Brown Butter Biscoff Cake

Yields a frosted 9’’ cake

This brown butter Biscoff cake shines in its subtlety. The cake itself is soft, fluffy, and delicately flavored, making the Biscoff buttercream pop. The buttercream is rich and creamy, the perfect vehicle to carry the complex flavor of cookie butter. The brown butter in the cake lends a delicious nutty hue and the soft, milkiness of the white chocolate rounds out the taste. The result is nothing short of sublime.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 170g (3/4 cup) butter, cubed
• 170g (1 ¼  cup + 2 tbsp.) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp.   cinnamon
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tbsp. vinegar
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 50g (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp.) light brown sugar
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 2 eggs

For the frosting

• 150g (2/3 cup) butter, softened
• 65g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar, sifted check weight
• 130g (1 cup) smooth Lotus biscoff spread
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• White chocolate to top (optional)

Method

For the cake

1. First, brown the butter: Place the cubed butter in a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir regularly until fully melted. The butter will crackle, bubble, and foam. Continue stirring vigilantly, as the butter browns. When it has golden streaks throughout and exudes a nutty aroma, remove from heat and transfer to a heat-proof bowl. Refrigerate the butter to bring to room temperature. It is ready when it is soft and easily impressionable.  
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 9’’ round cake tin with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda to combine. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine the milk, vinegar and vanilla extract. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars and room temperature, softened butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl and combining completely each time.
7. Add half of the flour mixture, whisking on low speed to combine. Stir in half of the milk mixture with a spatula. Repeat this process with the remaining flour and milk mixtures. Do not overmix.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and smooth out the top by gently rapping the tin on a hard surface or using a spatula.
9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, before removing from the pan and placing on to a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely prior to frosting.

 For the frosting

Notes:

1. If you desire a layer cake, you can bake the batter in two 6’’ cake tins and stack the cakes. The baking time and temperature remains the same.
2. Instead of Lotus Biscoff spread, you can use a different smooth cookie butter spread, or any other spread you wish.
3. If this is your first time browning butter, do keep a watchful eye on it and stir regularly. It’s easy to end up with a burned mess if you keep the butter on the heat for a touch longer than necessary. Using a flat, light-colored pan can make it easier to see the colors changing.

Happy baking!

Let us know how your cake turned out in the comments below.