Brown butter cake, vanilla bean icing, salted caramel and popcorn
This ridiculously naughty brown butter, vanilla and salted caramel popcorn cake is perfect for any celebration. I first created this for my dad’s 70th birthday celebrations earlier this year – it easily fed 6 hungry adults and 4 even hungrier children and there was plenty to take home at the end of the weekend. Browning the butter adds a beautifully nutty, burnt toffee flavour to the sponge. I urge you to give it a try.
Serves: 16 - 20
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Time: 3 hours
Ingredients
For the brown butter cake
- 300g butter
- 360g plain flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 240ml milk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 330g granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
For the vanilla bean icing
- 400g salted butter, softened
- 600g icing sugar, sifted
- 80ml milk
- 2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped
(or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste)
For the salted caramel
- 200g sugar
- 100g salted butter
- 80ml single cream
- Sea salt, generous pinch
For the topping
- Toffee popcorn, half a bag
Brown butter cake, vanilla bean icing, salted caramel and popcorn
This ridiculously naughty brown butter, vanilla and salted caramel popcorn cake is perfect for any celebration. I first created this for my dad’s 70th birthday celebrations earlier this year – it easily fed 6 hungry adults and 4 even hungrier children and there was plenty to take home at the end of the weekend. Browning the butter adds a beautifully nutty, burnt toffee flavour to the sponge. I urge you to give it a try.
Method
For the brown butter – this goes in the cake mix
- You need to make the brown butter in advance as it has to cool and chill before adding to the cake mix.
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over a low/medium heat and stir until it melts completely.
- Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the milk solids turn brown and the butter smells nutty (about 7-10 minutes longer) or as long as it takes to turn golden brown). Take care not to burn the butter, it will continue to brown even after you remove it from the heat.
- Scrape the melted butter and browned bits into a small bowl and chill until solidified (about half an hour in the freezer, an hour or so in the fridge). When ready to make the cake, remove the butter from the fridge long enough for the butter to soften.
For the cake mix
- Preheat oven to 165°C fan.
- Grease two 18cm round cake tins and line the base of the tins with baking paper. (Once the cakes are cooked they will be cut in half horizontally to create 4 separate layers to the cake).
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. Mix the milk and vanilla together in a measuring jug.
- Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the sugar and brown butter in a large bowl until blended. Now Increase the speed to high and beat until the mixture is very pale and creamy, approx. 5 minutes.
- Reduce speed to medium low, and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- While continuing to mix on a low speed, take turns adding the flour mix and milk mixture in parts, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (I did it by adding 1/4 of of the dry mixture followed by 1/3 of the wet mixture at a time). Beat until smooth, occasionally scraping the bowl with a spatula.
- Pour equal amounts of the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the outside is golden. Take care not to overbake or the cake will be dry.
- Cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then carefully turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely. The cakes can be stored in an airtight container overnight if you want to prepare the cakes a day ahead.
- Once cool cut each cake in half horizontally so you are left with 4 equal sized round cakes. Do this by placing one of the cakes on a board and using a large, sharp knife carefully score a line around the middle of the edge of the cake. Working carefully, rotate and cut through the scored cake until you have sliced it neatly in two. Repeat with the other cake.
For the vanilla bean icing
- Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high.
- Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the icing sugar and mix until incorporated.
- Add the vanilla pod seeds and milk and beat on high until very pale and fluffy.
- Place the first layer of cake on your cake stand or plate. Spread a layer of icing over the top, using an offset spatula. Sandwich with another layer of cake and then repeat with the remaining cake layers.
- Crumb coat the cake (see hints and tips) and then chill for about 30 mins.
- Cover the cake with the remaining icing and chill again for another hour so it is cold before pouring the salted caramel over in the next stage.
- Keep the cake chilled in the fridge but remember to remove it 30 mins before serving to allow it to come back to room temperature.
For the salted caramel
- Heat the butter and sugar together until it turns medium/dark brown and smells nutty.
- Add the cream and salt and stir until smooth.
- Pour into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool. Ensure the caramel is completely cool before pouring over the top of the cake otherwise the icing will melt.
- If the caramel becomes to cold (if left in the fridge for example) it will become quite thick so bring it back to room temperature to make it easier to pour.
To finish
- Carefully pile the toffee popcorn on top of the cake, the higher you can get it the more dramatic the finish. I also like to use some indoor sparklers for added wow factor.
