Brown butter cake is proof that a handful of humble pantry ingredients can turn into something worthy of a white tablecloth. You melt butter until it turns golden and nutty, fold it into a simple batter, then cut the baked cake into tidy rounds that look like they came straight from a pastry case. It tastes far more impressive than the small amount of effort it actually takes.
What makes this one a keeper is the trio working together: a tender browned butter cake, a silky goat cheese cream, and a glossy blackberry sauce loosened with a little honey and rum. The whole dessert plates in minutes and every component can be made ahead, which is exactly what you want when company is on the way. If you love an elegant dessert that punches well above its weight, you will also want to bookmark my Chocolate Port Wine Cake and this fruit forward Mixed Berry Crisp for your next dinner party.
In This Post
Why You’ll Love this Brown Butter Cake
This is a real make ahead showstopper that comes together in about an hour of mostly hands-off time. The flavor will make your guest think you’ve worked all day, but the method is beginning-baker friendly from start to finish.
- Elegant, yet easy. A simple sheet cake cut into rounds looks like a plated restaurant dessert with almost no skill required.
- Big nutty flavor. Browning the butter adds a toasty, caramel-like depth that a plain butter cake just cannot match.
- Make it ahead. The cake, the goat cheese cream, and the blackberry sauce can all be prepped in advance and assembled at the last minute.
- The food processor does the work. Both the cream and the sauce are a quick blitz, so there is very little to fuss over.
Heather’s Expert Tips for the Best Brown Butter Cake
Drawing from 20 years of recipe development and my time co-founding a spice company, here’s what makes this recipe worth making exactly as written.
- Watch the butter closely. Brown butter goes from nutty to burnt in under a minute. Swirl the pan often and pull it off the heat the moment the bits on the bottom turn deep amber and smell toasty.
- Chill the brown butter briefly. Popping it in the freezer until just solid, then stirring, helps it blend evenly into the batter instead of streaking.
- Sift for a fine crumb. Sifting the flour, sugar, and baking powder three times sounds fussy, but it gives this cake its signature light texture.
- Season with intention. As the co-founder of Spiceology, I am a firm believer that a good pinch of kosher salt and a whisper of almond extract are what make the browned butter really sing. Do not skip either one.
- Cut clean rounds. Dip your cookie cutter in flour between cuts so each round releases cleanly and keeps its sharp edge on the plate.
Maillard Reaction
The nutty flavor at the heart of this cake comes from browning the butter, and that transformation is largely the Maillard reaction at work. As the butter heats, the water cooks off and the milk solids left behind hit high heat, where their proteins and natural sugars react and reorganize into hundreds of new aromatic compounds. That is what turns pale, mild butter into something toasty, deep, and almost caramel-like.
The same chemistry is why this cake tastes so much richer than a standard butter cake made with plain melted butter. You are not adding any new ingredients, you are simply unlocking flavor that was already hiding in the butter. The trade-off is a narrow window: push the browning too far and those same compounds tip into bitter and burnt, so a watchful eye during those last couple of minutes pays off in the finished cake.
Equipment Needed
- Small heavy-bottomed saucepan (for browning the butter)
- Fine mesh sieve or flour sifter
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- 13×9 glass baking dish
- Food processor
- 3-inch round cookie cutter
Ingredients in Brown Butter Cake
- All-purpose flour – fill the cup measure with a spoon and level it off with a knife.
- Butter – unsalted butter is best in this recipe because you’ll be adding salt to the batter.
- Granulated sugar – regular white granulated sugar.
- Baking powder – make sure you’re baking powder is fresh for the best rising.
- Egg whites – gives the cake a light and airy texture.
- Milk – use 1%, 2% or whole milk.
- Kosher salt – or table salt.
- Vanilla extract – or vanilla bean paste if you want the cakes to have a speckled vanilla fleck.
- Almond extract – adds a hint of almond that elevates the flavor of these cakes.
Ingredients for Goat Cheese Cream & Blackberry Sauce
- Goat cheese – room temp goat cheese is easier to blend. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before preparing the cream sauce.
- Heavy cream – or heavy whipping cream.
- Vanilla extract – gives the hint of sweetness to offset the tangy goat cheese.
- Fresh blackberries – pick out a dozen of the prettiest ones to top the finished cakes.
- Honey – adds a little sweetness to the blackberry sauce.
- Rum – use vanilla or extra water if you don’t want to add alcohol.
- Water – helps thin the sauce slightly.
Recipe Variations & Substitutions
- Swap the berries. Raspberries, blueberries, or a mixed berry blend all work beautifully in place of blackberries for the sauce.
