Brown Butter Cake With Lemon and White Chocolate Cream Will Satisfy Any Sweet Tooth

A simple butter cake gets a new lease on life with the addition of some gently browned butter and a layer of lemon curd and white chocolate frosting in the center. Buttery cakes like this one have a deliciously soft taste with loads of flavor, and white chocolate cream and lemon curd add a celebratory flourish that everyone with a sweet tooth will love. To make our brown butter cake with lemon curd and white chocolate cream, follow the recipe below.

Ingredients

• 17 oz. chilled and unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
• 1 cup raw caster sugar 
• 6 oz. floral honey
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup milk
• Lemon curd
• 5 oz. lemon juice (about 4 juicy lemons)
• Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 oz. golden caster sugar
• 3 oz. softened butter
• 3 oz. brown butter (from quantity above)
• White chocolate cream
• 14 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped, or white chocolate buttons
• 14 oz. pouring cream
• 1 1/4 cup crème fraîche, whisked to firm peaks 

Instructions

1. Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add butter and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until the butter is foaming and nut brown (five to seven minutes), and then pour into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool.
2. For the lemon curd, whisk lemon juice and rind, eggs, yolks, and sugar in a heatproof bowl to combine, and then place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk occasionally until thickened (25 to 30 minutes). Cool briefly (10 minutes), and then whisk in softened butter and brown butter. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until thick and chilled (three to four hours). Lemon curd can be made a day in advance.
3. For the white chocolate cream, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a rapid simmer in a saucepan, pour onto chocolate, let stand for five minutes, and then stir to combine. Cover and place in the freezer to cool (20 to 30 minutes). Transfer to an electric mixer and whisk until thick, then cover and refrigerate to set (at least four hours or overnight). Fold crème fraîche into chocolate mixture just before icing the cake.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter two round eight-inch-diameter cake tins and line with baking paper. Beat 10 oz. of brown butter (you may have a little left over), sugar, honey, and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until pale and creamy (three to five minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and then stir in flour and milk in batches. Divide batter among tins, tap to spread evenly, and then bake, swapping tins during cooking, until golden brown and the centers spring back when gently pressed (55 minutes; cover cakes with foil if they brown too quickly). Rest in tins for five minutes, and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (30 minutes).
5. To assemble, spread a thick layer of lemon curd over one cake, and then a thick layer of white chocolate cream. Sandwich with remaining cake, and then ice top and sides of cake with remaining white chocolate cream, ideally 30 minutes before serving so it can set a little. This cake is best eaten the day that it’s made.

This recipe originally appeared on our sister site, Gourmet Traveller.

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