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Brown Butter Cake with Brown Butter Buttercream
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Brown Butter Cake with Brown Butter Buttercream

Brown butter cake filled with a caramel drizzle and frosted with brown butter buttercream.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Birthday, Brown Butter, Cake, Caramel, Fall, Frosting
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Assembly 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings 20 servings
Calories 458kcal

Ingredients

Brown Butter

  • 14 oz unsalted butter

Brown Butter cake

  • 8 oz all purpose flour
  • 4 oz cake flour
  • 2 Tbsps instant vanilla pudding mix optional
  • 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 5 oz brown sugar
  • 10 oz sugar
  • 8 fl oz milk
  • 8 fl oz water
  • 2 fl oz canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs

Brown Butter Buttercream

  • 4 oz pasteurized egg whites (from a carton)
  • 20 oz powdered sugar sifted
  • 8 oz unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 Tbsps black cocoa powder sifted (optional)
  • royal blue and violet gel colors

Assembly

  • 2- 3 oz caramel sauce

Instructions

Brown Butter

  • Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally at first. Once the butter is completely melted, stir more frequently.
  • Continue cooking until the butter has a nice amber color on the bottom. This can take 15- 20 minutes depending on the heat. Set the brown butter aside to cool. You will need 2 ounces for the cake batter and 8 ounces (at room temperature) for the buttercream.

Brown Butter Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat three 6 inch cake pans in baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment rounds. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flours, pudding mix (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
  • In a separate bowl, combine sugars, milk, water, oil, 2 ounces of melted brown butter, vanilla, and eggs. Use an immersion blender or a whisk to combine the wet ingredients.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix gently until just combined. A few small lumps are okay.
  • Use an electric scale to divide the batter between the three pans. You should end up with roughly 15- 16 ounces of batter in each pan. Bake 35- 40 minutes. The cakes should spring back when poked, a skewer should come out clean, and they should be starting to pull away from the edge of the pan.
  • Cool cake layers in the pans for about 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Wrap each layer in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least one hour, or even overnight.

Brown Butter Buttercream

  • In a stand mixer, whip egg whites and powdered sugar on a medium high speed for 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and begin adding the butter and 8 ounces of room temperature brown butter a tablespoon at a time. Scrape the bowl down as needed.
  • Once all of the butter has been added, return the speed to medium high and whip for another 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl down and add the vanilla. Whip to combine. Taste and adjust flavors as necessary.
  • If you are NOT creating the ombre effect, your buttercream is ready. To create the ombre effect, divide the buttercream into 4 bowls, roughly 10 ounces each. One bowl will remain white.
    In bowl 2, add 5 drops of royal blue gel color. Mix to combine.
    In bowl 3, add 1 tablespoon of sifted black cocoa powder, 5 drops of royal blue gel color, and 1 drop of violet gel color. Mix to combine.
    In bowl 4, add 2 tablespoons of sifted black cocoa powder, 5 drops of royal blue gel color, and 2 drops of violet gel color. Mix to combine.

Assembly

  • Place a layer of cake on a cake board. Pipe a thin layer of (white) buttercream onto the cake. Smooth, then use your spatula to create a swirl in the frosting. Pipe a dam around the edge of the cake. Swirl caramel sauce into the divot made by the spatula. Repeat with the next layer.
  • Place the final layer of cake upside down on the cake. Use the white buttercream to crumb coat the stacked cake. Chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.
  • Start with the light blue frosting, cover the top of the cake and smooth. Pipe 2 bands of frosting around the cake (starting at the top). Mix a bit of frosting from bowl 2 (light blue) with a bit of frosting from bowl 3 (medium blue). Use this color to pipe 2 more bands around the cake.
  • Now use the medium blue frosting from bowl 3 to pipe 2 more bands around the cake. Mix a bit of bowl 3 with a bit of bowl 4 and pipe 2 more bands. Finish with 2 bands of bowl 4.
  • Wiggle your offset spatula around the cake where the different colors meet for a more blended look. Scrape and smooth until you have a sharp, smooth cake.
  • Chill until firm before decorating. Otherwise, enjoy!

Notes

  • I suggest making the brown butter in advance. Just bring it to room temperature before baking.
  • For deeper colors, make the buttercream a few days in advance and let the frosting sit (covered) in the fridge to develop further.