This is the ultimate rich and decadent layer cake! Brown butter vanilla cake that’s soaked with dulce de leche milk. Then layered with tangy vanilla frosting and dulche de leche. Great for any occasion!
I dedicated most of my time this past weekend to creating this rich, decadent, and impressive brown butter dulce de leche cake. If you love caramel, brown butter, dulce de leche, or any of the other fine things in life, then this is the cake for you! There’s a lot going on in this cake, so let me break it down for you:
- Moist brown butter vanilla cake layers with a hint of dulce de leche baked in. The brown butter adds a nice nutty, rich flavor to the sponge.
- Dulce de leche milk soak to keep the cake layers moist.
- Tangy vanilla frosting that is the perfect accompaniment to the rich cake–it’s not quite a cream cheese frosting but has just a nuance in the flavor.
- Dulce de leche sandwiched between every layer.
All together, it makes for a truly moist, decadent, and delicious layer cake! While this would be perfect for any special occasion (I’ll be making it for a friend’s birthday coming up soon), you don’t need an excuse to make it! I mean, if you ever just get in the mood for something caramel-y and have some time on your hands… 😉
Equipment & Ingredients Needed
I break this recipe down into a few parts to help organize things. The one thing that carries through in all parts of this recipe is dulce de leche, which you will need a 13.5 oz can of. Store bought dulce de leche works just fine here unless you want to make your own! You can fine it in the baking aisle at the grocery store near where they sell the sweetened condensed milk. Here are the remaining ingredients you’ll need:
Ingredients for Brown Butter Cake
- Unsalted butter, browned in a skillet (directions in the recipe) and then cooled to a solid
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature: to get the eggs to room temperature, soak them in a bowl of very warm water for 10 minutes
- 2 tbsp of the dulce de leche
- A neutral flavored oil, such a canola, vegetable, or avocado
- Vanilla extract
- Buttermilk
- Cake flour: please use cake flour if you have it or can go to the store and buy it. Cake flour does make this cake so much more tender and gives it that bakery flavor.
- Baking powder and kosher salt
- For the dulce de leche milk soak, you’ll need whole milk and some more of that dulce de leche
Tangy Vanilla Frosting
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Cream cheese, from a block, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- Heavy whipping cream
Equipment
- Three 6″ round cake pans, or two 8″-9″ cake pans.
- Some parchment cake liners–you can go without but I do highly, highly recommend using these.
- A stand mixer
- Your favorite cake decorating supplies! I always like to have an offset spatula and an icing smoother handy.
Making the Cake
If you scroll down to the recipe, you may notice lots of steps in preparing this brown butter dulce de leche cake. Do not be alarmed. It’s not overly complex and scary. I just want to be detailed to make sure that you get the best results possible!
The keys to making this cake wonderful and brilliant are:
- Cream your ingredients together properly
- Do not overmix the flour
- Chill the cake layers before you frost them
Let’s start with creaming the ingredients together. First, cream the brown butter and sugars together, then add some dulce de leche, then the eggs, then lastly the oil. Between the addition of each ingredient, make sure beat for 1-2 minutes and then scrape down the sides of your bowl to make sure everything gets properly combined. By the end of the process, you should end up with a very light, fluffy mixture.
Then, fold in the flour. Do not overmix. I like to finish folding the flour by hand to ensure that this does not happen.
Lastly, bake your cake! Make sure your pans are greased and lined with parchment. I promise lining with parchment will change your life and make getting the cakes out of the pan 100x easier.
Cool the cakes after baking, and then I recommend chilling them in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour, or overnight, before assembling.
To assemble and layer the cake, follow this pattern:
- Layer of cake
- Dulce de leche milk soak (splash 1-2 tbsp on top of the cake layer to add flavor and moisture)
- Frosting
- Dulce de leche
- Repeat (skip the milk at the top layer, as I find this makes it harder to frost the top layer)
After layering the cake, frost the outside with first a crumb coat, and then a thicker layer. Chill the cake for at least an hour before enjoying and then dig in!
Recipe Q&A
How should I store leftovers? Store leftover cake tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 4 days. However, it is best enjoyed in the first or second day!
Can I make this into cupcakes? You sure can! This recipe will make 20-24 cupcakes. You can splash the dulce de leche soak straight onto the cupcakes or skip this step. Then use the same frosting and drizzle with dulce de leche.
Do I have to use cake flour? If at all possible, I would recommend using cake flour. Cake flour is milled finer than all-purpose flour, resulting in less protein and therefore less gluten development. It helps make cakes super tender and soft. You will have the best results using cake flour. However, in a pinch, you can make a substitute by swapping the flour in the recipe for 1 ¾ cups flour + ¼ cup cornstarch.
