Frosted Brown Butter Coffee Cake
Coffee Cake
Scroll to find recipe and step by step instructions.
Servings Size:
makes approximately 4-5 6” cake layers or if you are making bars, you get 24 slices if using a 12x18 rectangular cake pan
Measurements:
Brown Butter Cake
3 sticks of melted brown butter (220g)
250g plain Greek yogurt
240g (8oz) water
180g egg whites
2 tbsp vanilla (16g)
410g all purpose flour
400g granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Frosting
4 sticks salted butter
2 sticks of brown butter (softened, not melted)
3/4 cup of Crisco shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
2-5 tbsp cinnamon (or until liking)
1470g powdered sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream (or 2 tbsp milk)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Browned butter?
First of all, what is browned butter? It is simply just butter heated over a stovetop in a saucepan until the milk-solids separate. It leaves for a very nutty and caramel flavor to your cookies, which is why a lot of bakery’s use this!
To make it, all you have to do is put your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat and don’t mix. Every minute or two, swirl the pan a couple times to allow parts of the butter to not burn at the bottom of the pan. After about 5-8 minutes (depending on the temperature you used) the butter should turn a golden brown and you’re going to pour it in a glass bowl or paper bowl. (I recommend pulling the butter off the heat earlier than you think you should because you DO NOT want to burn the butter). Let cool before using.
DOESN’T CONTAIN COFFEE!
Coffee Cake is actually a brown sugar cinnamon cake, although it is called Coffee Cake, it does not actually contain any coffee. It is called a Coffee Cake because it is served in cafes and people normally drink coffee with these!
Buttercream Frosting
I will always recommend using buttercream frosting because it always has a perfect consistency and is the most simple to make (if you follow the recipe and instructions correctly). However, the texture and consistency of your buttercream frosting depends on your environment. Your frosting will not hold a design very well in warmer environments. It is necessary to keep desserts with buttercream frosting chilled while you are storing them to avoid the frosting melted off of your dessert or becoming too soft—losing the design. You will lose your frosting swirl on top of your cookie if you leave it in heat for too long.
A way to avoid losing the design in the heat, whipping the butter for a longer amount of time (maybe 8-10 minutes) before you add any other ingredient may help stabilize it. Adding more powdered sugar or lessening the amount of heavy cream/milk substitute you use will also aid in this issue. Some buttercream recipes require more milk substances such as heavy cream to give it a fluffier texture. If this is the case and you want to put this dessert in a warmer environment for whatever reason, do not use this recipe for your buttercream or remove most of the liquid and replace it with more butter and powdered sugar.
A key factor to getting stable and airy buttercream that is not too dense is whipping your butter before adding any other ingredients. I always allow my butter to reach a white color and double in size before I add anything. This will allow your buttercream to be more airy without creating unnecessary air pockets.
How to make Brown Butter Cake & Frosting
Step 1: Add 5 sticks (3 for batter, 2 for frosting) into a pot
Step 2: Brown on medium-low heat until browned.
If it starts to bubble and possibly overflow, take off heat until bubbles go down and put heat a little lower until bubbles start to go away, and brown butter becomes visible.
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat oven to convection 350 degrees fahrenheit.
Add your flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl and whisk.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, add your brown butter, water, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and egg whites and mix.
Step 3
Add half of the wet ingredients’ mixture into the dry ingredients and mix, then add the rest and mix until thoroughly combined.
Step 4
Add cake batter into your pans and bake until toothpick comes out clean. (Time will be different depending on oven and pan size.)
Step 5
For the frosting, add your butter and shortening and brown sugar into a stand mixture and whip until light and fluffy. Then add your brown butter and whip for a couple minutes till combined.
Step 6
Slowly add your powdered sugar into the mixture until combined, then add your half n half or heavy creme until frosting gets to soft peak or your desired texture.
Then add your cinnamon and vanilla extract.
Step 7
Once cake is cooled, you can stack it or slice them into bars and decorate to your liking! If you make bars like I did, you can lightly dust cinnamon sugar on top!