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1/3/10

Brown Butter Pound Cake

Chez rarely includes a dessert with his brunch but for his New Year’s Themed Day, he decided to take a walk on the wild side and include this lovely.

The cake was considerably less dense than the traditional version and the brown butter added a nice depth of nutty goodness.

- Chez

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F with rack in middle.
  2. Butter and lightly flour an 8 1/2-by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.
  3. Heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until milk solids on bottom are a dark chocolate brown.
  4. Transfer to a shallow bowl and chill in freezer until just congealed, about 15 minutes.
  5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  6. Beat together brown butter and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  7. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
  8. Beat in vanilla.
  9. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just incorporated.
  10. Transfer batter to pan, smoothing top, then rap pan on counter to settle batter.
  11. Bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
  12. Cool in pan 30 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely, 1 hour.