Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

Wrapped up with all the warm, cozy flavors of fall, this Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake is both delicious and simple to make! This buttery cake is filled with cinnamon and allspice and has a delicious nutty undertone thanks to the brown butter! The cake layers are sandwiched together with a silky smooth dulce de leche Russian Buttercream!

What is brown butter and how to brown butter?

The process of browning the butter, involves the separating of butterfat and milk solids. The milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and begin to undergo the maillard reaction due to the heat, essentially caramelizing the milk solids. What is created is butter that is deep in color and rich in flavor. The maillard reaction causes the butter to take on a taste that is reminiscent of nuts and caramel. I mean what could be more perfect for something so fall-themed like a pumpkin cake?

Browning butter is actually quite easy, so do not be intimidated! You want to add the unsalted, cubed, room temperature butter to a small sauce pan over medium heat. Then, essentially boil the butter and stir constantly to promote even cooking. Boil until the color is a beautiful nutty brown and ultra-fragrant.

It is important to note that after browning the butter, it is essential to let it cool though. Adding the eggs while the butter is still hot, it will begin to coagulate the eggs, ruining the pumpkin cake. I simply pour the browned butter into a measuring cup and place it in the fridge or freezer to cool for about 30 minutes. It can still be slightly warm to the touch, but just ensure it is not hot.

Making the Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

1.Brown the butter: Following the instructions above, brown the butter and then place into the fridge or freezer to cool off for about 30 minutes.

2. Combine dry ingredients: In a medium bowl add the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. Whisk the mixture well until everything is well-combined.

3. Combine wet ingredients: Add the eggs, cooled brown butter, pumpkin puree, and vanilla to a large bowl, then whisk well until smooth and combined.

4. Add dry to wet: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients, then whisk until a smooth batter has formed.

5. Bake: Divide the cake batter between 2 prepared cake pans, then place into the oven to bake! When done, allow the cakes to cool completely, then level them off to prepare them for stacking.

What is Russian Buttercream and How to make it

This Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake recipe has a dulce de leche Russian buttercream. What on earth is Russian buttercream, you ask? Russian Buttercream is an extremely simple buttercream that is made from sweetened condensed milk (or dulce de leche in this case) and whipped butter! The result is a buttercream that has an extremely silky, creamy texture and is sweet but not overly sweet! The texture reminds me of Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and the sweetness is somewhere between SMBC and classic American buttercream.

To make the Russian buttercream, it is first important that the butter be the right temperature, or you risk the dulce de leche Russian buttercream getting soupy. The optimal temperature for the butter is 65°F – for those without a thermometer, you’re looking for the butter to be slightly cold to the touch, soft enough to place an indent in it with your finger, but not so soft that your finger sinks into the butter or slides around.

To begin, place the room temperature butter in your stand mixer and beat on high for around 5 minutes. When the butter is ready it should look white, fluffy, and be more voluminous than when you started. Next, while your stand mixer is still on high, in 4 separate additions, add the dulce de leche in. It is important to allow each addition of dulce de leche to fully incorporate with the butter before you add the next addition. After all of the dulce de leche has been added and is well-combined, the Russian buttercream is finished!

How to fix Soupy Russian Buttercream

It happens to the best of us – you follow directions perfectly, yet the buttercream just didn’t come out right and looks soupy! When your Russian buttercream comes out soupy it typically means that your butter was too warm, or the dulce de leche warmed up your butter too much. As such, there’s an incredibly easy fix for this – just pop the whole thing in your fridge for 15-20 minutes! After a short stint in the fridge, just take the bowl out of the fridge and place it back onto the stand mixer and whip the buttercream again – it should whip right up into a beautiful, silky, fluffy frosting in a few minutes!

Get the Recipe: Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

5 stars (1 review)

This epic fall cake features 2 thick layers of Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake that are layered together with a super cream dulce de leche buttercream!

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Servings: 12 servings

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Ingredients

 

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

• 1 cup Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature and cubed
• 240 g (8.5oz) All Purpose Flour,, about 2 cups measured volumetrically
• 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup White Sugar
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Allspice
• 3 Large Eggs,, at room temperature
• 15 oz Can Pumpkin Puree, (about 2 cups)
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Dulce De Leche Russian Buttercream

• 1 cup Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature 65°F
• 10 oz (300mL) Dulce De Leche

Equipment

• Stand mixer

Instructions

 

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

• In a small sauce over medium heat, add butter and bring to a boil. Continue heating over medium heat, constantly stirring until the butter has turned a nutty brown color. It may be hard to see the color if your butter is foaming a lot, so periodically take it off the heat to check the color. Remove from heat, place into a heat proof glass and then into the fridge to cool off for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8” springform cake pans with cooking spray and parchment. Add flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice to a medium bowl. Whisk until well-combined. Set aside.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, add the cooled brown butter, eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Whisk until well-combined and smooth.
• Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl with the wet ingredients, then whisk until a smooth batter comes together.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans, then place into the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely.

Dulce De Leche Russian Buttercream

• Add butter to stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip the butter on high for 5 minutes. When done, the butter should look fluffy and white.
• Add the dulce de leche, in 4 additions, allowing the dulce de leche to completely incorporate before adding the next addition. When ready, the buttercream should look nice and fluffy.

Stacking & Decorating the Pumpkin Cake

• Level off each of the cake layers to remove any doming from the cakes.
• Place one cake layer onto your serving plate or onto a cardboard cake circle. Spread an even layer of buttercream, about 1″ to 1 ½” thick, across the top of the layer.
• Add the second layer on top, then repeat step 2. Decorate the top with anything you’d like!

Cuisine: American

Course: Baking

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