Crazy as this sounds, not everyone likes chocolate. My ultra-hyphenated Egg-Free Depression-Era Chocolate Cake was popular with the chocolate crowd, but some vanilla fanciers felt left out.
To keep the peace, I set about making a vanilla variation. In the chocolate version, the cocoa and coffee provide strong flavours, so there’s little difference if you choose oil over melted butter. With this recipe, delicate vanilla does the heavy lifting, so I opted for butter instead of oil.
And then my true nature emerged. Before I knew it, I had pulled out a pan and was browning the butter. The results are delicious and well worth the extra step. I’m now kicking myself for not using browned butter in the icing, too. I’ll experiment with that another day.
what is browned butter?
In culinary terms, browned butter is beurre noisette, which literally translates to hazelnut butter. It has a distinct nutty aroma and flavour that makes a subtle but complex addition to food. Try it once and you’ll be like Ethel with Frank’s Hot Sauce. You’ll put that s**t on everything!
what is browned butter used for?
Almost anything. It’s a wonderful addition to baked goods (I suggest trying my Browned-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies). With browned butter you can sauté seafood, drizzle it over vegetables, sear steaks, fry up some eggs, and much more. Once you try it, you’ll find all sorts of excuses to brown up an entire pound. Or two.
HOw to Make Browned Butter
Browned butter doesn’t need much beyond a tall saucepan with a light coloured interior and your attention. Do not use a dark non-stick pot. You want to see the colour of the butter as it changes. Stainless steel or enamel-lined cast iron work well. Tall sides ensure the foaming butter doesn’t spill over and make a mess (or start a fire). This isn’t so much an issue with a small amount, but when browning larger batches, you’ll want a really good sized saucepan, or even a Dutch oven.
Place butter cubes in your saucepan, put it on medium-high heat, and bring it to a boil. Swirl the pan a few times as the butter melts. Do not leave the stove while you do this. The butter will take a while to change colour but when it does, it changes rapidly. Wandering off can result in unsalvageable burned butter.
As the butter begins to boil, it will rise up, foam and splutter. The colour will change from golden yellow to deep amber/nut brown, and the aroma will smell nutty,
As soon as the butter is brown and smells nutty, pour it into a heatproof bowl or measuring cup. This will stop the cooking process. The residual heat from the pan can burn the butter, so don’t just set the pan aside.
You can strain the butter to remove the dark flecks if you like,. I don’t. I’m lazy. Besides, they add flavour.
How much Browned Butter to make?
Browned butter keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Making more than you need might be a good idea, but if you’re low on butter or don’t want to commit, you can make just enough for a single recipe.
Because the process removes a lot of the water, the butter will be reduced in volume by about 25%. So.. doing the math… for every cup of butter, you will get about 3/4 cup browned butter.
If you’re inclined, give browned butter a try. This recipe is very easy and will give you an idea of the rich flavour it adds to baked goods. Go ahead. You can blame me if you find yourself drizzling browned butter on your cereal. It’s that good.
This moist, light cake is a variation on the egg-free depression-era cakes. It gets its rise from vinegar and baking soda, and flavour from browned butter and vanilla.
Scale
Ingredients
1/2 cup (115 g) cold butter, in cubes* 1 1/2 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar** 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vanilla 1 cup (235 ml) room temperature water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, gently swirl the pot and continue to cook until the butter has browned. The butter is finished when it has turned dark amber and smells nutty. Immediately pour the butter into a glass measuring cup until you have 1/3 cup (80 ml) browned butter. Any remaining butter can be used for another purpose later.
Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a clean, un-greased 8-inch (20 cm) square metal baking pan. Combine with a fork until all ingredients are evenly distributed and there are no lumps.
Quickly add the 1/3 cup (80 mL) browned butter, vinegar, and vanilla to the flour mixture. The cake might fizz a bit as vinegar and baking soda react. Do NOT STIR yet.
Pour the water over the entire surface of the cake and mix well with the fork until there are no lumps, about 2 minutes. Be sure to get into the corners of the pan.
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, you can ice the cake right in the pan, if you choose.
Notes
* You can make a vegan version by using vegetable oil instead of browned butter. It won’t taste the same, but will still be a very pleasant vanilla cake.
** If you don’t have granulated sugar, use brown sugar. This will produce a more butterscotch flavour.
