How to Make Brown Butter Pound Cake
This Brown Butter Pound Cake is rich and moist on the inside, and crisp and toasty along the edges. The browned butter adds a great distinct flavor to this simple but special cake.
Hello bakers! Here is a simple, homey cake you can make any time- Brown Butter Pound Cake. This is one of those types that I like-no glaze and frosting free. Like Chocolate Ombre Pound Cake and Chocolate Loaf Bread with Cream Cheese Filling, this is plain but delicious!
Pound cakes are versatile because they are a perfect canvas to building your dream desserts. Top a slice with whipped cream or fruit preserves and you have yourself a simply elegant treat! I love mine toasted then slathered with more butter (I know!).
The flavor of the browned butter gives the cake a deep, nutty flavor. It is rich without going overboard, and the edges are crispy and toasty (my favorite part!).
Ingredients for the Brown Butter Pound Cake
- Butter. Pound cakes call for unsalted butter. We will melt this butter in the browning process, then continue the recipe using the browned butter.
- Sugar. You will need 1 cup of granulated sugar in this recipe. Sugar is beaten together with the butter, like in a creaming method.
- Large eggs. This is an egg rich cake. 4 eggs adds flavor, tenderness and richness to the pound cake.
- Walnuts. Walnuts add flavor and texture to the cake, and in my opinion, should not be skipped! Yo can also vary the nuts. Pecans are great too.
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract.
Browning Butter
Browning butter is a simple process of, well, browning the butter slowly in a saucepan. You start off by melting the butter in a pan, and slowly, the melted butter bubbles, and eventually turns golden.
It is best to use a light-colored saucepan here. That way, you can easily judge whether your butter is already nicely golden, and not darkened and burnt. It is normal to have some brown bits settling at the bottom of the pan. Those are your milk solids, and you want those to go in your cake too.
Transfer the browned butter in a cup. We want this to cool down and set before starting to make the cake. Let it set for about 2 hours or more, at room temperature.
Then we start!
Brown Butter Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. On a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter on medium- high speed until it is fluffy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla briefly.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- To the bowl with the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk. Begin with 1/3 of the flour, followed by 1/2 of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour and follow with the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Add the remaining flour last. Beat the mixture after each addition just until the ingredient is incorporated.
- Fold in chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 F for 55-65 minutes. Loosely cover the top of the cake with foil during the last ten minutes of baking to prevent over-browning, if needed.
And here my friends, are one of the simple but best things in life. Enjoy!
Pointers for Success
- Do not skip cooling down the butter and letting it solidify again. This is important so we can beat the butter as usual. Creaming the butter is crucial so we can get the structure of the cake. You can let it set at room temperature for 2 hours, or chill in in the fridge for about an hour.
- Room Temperature eggs and milk. Make sure you take the eggs and milk early enough so they come to room temperature before you make the batter. This will make the mixing process more optimal and easy. Ingredients will be incorporated evenly than when you use cold ingredients.
Questions About this Recipe
Pound cakes are richer and denser than butter cakes. The texture of butter cakes tend to be lighter and they have more volume. However, butter cakes are not lighter than chiffon cakes. In terms of ingredients pound cake recipes have more fat, and are therefore richer than butter cakes.
Browned butter imparts a deeper flavor and nutty aroma to a baked good. It also gives a slight note of caramel flavor. Try Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Traditionally, pound cakes are made using a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, a pound of sugar and a pound of flour! Over the years, this ratio has been tweaked and it varies from recipe to recipe, but the term pound cakes remained (source).
Yes, you can bake this on a Bundt pan, but you may have to adjust the baking time slightly. A baked pound cake is nicely golden on top. A toothpick inserted at the center of the cakes should come out clean.
Serving Suggestions
- Top your sliced cake with a big dollop of whipped cream, then garnish with some fresh berries, or any fresh fruit of your choice.
- Toast your sliced pound cake for more texture and flavor from the crust.
- Top it with a scoop of your favorite ice cream!
More Delicious Cakes:
- Pineapple Chiffon Cake with Sweet Pineapple Glaze
- Pineapple Loaf Cake
- Chocolate Chip Loaf Bread
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bread with Oatmeal Crumbs
- Marble Cake Loaf
Brown Butter Pound Cake
This Brown Butter Pound Cake is rich and moist on the inside, and crisp and toasty along the edges. The browned butter adds a great distinct flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- On a medium pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring often, until the butter turns into a golden syrup with some brown bites emerging at the bottom. Turn off heat and transfer the browned butter (including the brown bits) into a cup. Allow to cool and set at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. On a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until it is fluffy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla briefly.
- On another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- To the bowl with the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk. Begin with 1/3 of the flour, followed by 1/2 of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour and follow with the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Add the remaining flour last. Stir the mixture after each addition just until the ingredient is incorporated. Fold in chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 f for 55-65 minutes. Loosely cover the top of the cake with foil during the last ten minutes of baking.
Hi Sanna! Sorry for bothering you but I just want you to know that recently I am having trouble printing your recipes the ads keep blocking the texts. They either cut the recipe short or they appear in the middle making the printed recipe unreadable. I didn’t have this problem in my previous printed copies from your site. I wanted to have hard copies of all the recipes I like in your website so I can pass it down to my daughter. Thank you Sanna for all you do I appreciate it sooo much!
I only encounter this problem with some of your recipes like this one Brown Butter Pound cake. When i tried printing this #4 instruction didn’t appear. Also with your other recipes like the Chocolate Chip Loaf Bread, Carrot Loaf Cake, Chocolate Loaf Cake.
Hello Ellen! Thank you for mentioning this. I apologize for the inconvenience. I will check and fix this asap.