Brown Butter Cake

This Brown Butter Cake is made with browned butter and brown sugar for a deep, nutty, and caramel-like cake flavor. Covered in a delicious Brown Butter Buttercream, the simple cake is elevated to an entirely new level thanks to delicious brown butter!  

Browned butter is the secret to making every dessert taste 10 times better! My Butterscotch Cake, Cookie Dough Cake, and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are all made with browned butter, and let me tell you — they are some of my very favorites! 

Why This Recipe Works

• Tender and light. This moist brown butter cake is soft, light, tender and fluffy. This is thanks to the cake flour (for tender and delicate crumb), the buttermilk (for soft texture) and the vegetable oil (for moistness). 
• Brown butter flavor heaven. Not only does this cake have brown butter in it, but the buttercream is also made with brown butter! The brown butter flavor is definitely there and provides a depth of flavor that is deliciously nutty, caramel-y, and toasty. 
• Easy to make. This brown butter cake recipe (also known as beurre noisette cake) is easy to make and produces the most amazing brown butter cake flavor and texture! 

Ingredient Notes

• Cake Flour: Cake flour has a lower protein content than other flours. It is also finely milled this will give the cake a lighter and more delicate texture. 
• Dark Brown Sugar: The dark brown sugar will bring out a deeper, almost caramel-like flavor, which will pair beautifully with the browned butter! 
• Buttermilk: Use room temperature buttermilk. The buttermilk will provide a super moist crumb texture for the brown butter cake. 
• Brown Butter: You will need about 20 tablespoons of unsalted butter before to browning to give you the 8 oz needed for the recipe. My post on How to Brown Butter has additional tips and FAQs about browning butter.
• Vegetable Oil: This brown butter cake recipe has the fat content (for moistness) and the flavor from the brown butter. However, the additional vegetable oil will provide the moist cake texture you get with oil cakes, while still having the nutty brown butter flavor! 
• Unsalted Butter: This is separate from the butter you will brown. This regular butter is used to make the brown butter frosting! 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the Brown Butter Cake

1. Brown the butter: Place 20 tablespoons (1 1/4 cups) of butter into a saucepan or skillet. Melt over medium-low heat, always stirring. Cook until the butter foams and sizzles. Milk solids will form on the bottom of the pan. When the milk solids are golden brown and there is a nutty aroma, about 8 minutes into cooking, the butter is done. Remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Store in the fridge for 10-15 minutes or until room temperature and solid. Do not burn. See my How to Brown Butter post for a more in-depth look at browning butter.
2. Make separate buttermilk mixtures. Add the vegetable oil to 4 oz of room temperature buttermilk. Whisk and set aside. In another container, add 6 oz of buttermilk, the eggs, and the vanilla extract. Whisk and set aside.
3. Combine dry ingredients. Add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and the salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until combined. 

4. Add brown butter. Add the previously browned butter to the flour mixture and stir until a sand texture develops. Add the buttermilk and oil mixture and mix on medium speed until thickened and light in color. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for another minute. 
5. Stream in buttermilk. Reduce mixing speed to low and stream in the buttermilk, vanilla, and egg mixture. Mix until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

6. Bake the brown butter cake. Pour the cake batter evenly into three 8-inch round cake pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray, lined with a circle piece of parchment paper on the bottom, and sprayed again. Bake at 335°F for 25-30 minutes or until the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Make the Brown Butter Buttercream and Frost

1. Brown the butter. See step 1 under Make the Brown Butter Cake or go to my Brown Butter Recipe for instructions on browning butter. You’ll be browning 19 T of butter (1 cup + 3 T). 
2. Beat the butter. Add the remaining 13 T butter and the cooled 19 T brown butter to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and light in texture and color.
3. Add remaining ingredients. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and the heavy cream 1 T at a time until the brown buttercream frosting reaches the right consistency.
4. Layer the cake. Place a layer of cake on a cake board or cake stand. Add a layer of brown butter buttercream and frost in an even layer. Repeat with the second cake layer. Top with the third cake layer.
5. Frost the cake. Using an offset spatula, frost the entire cake in the brown butter frosting. I did a rustic pattern. Slice and enjoy! 

Recipe Tips

For thicker cake layers, you can bake this brown butter cake recipe in three 6-inch pans or two 9-inch pans.

I weigh the batter in each pan to ensure equal layers. 

While browning butter, stirring constantly keeps things moving and prevents the butter from burning. The process of browning butter takes about 8 minutes from the time the butter has melted.

You start out with more butter than you need in brown butter because brown butter weighs less than regular butter. This is due to the liquid that evaporates while cooking it. 

Use room temperature wet ingredients so they incorporate into the brown butter cake batter more smoothly. This will give you a much more even bake.

You can do a crumb coat on the cake before frosting it entirely. A crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake. Then let it chill in the fridge or freezer until firm. Remove and finish frosting. The crumb coat will set the crumbs in the cake so you don’t get crumbs sneaking into the brown butter buttercream as you frost.

Butter can quickly go from perfectly browned to burnt in a matter of seconds, so be sure to remove it from the heat as soon as the milk solids turn golden brown and transfer to a separate bowl to stop the cooking process. You don’t want to chill it or cool it in the pan or it will continue to cook, risking the butter to get burned. 

After browning the butter, be sure to use a rubber spatula to get all the butter out of the pan. The browned butter sits at the bottom so you want to get all those delicious brown bits! 

For more details on how to brown butter, along with FAQs and tips, check out my How to Brown Butter post! 

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

Store the cake covered or in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days. If the browned butter cake is frosted, it needs to be stored in the fridge. 

Make the cake layers ahead of time and let cool completely, double wrap in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge for up to 3 days prior to frosting and serving. If you want to make it more in advance than that, finish off the wrapped cake layers with a layer of aluminum foil and then freeze for up to 2 months.

Frozen cake layers should be thawed overnight in the fridge then removed to let come to room temperature. 

Store any leftover buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Remove and let thaw in the fridge overnight, then let come to room temperature. Beat to return to a fluffy and light texture. 

My How to Store and Freeze Cakes guide goes over storing and freezing cakes, including how to freeze cake layers, buttercream and decorated cakes.

Recipe FAQs

More Layer Cake Recipes

• Chocolate Cake Recipe
• Twix Cake
• Scotcheroo Cake
• S’mores Cake
• Golden Oreo Cake