Caramel Browned Butter Cake

I was watching Top Chef the other night and one of the contestants made a browned butter cake. The judges raved about it and of course,  I couldn't get it our of my mind!  I looked up the recipe online and realized it was very similar to my grandmas brown sugar butter cake. Grandma's used less butter but it had brown sugar and I do love the taste of brown sugar. I ended up making grandma's recipe but instead of just melting the butter, per her instructions, I browned it!  The browned butter with the brown sugar gave it a caramel taste that would be tough to beat! The cake turned out delicious. I'm always happy when experimenting works out!  I served it with some of the Blueberry Sage Preserves (Recipe Here) The preserves take 30 mins which is the exact same amount of time that the cake takes to bake- perfect!

Caramel Browned Butter Cake

click here for a printable version of the recipe

• 3/4 cup of butter
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar- light dark doesn't matter
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of flour

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Grease and flour a 9" round or square pan 
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until combined.
• Place the butter into a medium saucepan and put it over medium heat. Stir constantly until it's a medium golden brown. The butter will foam up so you have to stir it very briskly to see the color change under the top layer of foam so watch carefully.

• Once the butter is golden- IMMEDIATELY  remove from heat and slowly pour into the beaten egg and sugar mixture while you whisk it. Pour slowly so you don't splash and burn yourself and so that you stir enough to not end up with scrambled eggs! Watch carefully as you get to the end and don't add the darker solids that will be at the bottom to the batter. The dregs of the browned butter!

• Add the 1/2 cup of flour and whisk together until just combined. 
• Pour into a greased and floured 9" round or square pan. 

• Bake at 350º for 30 minuted until cake is firm
• Let cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan. 
• Serve with whipped cream or Blueberry Sage Preserves or BOTH!