My brown butter cake with chocolate chips and bourbon dulce de leche buttercream is insanely delicious. It's tender and fluffy, flecked with mini chocolate chips and has a toasty caramel flavor from the brown butter and brown sugar. The buttercream is creamy and silky with dulce de leche and a splash of bourbon.
The batter for this recipe makes enough for a 9x13" pan - 2" tall cake. You can also use this recipe for 3 - 8" pans as well. This cake is made like most of the cakes on my blog, with the reverse creaming method, or the one bowl method. This method makes for a tight crumbed cake, reminiscent of box cake, but much sturdier.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- This cake bakes up flat, so no need to level or trim any domes off. This means consistent sizes slices and an even amount of buttercream on all of the cake.
- The dulce de leche buttercream is made with store bought dulce de leche to save on time without sacrificing taste. The bourbon adds a depth of flavor and compliments the sweet buttercream.
- Perfect cake to feed a crowd. Bring it to holidays, potlucks and get-togethers.
- Texture is soft, fluffy and tender from the cake flour, buttermilk and the addition of oil.
- Easy to follow recipe with step-by-step photos for a perfect cake every time.
Recipe Ingredients
Unsalted butter
Cake flour
Granulated sugar
Fine sea salt
Baking powder
Baking soda
Eggs
Canola oil – or vegetable oil
Vanilla extract
Buttermilk
Mini chocolate chips - optional
Dulce de leche
Bourbon – Compliments the brown butter, brown sugar and adds a lot of depth to the buttercream and helps to distinguish and balance flavors.
½ batch of Swiss meringue buttercream
Recipe Instructions
- Place the butter into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter, occasionally stirring, until golden brown and it smells nutty and toasted.
- Cool the butter to room temperature, until it is solid, but scoopable. Similar in texture to room temperature butter.
Preheat the oven to 335F. Prepare your cake pans. Brush the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 cake pan with melted butter. Line the bottoms and sides with parchment paper.
- Combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in medium bowl. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. On low speed, mix for 1 minute.
- Beat in the brown butter. Mix until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
- With the mixer on low, pour in the 4oz/½ cup of the wet ingredients and mix until the flour mixture is moistened. Turn the mixer speed to medium (4 or 6) and whip for two minutes until whipped, thick, and lighter in color.
- With the mixer speed on low, add the remaining wet ingredients in three parts, scraping down the bowl after each addition has been mixed in.
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips.
- Pour and spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top of the batter.
- Bake the layers for 40-50 minutes. Start checking the cake at minutes to test for doneness. If a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with few moist crumbs, it’s done.
- Beat the dulce de leche and bourbon into the prepared Swiss meringue buttercream.
- Frost the cooled cake with the buttercream and sprinkle on your favorite sprinkles.
Substitutions and Variations
If you are making this brown butter cake for kiddos or for those who cannot have alcohol, you can skip out on the bourbon and add more vanilla.
This recipe makes a decent amount of buttercream and I like to pile it on pretty thick, but if you're looking for a thinner layer, you can further reduce the recipe in half.
Replace the mini chocolate chips with sprinkles, cookie pieces, or mini m&m candies.
Storage and Freezing
The cake can be stored at room temperature covered or stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. This cake is best served at room temperature cut into squares.
This cake, unfrosted can be frozen. Thaw completely in the refrigerator overnight before frosting.
Baking Tips
- When adding the mini chocolate chips to the brown butter cake, mix half into the batter, but reserve half for sprinkling on the top. This is a thicker cake batter so the chips won't all sink to the bottom, but sprinkling some on top will ensure that they're evenly distributed.
- This recipe does not have volume/cup measurements on purpose. The most accurate way to bake is with a kitchen scale, particularly with bakes like cakes, macarons, breads and cupcakes. This ensures the right measurements are used and the results are consistent every time.
- Ingredients must be at room temperature. Too cold or too warm of ingredients can cause the cake batter to break or become oily.
