Brown Butter Cupcakes with Brown Buttercream Frosting

There's this local bakery near us called Gimme Some Suga that makes these delicious browned butter cupcakes. Ever since I tried them last summer, browned butter has been on my to-do list. I came across a browned butter cupcake recipe on Foodbuzz and had to give it a try, hoping they'd taste just like the one in the bakery. It wasn't as heavenly, but they were still good. These cupcakes were so light and fluffy. You can taste the nutty browned butter aroma in the cupcake for sure, but not so much in the frosting (which was pretty sweet by the way). Either I didn't brown the butter enough for the frosting (since it called for twice as much) or maybe my substitution of milk masked the browned butter? Either way these cupcakes were still really good.

Browned Butter Cake Ingredients

1 cup browned Butter, cooled

2 & 1/2 cups Sugar

5 – Eggs, separated

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 cup Buttermilk

3 cups sifted Cake Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

pinch of Salt

Browned Butter Directions:
To make 1 cup of browned butter: Slice the unsalted butter stick into 1 tbsp sized slices. Heat a thick-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced butter (sliced so that the butter melts more evenly) whisking frequently. Continue to cook the butter. Once melted the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. (About 7 mins total cooking time.) Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface to help stop the butter from cooking further and perhaps burning.

Cake Directions:
Allow ingredients to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat cooled brown butter with sugar for 3 minutes.

Add egg yolks one at a time and vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes.

Sift dry ingredients and add to butter/egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Mix just till combined.

In another bowl and clean beaters, beat egg whites till stiff and add in an increment of 3 to cake batter, being sure to fold in thoroughly but gently.

Bake for 18 or so minutes for cupcakes and 20-25 minutes for 9 inch round cake pans.

Makes 3 dozen cupcakes or 3, 9 inch round cake pans.

Browned Buttercream Frosting

2 cups browned Butter, cooled and solidified

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup whole milk, plus another 1/3 cup

2 lb. Powdered Sugar, sifted

Directions

In a medium bowl, add butter and whip till light and creamy, about 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and 1/3 cup milk and blend.

Slowly add powdered sugar while mixing.

At this point you may need to add more liquid. I added another 1/3 cup to achieve a spreadable and fluffy consistency. Whip for several minutes.

Adapted from Apron of Grace and Simply Recipes

Happy Valentine's Day!