Classic Vanilla Cake with Creamy Brown Butter Frosting
This Vanilla Layer Cake with Brown Butter Frosting is soft, nutty, and perfectly balanced, every bite melts in your mouth.
Servings 20
Ingredients
Brown butter
- 340 g or 3 sticks unsalted butter cold is fine
Cake Layers
- 200 g or 1 cups fine granulated sugar
- 100 g or ½ cup light brown sugar
- 135 g browned butter from above
- 50 g or ¼ cup avocado oil or canola oil
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 large eggs must be large
- 3 tsp or 1 tablespoon baking powder double acting
- 330 g cake flour around 3 cups
- 240 g or 1 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Brown Butter Frosting, check my notes
Instructions
Brown the Butter
- Start this at least a few hours before you bake.
- In a large skillet, melt your butter over medium heat. If you’d like a little extra depth, slice open a vanilla bean and add both the pod and the seeds to the pan.
- As the butter melts, you’ll notice cream-colored bits settling at the bottom. Those are the milk solids, and they’re what give brown butter that nutty, toasted flavor we love.
- Keep stirring gently until those bits turn a deep golden brown and the butter smells rich and nutty. Don’t mistake the black specks of vanilla for burnt butter—they’re a good thing!
- Once it reaches that perfect toasty color, pour everything into a large bowl, scraping up every bit of the browned goodness. Remove and discard the vanilla pod.
- Now, place the bowl in the fridge. After about 30 minutes, once it begins to thicken, give it a stir so the browned bits don’t all settle at the bottom.
- Keep chilling until the butter reaches a soft, creamy texture—like butter that’s been sitting on the counter for an hour.
- If you make it ahead, cover it and store it in the fridge. Just bring it back to room temperature before you start your cake batter.
Make the Cake Batter
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans, or use a good baking spray.
- Measure 135 grams of the browned butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. (Save the rest for the buttercream.) Add your granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until the mixture looks fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, slowly pouring in the oil as it mixes.
- Add the eggs one at a time while mixing on medium-low speed. The batter may look separated at first—don’t worry, that’s normal.
- Keep mixing until it turns creamy. Scrape the bowl as needed to make sure everything’s even.
- Now sift in your flour and baking powder, and while that’s coming together, pour in the buttermilk. Mix until you have a thick, creamy batter, but don’t overdo it. Overmixing makes cakes tough, and we want tender.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tops spring back and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cream Cheese Brown Butter Frosting check my notes