Brown-Butter Vanilla Chai Cake

Bernice Baran
Sep 10, 2018
4 min read

IT IS FALL. (that reminds me of 'it is your birthday." LOLLOLOLOLLL) (Also I know it's like not really fall but it's like 50-60 out so yeah that's fall).

Oversized sweaters.

Boots.

Pumpkin.

Spice.

& everything nice.

YESSS

Wouldn't it be great to live in a place where it's always fall?

Unfortunately for me, it doesn't exist.

BUT cinnamon spice is available all year long so if you want, you can even make this cake in the middle of summer ! Lawl

Soooo I'm not gonna lie, I loved this cake.

I made if for a friend who's majorly addicted to American buttercream so obviously I used that. If I would've asked her what cake she wants for her birthday, she would've said 'vanilla'...

Lame.

I've been looking for some inspiration for fall cakes recently, so that I don't just make everything & anything pumpkin or apple, & then I had a thought!

Well, I had many but I had a specific, fantastic thought.

Why don't I make her favorite Starbucks drink that so happens to be fall flavored!

So I did.

& then I had another thought.

Why don't I add brown-butter since it's basically the best thing in the world?

So I did.

& this is it.

I bring to you my Brown-Butter Vanilla Chai Latte Cake.

You're Welcome.

This looks like a really long recipe but it's really not that bad.

If you've made brown butter before than skip over that!

I made my mom try this cake...LOL let's just say she's not a fan of chai.

BROWN-BUTTER VANILLA CHAI LATTE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

Cake

3 ¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup browned butter, melted

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

Soak

1 cup milk

dash of cinnamon

dash of ginger

dash of cardomom

dash of nutmeg

dash of cloves

1 tsp. vanilla

Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup unsalted brown-butter (back to soft consistency, not liquid)

1 1/2 (3/4 of a bag) lbs. powdered sugar (add more if you're buttercream is too soft)

1-2 tbsp. milk (if necessary)

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cardamom

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cloves

DIRECTIONS

For Brown Butter

In this recipe you need a total of 3 sticks of browned butter so start by placing those in a light colored pot on medium heat.
Whisk continuously until you see the brown speckles of butter forming on the bottom of your pan & it begins to smell nutty.
Remove from heat & separate into two bowls.
One bowl should consist of 1/3 the butter & the other bowl should have the rest 2/3 of the butter.
I placed them both in the fridge, letting the 1/3 bowl cool a little but stay liquid & the 2/3 bowl harden back to a 'soft consistency'.

For Cake

Preheat oven to 350F & grease pans. *I made six 6" layers (two cakes) or you can make three-four 8" layers (one cake).
Whisk together flour, baking powder & salt in medium bowl and set aside.
On medium speed, beat together softened butter & sugars.
Once combined, add in oil & melted brown butter.
Once that's combined, add in eggs & vanilla.
Alternate adding in milk & dry ingredients while beating on low-medium speed. Beat until just combined.
Fill pan about half way & bake for about 25-35 minutes, depending on pan size. I normally take them out as soon as they peel away from the edge of pan (that may not happen for everyone depending on how you greased them - I use PAM)

For Buttercream

Before starting, make sure both regular butter & brown butter are a 'soft' consistency at room temperature.
Combine powder sugar with spices & set aside.
With paddle attachment, on medium-high speed, beat butters until pale & fluffy.
Lower speed & slowly add in powder sugar mixture.
Beat for a few minutes until all the sugar is dissolved & doesn't feel grainy, adding in as much milk/cream until consistency is spreadable (or more sugar if its too soft to work with).
Add in vanilla to taste & begin decorating your delicious cake.

For Soak

Combine all ingredients in a cup & mix (if you're feeling fancy go buy a vanilla chai latte from a cafe & use that once it's cooled! - I was lazy).

Assembly

Once cake has fully cooled, use a spoon to apply soak to cake. I did both the bottom & the top of each layer EXCEPT the bottom layer, I only did the top side, so it wouldn't stick to everything.
Spread frosting evenly across each layer & repeat until complete.
Give it a thin crumb coat & refrigerate before decorating.
I fully covered one cake in buttercream & left one with just a crumb coat.
ENJOY

This is the PERFECT, not so basic, fall cake ! But don't make it for people who've never had chai. They prob won't like it LOL. Also, I would say this is like a 'medium' in spice, if you like a strong chai, feel free to add a little more spice. If you don't then add less <3

Also I keep writing 'chair' instead of 'chai' so if you see 'chair' anywhere, just know what I meant. I will proofread too, I promise! OK friends, if you make this, please tag #bakewithb on instagram so I can seeeeee. As always,