Brown Butter Sheet Cake

This recipe is a simple & yummy twist on one of my all-time favorite cake recipes :: White Texas Sheet Cake. This cake recipe has it all – it’s easy, quick and yields such a moist, flavor-packed cake. And — as you can see by doing a keyword search on my blog using the word “cake”, I have twisted and contrived the original recipe into MANY variations. Check them out HERE.

For this recipe, I am starting off by browning butter.

Over medium-high flame, melt 3 sticks of butter. Once the butter achieves that nutty brown color add 1½ cups of water and continue cooking until the butter/water mixture boils. If you’ll look closely at the above photo, you see tiny flecks of brown – those are the browned milk solids and that’s where the flavor for this Brown Butter Sheet Cake comes from.

BUT — once that butter browns, it is super easy to burn. So keep a close watch.

Next, add sour cream and sugar, whisking until smooth.

Then combine dry ingredients – flour, salt & baking soda. Whisk eggs and alternatively add flour & eggs in thirds, whisking vigorously until both are incorporated into the cake batter.

Pour the batter into a parchment-lined 12″ x 17″ cake pan and bake 22-24 minutes at 375°.

While the cake is baking, prepare the brown butter stovetop buttercream by browning 1½ sticks of butter in a small pot over medium-high flame. Melt ½ stick of butter with ¾ cup 2% milk, bring to a low boil and then remove from the flame. Add a pinch of salt, 2 t vanilla 6 c powdered sugar and browned butter. When adding browned butter, be sure to scrape all of the little brown bits out of the pan. That’s what gives the buttercream those gorgeous brown flecks!

Whisk everything together until smooth.

Add additional powdered sugar or milk (by tablespoons) to reach desired consistency.

Now, back to the cake. You’ll know the cake is done by the famous “toothpick” test. But I really hate poking little holes in the top of my beautiful cake. So I do a “jiggle test”. When cooking time nears completion, open the oven and (using a potholder-covered-hand) give the cake pan a little jiggle. If the center of the cake jiggles back, add a few minutes. If the center is stationary – cooking time is complete. It’s important to keep a close eye on the cake during the last few minutes of baking. You definitely don’t want a raw cake – or a dry cake. And, trust me — the more you practice, the better you’ll get!

When baking is done, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Last, pour the warm buttercream over the warm cake. Allow the cake to continue cooling for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Unless you simply cannot wait one more second and in that case – just dig in.

Look closely. See those tiny flecks of browned butter in the buttercream?! Oh my word. It’s home on a plate. All those distant happy memories, sweet familiar smells and tastes that linger like a whisper on your tastebuds – all those food recollections wrapped into one perfect bite. This Brown Butter Sheet Cake recipe isn’t a recreation of a childhood recipe that momma or grandma made – but wow, it sure does remind me of those sweet and special things they did make. I hope you first bite reminds you of all the “sentimental bests” of your food recollections!