Brown Butter Banana Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing
Three layers of brown butter banana cake slathered with amazing brown butter cream cheese icing.
The cake layers are moist, flavorful, and every bit worthy of standing alone. However, the frosting just made it. I’m a cream cheese icing lover, but this… this brown butter cream cheese icing… just another level. Those lovely brown specks that you can see throughout the frosting? They just carry so much rich and nutty brown butter flavor. But also, you can still taste the tangy cream cheese.
Generally my biggest pet peeve with (other) bakery cakes is that the flavor is… sweet. And seriously, sweet is not a flavor. This cake? The flavor is banana. The flavor is tang. The flavor is BROWN BUTTER. I wish I could share a slice with every one of you but instead I guess I should just tell you to make it as soon as possible. Hoard those brown bananas!
Brown Butter Banana Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing
Yield: 12-16
Ingredients:
- Cake
- 113g (1/2 cup) plain Greek yogurt
- 10g (2 teaspoons) baking soda
- 320g (~3 cups) cake flour
- 2g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
- 226g (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned and cooled to room temperature* PLUS 28g (2 tablespoons / ¼ stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 530g (~2 ½) cups granulated sugar
- 200g (~4 large) whole eggs at room temperature
- 20g (~1 large) egg whites at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 570g (~2 1/2 cups) mashed very ripe bananas (~4 large bananas)
- Frosting
- 227g regular or light cream cheese at room temperature
- 227g (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned and chilled in refrigerator for one hour
- 640g (~4 cups) powdered sugar
- 5 milliliters / 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
Instructions:
1. Cake
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans
3. In a small bowl, stir baking soda into Greek yogurt and let stand to dissolve
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, cinnamon and salt; set aside
5. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter on medium-high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy
6. Add eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula
7. Add bananas and mix on low speed; add flour and mix again on low speed low speed just until combined
8. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in Greek yogurt
9. Pour batter into prepared pans; bake 24-29 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean from the centers; set pan aside on a wire rack and allow to cool
10. When ready to remove cake from pans; run a knife around the edges of cake and then carefully turn each cake pan upside down onto a cooling rack; allow to cool completely before frosting
11. Frosting
12. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on low speed for one minute and then increase to high speed for two or until there are no clumps from the cream cheese
13. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add one cup of powdered sugar; beat on low speed until combined; repeat with each additional cup of powdered sugar (make sure to mix between each cup)
14. Add vanilla and salt; mix on medium speed for two minutes and then increase speed to medium-high for one minute
15. Once cake has cooled and icing is ready, use a flat metal spatula to frost the first layer of cake (use 1/3 – ½ cup of frosting); repeat with second layer of cake and frosting then top with third layer and use remaining icing to frost outside of cake
Notes: Adapted from the Har Zion Cookbook
Entire cake layers can be frozen whole wrapped well with seran up to one month; defrost at room temperature before frosting; cake is best enjoyed within two days of frosting
Store frosted cake in refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving
Leftovers can be wrapped well with seran wrap and frozen up to one month
*To brown the butter: Heat butter in a heavy duty saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, when butter turns to an amber/light brown color, remove from heat immediately (You should be able to smell the deeper more caramel flavor of the butter) pour browned butter immediately into a bowl