Recipe FAQs
The reverse creaming, or two stage method creates cakes that have a tighter, more delicate, soft crumb. They tend to be more compact, with less of a rise compared to creamed cakes, and have a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Reverse creaming cakes can be delicate, so they are easiest to layer, carve, stack, etc. when they are chilled.
- It was over baked.
- Oven was too hot. Keeping an oven thermometer in your oven at all times gives a more accurate oven temperature.
- Too much flour was used. Using a kitchen scale is recommended when making cakes from scratch.
Cakes can sink because:
- The oven door was opened during baking. This causes temperature fluctuations. Don’t start checking the cake until 30 minutes.
- The cake is underbaked in the center. This can also cause the cake to be gummy in the middle too.
Steps 6 and 7 are crucial to the rise and tenderness of the cake. Beat the ½ cup of milk into the flour/butter mixture for a full two minutes. It’s very difficult to overmix a reverse creaming cake. The flour mixture is coated in butter which prevents the gluten from developing.
Did you make this recipe? Share it with us! Tag @littlevintagebaking on Instagram and leave a star rating below if you LOVED this recipe. For more baking and decorating ideas follow me on Pinterest.
More Cake Recipes to Try
Recipe
Brown Butter Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Brown Butter Cake
- 10 ounces unsalted butter
- 12 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 14 ounces cake flour
- 8 ounces granulated sugar
- 6 ounces brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
Bourbon Dulce de Leche Buttercream
- ½ batch prepared Swiss meringue buttercream
- 1 - 2 tablespoons bourbon, to taste
- ½ cup dulce de leche
Instructions
Brown Butter Cake
- Place the butter into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter cook while occasionally stirring to ensure the butter is cooking evenly.10 ounces unsalted butter
- Cook the butter until it is a deep golden brown color and smells nutty and toasted, about 5 -7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Let the butter cool to room temperature, until it is solid, but scoopable. Similar in texture to room temperature butter.
- Preheat the oven to 335F. Prepare your cake pans. Brush the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 cake pan with melted butter. Line the bottoms and sides with parchment paper.
- Combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in medium bowl. Whisk to thoroughly combine.12 ounces buttermilk, room temperature, 4 large eggs, room temperature, 4 ounces vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. On low speed, mix for 1 minute.14 ounces cake flour, 8 ounces granulated sugar, 6 ounces brown sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- With the mixer still running, add in the softened butter. Mix until the mixture resembles cornmeal. You should be able to gather a bit in your hand, squeeze and you have a solid piece. This means the butter is evenly distributed.
- With the mixer still on low, pour in the 4oz/½ cup of the wet ingredients and mix until the flour mixture is moistened.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium (4 or 6) and whip for *two full* minutes. The mixture should be whipped up, thick, and lighter in color.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is properly mixed.
- With the mixer speed on low, add the remaining wet ingredients in three parts, scraping down the bowl after each addition has been mixed in.
- Once all the wet ingredients have been added, give the bowl a final scrape and fold in half of the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Top with remaining chocolate chips.⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
- Bake the layers for 40-55 minutes. Start checking the cake at minutes to test for doneness. If a toothpick comes out clean, and the top of the cake feels springy and set when touched, take the cakes out.
- Cool the cake for 15 minutes in the pan.
- Run a palette or butter knife around the cake in the pan before turning them out to cool completely on cooling racks.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator a couple hours.
Bourbon Dulce de Leche Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dulce de leche and bourbon to the prepared buttercream. Mix on low for 3-5 minutes.½ batch prepared Swiss meringue buttercream, 1 - 2 tablespoons bourbon, to taste, ½ cup dulce de leche
- Frost the cake with a thick layer of buttercream and top with sprinkles.
Wendy says
I noticed after I had already started to make this cake that the amounts for the salt, vanilla, and almond extract aren’t listed with the other ingredients. I wasn’t concerned about the extracts because I rarely measure those anyway, but was hoping I guessed close enough on the salt (I used 1 tsp). It turned out great. It tasted good and rose up beautifully.
Ashley says
Hi Wendy! My apologies! Fixing the recipe right now. So happy it worked for you. That is the perfect amount of salt. Great guess! Best! Ash