re just over 5500 feet here. I am contemplating how much to adjust the recipe. Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Alia! I’m at sea level here 🙂
Regina says
I there. I want to make this cake for a friend’s birthday, which falls on a Thursday. As I am often pressed for time on week nights, do you think this cake would still come out OK if I made the browned butter in advance (Sunday) and kept it refrigerated until Wednesday?
Another time saving question: Would it be detrimental to make the Swiss Meringue Tuesday and refrigerate it until assembly, Wednesday?
Olivia says
Hi Regina! You can totally make the brown butter in advance — that’s what I do! Cool it to room temp and stick it in the fridge in an airtight container. Then bring to room temp again before using.
The cake layers can be baked in advance too, I do this all the time — cool completely, wrap twice in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw for 2-3 hours before assembling the cake.
The frosting can be made in advance too, but can act up a bit once brought to room temp again. Make sure it’s brought to room temp and rewhip it. If it looks off for any reason it can be saved! Mine looked like cottage cheese soup once because it was still a bit too cold when I rewhipped it. I used my hair dryer (true story) to heat the side of the bowl while whipping and it came together beautifully.
For ease, I would make the cake layers and brown butter in advance and the buttercream on the day of to avoid having to “fix” it if needed. I hope that helps!
Melissa C says
Arrggh, this is the third time I have made Swiss buttercream. One time it was gloriously perfect and the other two times it was so runny I could pour it! I am following the recipe exactly and can’t figure out where I am going wrong!
Olivia says
Hi Melissa! For the other two times, was the meringue stiff before you added the butter? If not, grease or stray egg yolk could be the culprit. If it was stiff, then it sounds like either the butter was too soft or the meringue was still warm when you added it. If that’s the case, it’s totally saveable! Just stick the whole bowl into the fridge for 20mins and re-whip. Keep doing that until it comes together properly. I hope that helps!
teddy says
hi, so i’ve never baked before, and for some reason i’ve been put in charge of christmas dinner dessert. i was gonna just buy a cake from the local french bakery, but happened upon this recipe and i actually wanna try it out. looks gorg and sounds delish. would it be a big deal to turn this recipe into cupcakes? what would i need to do? bake a shorter time?
Olivia says
Hi Teddy! You could totally do this as cupcakes. All you need to adjust is the baking time! Start checking them at 15mins or so. Let me know how they turn out!
Teddy Basladynski says
Hiya, I forgot to respond with how the recipe turned out as cupcakes. GREAT! omg. brown butter everything!
Olivia says
Yay! So happy to hear that 🙂 Brown butter everything, indeed! I can’t believe it took me so long to try it!
Alexis says
Loved this cake so much I gave it a shout out on my blog. I made it for my mom’s birthday and it was a huge hit. I had never used brown butter before, boy was I missing out. Thanks for always having clear instructions and amazing recipes!
https://themillennialglow.com/2017/11/10/on-my-radar/
Olivia says
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it and that you found the recipe easy to follow 🙂 Brown butter is amazing, right?? How did we not have it in our lives this long??
Ina says
Do you think brown butter would go well with a caramel filling?
Olivia says
Hi Ina! I think that sounds like an amazing combo!
Melinda says
Oh my goodness, this looks out of this world delicious. I know what you mean about brown butter. I made chocolate chip cookies with brown butter for the first time last year, and was amazed how much flavor it added to the cookie. Can’t wait to try this cake!
Olivia says
It was SO good. I seriously need to try brown butter in everything now. Chocolate chip cookies will be next I think! Thanks Melinda! 🙂
Dana DeVolk says
I’ve started experimenting with brown butter myself, I can imagine how insanely good this is!! I’m going to try this frosting with some cupcakes this weekend.
Olivia says
It’s SO good right?? Thanks so much Dana, I hope you like it! 🙂
Jessica says
Browned butter is totally my weakness. This cake is beautiful!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Jessica!
Cindy Rodriguez says
What a beautiful cake! And I love the brown butter bits in the frosting. Gives it a rustic look.
Olivia says
I love it too! Thank you Cindy <3 xo