Browned Butter, Pecan & White Chocolate Cake

 

I want to start off by warning you. This is a snacking cake that you are going to absolutely fall in love with.  Seriously.

Just the title alone.  Browned Butter, Pecan and White Chocolate cake.  What in that title is not to love!  This is the penultimate snacking cake! Your life will never be the same! 

 

 

This is a dream made in heaven. Lovely and moist from the use of yogurt in the batter and filled with lots of toasted pecan nuts and white chocolate.

More nuts and chocolate are sprinkled on the top  along with a bit of demerara sugar for crunch.  I love demerara sugar.

 

The star of this show is the browned butter however.  The smell of that browned butter is enough to get my taste buds tingling.

Combine that with the brown sugar and my taste buds went into heavenly overload.  Even if it wasn't the most delicious snacking cake on the planet I would bake this cake again and again just to smell that combination! Seriously!

This recipe was adapted from the baking book by Yossy Arefi entitled Snacking Cakes. I cannot recommend this book enough. Every recipe I have baked from it has been excellent.

 

HOW TO BROWN BUTTER

Browned butter has a toasty, nutty flavor and enhances just about everything it touches especially cakes.  Some people might find the idea of browning butter a bit intimidating. I know I used to, but its really a very simple process.

You want to use a saucepan with a light colored inside bottom. This is so that you can see the color of the butter changing as it browns.   A ceramic non-stick coated pan works beautifully as everything just slides out when its done.

Put your butter into the sauce pan and then heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, scraping up the bits from the bottom and the sides of the pan if necessary. This will take about 3 minutes.  The butter solids will turn golden brown and the mixture will smell nice and nutty.

Take the pan off the heat immediately as the butter will continue to brown in the pan.  I recommend tipping it out of the pan right away and into a heat safe bowl.  That way your butter won't burn.  You can let it cool while you gather the rest of your ingredients together.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER, PECAN & WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Simple baking ingredients. With the exception of the white chocolate you will probably have everything you need in your kitchen to bake this delicious cake today. 

• 1/2 cup (120g) lightly salted butter
• 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar
• 2 large free range eggs
• 3/4 cup (165g) whole milk yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups (160g) all purpose plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup (75g) toasted pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup (85g) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
• 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara)

 

 

 

She recommends unsalted butter. I cannot afford to keep two kinds of butter in my single person kitchen and so I keep lightly salted butter and cut back on the salt required in the recipe.  European style butter like Lactantia is the best.    Oh how I miss Danish butter.

I always use large free range eggs.  It is a personal choice for me and if I can get brown so much the better.

Don't be tempted to use low fat plain yogurt.  This is one recipe where you want to go full fat all the way. Rich and silky.

I used a bar of Green & Blacks Organic white chocolate for this. It is infused with vanilla and makes for a very delicious result, but you can use ordinary white chocolate chips if you wish. I just find them to be a bit sweeter and so prefer the white chocolate bar.

 

HOW TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER, PECAN & WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Its a very simple cake to make once you have browned your butter. Most snack cakes are. Begin by preheating your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.  Butter your 8-inch cake tin and line with a strip of parchment paper which hangs over two sides for ease of removal after the cake is done.  

Brown your butter as above and pour into a bowl.  Leave to cool for a few minutes.

 

Add the brown sugar and the eggs to the melted butter and beat until frothy and well combined together. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, salt and nutmeg, beating in until smooth and well emulsified.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk into the wet mixture until smooth and well combined.

 

Using a rubber spatula, fold in 6 TBS (37g) of the toasted pecans and 1/4 cup (42g) of the white chocolate.

Spread into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bang on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle the remaining toasted nuts and white chocolate over top. Finally sprinkle with the turbinado sugar

 

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Leave in the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before lifting out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

 

Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days.  This is an excellent cake to serve for snacks or even a simple dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

If you only have the time and energy to bake one thing this weekend, let it be this fabulous cake!  You will thank me for it, I guarantee and your family will be more than pleased with it.

Well, maybe you won't thank me . . . because it is a pretty hard cake to resist. It is a cake you will find yourself thinking about at 3 a.m. and sneaking down to the kitchen to have a tiny nibble of.  Trust me.  Highly moreishly addictive, if only for the smell alone.

Browned Butter, Pecan & White Chocolate Cake

Yield: One 8-inch cake

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min

The balance between the flavors of the browned butter, toasted pecans and white chocolate in this cake is perfection. One of the best snack cakes I have ever baked.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (120g) lightly salted butter
• 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar
• 2 large free range eggs
• 3/4 cup (165g) whole milk yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups (160g) all purpose plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup (75g) toasted pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup (85g) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
• 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square baking tin and line with a strip of parchment paper which hangs over two sides.
2. Melt the butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir over medium heat with a wooden spoon until the butter solids turn golden brown and smell nice and nutty. This will take about 3 minutes. Pour into a bowl. Leave to cool slightly.
3. Add the brown sugar and the eggs to the melted butter and beat until frothy and well combined together. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, salt and nutmeg, beating in until smooth and well emulsified.
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk into the wet mixture until smooth and well combined.
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 6 TBS (37g) of the toasted pecans and 1/4 cup (42g) of the white chocolate.
6. Spread into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bang on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle the remaining toasted nuts and white chocolate over top. Finally sprinkle with the turbinado sugar
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Leave in the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before lifting out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

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