- Skip the rum. Leave it out entirely for an alcohol-free version, or swap in a splash of vanilla or fresh orange juice.
- Change the cheese. Not a goat cheese fan? Use softened cream cheese or mascarpone for a milder, sweeter cream.
- Add citrus. A little lemon or orange zest in the batter brightens the whole dessert and plays well with the berries.
- Make it gluten free. A quality one-to-one gluten free flour blend can stand in for the all purpose flour.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat
- Store the cake tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Store the components separately. Keep the goat cheese cream and blackberry sauce in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days and assemble just before serving.
- Freeze the cake well wrapped for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before cutting into rounds.
- Do not freeze the goat cheese cream, as it can turn grainy once thawed. It is quick enough to whip up fresh.
- Refresh before serving. Let a chilled cake round sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes so the crumb softens and the flavor comes forward.
What to Serve with Brown Butter Cake
Round out the dessert course with a few of my other favorites:
Frequently Asked Questions
Brown butter tastes nutty, toasty, and slightly caramel-like. Browning cooks the milk solids in the butter until they deepen in color and aroma, which adds a warm, complex flavor that plain melted butter simply does not have.
Yes, and it is a great candidate for it. Bake the cake and prepare both the goat cheese cream and the blackberry sauce up to a couple of days in advance, store them separately in the fridge, then assemble the plates right before serving.
Absolutely. Frozen blackberries work well in the sauce since they get blended and strained anyway. Thaw them first and drain off excess liquid, or learn my method for prepping berries in my guide on how to freeze strawberries, which works for blackberries too.
A soft, fresh goat cheese (chevre) blends the smoothest. Bring it to room temperature before processing so it whips into a silky, lump-free cream with the heavy cream and vanilla.
The butter is ready when the foam subsides, the bits on the bottom of the pan turn a deep golden amber, and it smells toasty and nutty. Pull it off the heat right away at that point, because it can slip from browned to burnt in well under a minute.
Yes. You can serve it as a simple sheet cake cut into squares, then spoon the goat cheese cream and blackberry sauce over each piece. You will lose the elegant plated look, but the flavor is identical.
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Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
For the Goat Cheese Cream:
- 3.5 oz goat cheese
- â…“ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Blackberry Sauce:
- 12 oz fresh blackberries, 16 berries reserved
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp rum
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
For the Cake:
- In a small saucepan add the butter and melt over medium heat. Once the butter begins to simmer, turn down to medium-low and simmer until brown bits begin to rest on the bottom of the pan and the butter starts to smell nutty, about 10 minutes. Turn down the heat if it’s browning too quickly. Pour into a clean bowl and place in the freezer for 5 minutes, or until just solid. Stir briskly just before adding to flour mixture.
- Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder 3 times and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 glass baking dish and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. Add the flour mixture along with the milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and brown butter. Beat on on medium-high for 1 minute. Pour into prepared baking dish and spread to the edges.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
For the Goat Cheese Cream:
- Add the goat cheese, heavy cream and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Remove to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the Blackberry Sauce:
- Add the berries, rum, honey and water to a clean food processor bowl and process until smooth. Strain into a clean bowl, pressing the solids and discard seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To Assemble:
- Use a 3 inch round cookie cutter and cut out 8 circles of cake. Using a tablespoon, run a smear of goat cheese cream on each of 8 plates. Top with the cake and drizzle with the blackberry sauce. Add a fresh blackberry or 2 to each plate and serve.
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Nutrition
*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Hi! I’m Heather
I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.
I really love this recipe and hope you will too!
Gorgeous. I love the goat cheese here.
Beautiful plating! I love brown butter and that blackberry sauce looks divine!
Love your platting, and how delicious!
Classic, simple elements with a bit of a twist! After watching the episode I wanted to make this dessert too!
So elegant and yet so simple to make!
I love that combination, girl. LOVE!
Fun post, too!
What an absolutely gorgeous plate. I make an appetizer with goat cheese and blackberries, and our girls go crazy for it. I know this dessert would be a hit as well.
How perfect!
The goat cheese. Oh my word.
My goodness…that is heaven on a plate. I just love everything about this!
This looks so fabulous!
Can’t… think… straight…. while…. looking… at… this.
Amazing!
Sheesh girlie you portioned that cake like atop chef pro. Lovely presentation and recap, Heather.:)
What an elegant dessert. I love the idea of serving something like this at our upcoming family dinner. It would be quite a switch from chocolate cake eaten from the pan!! No, we’re not that bad…but maybe close! 😉
Classic quote from Wolfie!! I love your version and l have a blackberry goat cheese bar on my blog. The flavors are awesome 🙂