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Brown Butter Cake

A soft brown butter cake. With creamy smooth, vanilla cream cheese frosting and espresso cream cheese frosting.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Brown Butter Cake
Servings: 16
Calories: 135kcal

Equipment

  • 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" Glass Baking Dish
  • Parchment Paper

Ingredients

For the Browned Butter Cake

  • 1 3/4 Cups Flour
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Cup Butter
  • 1 Cup Hot Water
  • 1 Tbsp Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 oz Cream Cheese
  • 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Espresso Powder

Instructions

For the Brown Butter

  • Cut your butter up into four slices, add the butter to a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, stirring constantly, let the butter melt.
  • Then it will start to get foamy, keep stirring and the butter will start to develop brown speckles. Remove from the heat, and pour it into a bowl.

For the Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit.
  • In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, combine the hot water, vanilla extract, and vinegar, then add in the brown butter.
  • Fold together the wet and dry ingredients.
  • Line a 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" glass baking dish with parchment paper. Pour the cake batter into the baking dish.
  • Bake the cake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and comes out clean.
  • Remove the cake from the oven, and let cool for 20 minutes.

For the Frosting

  • In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar, until it's creamy like butter. Cream in the vanilla extract.
  • Transfer half of the frosting to a separate mixing bowl. Add the espresso powder to half of the cream cheese frosting, and use the electric hand mixer to cream it in.
  • To frost the cake, make sure the cake is completely cool. Starting on one corner of the cake, and using a cake spatula, make quick strokes with the frosting, alternating between stroke direction and frosting color. Go around the cake, until the entire cake is covered. If there's any spots that look like they need another layer, you can add on another schmere of frosting.