What if I don’t have buttermilk? Make your own by adding 1 tbsp of either vinegar or 1 tbsp of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Stir it in and let the milk curdle for about 10 minutes.
My dulce de leche is too firm to spread. Dulce de leche straight of the can may be firm. I like to take mine, transfer it into a microwaveable bowl, and heat it quickly for 20-30 seconds. Then, stir in 2-3 tbsp of milk to thin it out.
Can I prepare the cake ahead of time? Yes! You can bake the cake layers first and store them in the freezer for up to 1 week (or a few days in the fridge). When you’re ready to assembly the cake, just make the frosting and you’re good to go.
If you have any other questions do not hesitate to ask in the comments below!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If so, I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a rating and/or comment to spread the love and help others find this recipe.
Also feel free take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your delicious dulce de leche cakes!
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Have fun baking and check out more cakes here!
Brown Butter Vanilla Dulce de Leche Cake
Brown Butter Vanilla Dulce de Leche Cake
Ingredients
Brown Butter Vanilla Sponge
- ½ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into slices
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp dulce de leche, from a can, which you will use for other parts of this recipe as well
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 6 tbsp oil, vegetable, canola, or avocado
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp buttermilk, shaken and warmed to room temp
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour, see notes for substitution
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Dulce de Leche Soak
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp dulce de leche
Tangy Vanilla Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 oz plain cream cheese, from a block
- 3¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Brown Butter Sponge
- First, brown the butter: take your ½ cup of butter, cut it into slices, and place them into a skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring frequently. It will begin to sputter and crackle. Continue stirring continuously to prevent burning. After a while, the crackling will subside and butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. Once you see brown flecks and the melted butter turns a rich amber color, immediately remove it from heat and pour the butter into a separate, heatproof bowl.
- Let the butter cool completely until it turns into a solid. You can speed this up by putting the butter in the fridge, but make sure it does not get too cold. You want it to be soft and at room temp–similar to if you were baking with normal butter.
- Once the butter is ready, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line three, 6" round cake pans.
- Prepare the buttermilk by bringing it to room temperature (10 seconds in the microwave works fine), and then stirring in the vanilla extract. Set this aside for now.
- Add the browned butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugars together for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed to combine them. Then, add 2 tbsp of dulce de leche and beat for another minute.
- Scrape down the sides of your bowl, then on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time. Then, turn up the speed to medium high and beat for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl again.
- Now, time to add in the oil. While running your mixer on medium-low, add the oil, one tablespoon at a time, waiting around 10 seconds between each addition. Then, beat the oil in for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed until you have a very fluffy mixture that's light in color.
- On low speed, slowly stream in the buttermilk, then turn up the speed and beat for another minute until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Then add these to your mixer and fold on low speed until the flour is almost fully combined. Use a flexible spatula to finish folding the batter by hand.
- Transfer the batter to your cake pans (use a measuring cup to divide evenly) and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are set. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.
- Chill the the cakes in the fridge or freezer for at least 1 hour before assembling to make it easier. You can pause here and keep them in the fridge/freezer overnight as well.
Tangy Vanilla Frosting
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together until they are combined (1-2 minutes).
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Start to gently combine them, then gradually increase your mixer speed.
- Add the heavy cream, one tbsp at a time, waiting 20 seconds between each. Beat the frosting on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes, or until its pale and fluffy.
Dulce de Leche Soak
- Heat ¼ cup milk with 1 tsp of dulce de leche until the dulce de leche is dissolved. Then let it cool down. You can prepare this ahead of time and store it in the fridge as well.
Assembling the Cake
- Trim the tops of the cake layers to even them out.
- Quickly heat remaining dulce de leche (anything in the can that you have not used yet) in a microwave safe bowl for 20-30 seconds to make it easier to spread, and then whisk it with 2-3 tbsp of milk to thin it out.
- Place the bottom layer on a board. Splash 1-2 tbsp of the dulce le leche soak evenly over the cake. Use as much or as little as you'd like. Then, add a layer of frosting followed by a layer of dulce de leche. Thin out your dulce de leche with some more milk if you're having problems spreading it.
- Place the second layer on top and repeat.
- Place the top layer of cake on and up to you whether you add the milk soak to this layer. I find it makes it harder to get an even frosted top so I usually skip. Apply a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. It helps if you place the cake into the fridge to chill.
- Then, apply a second, thicker layer of frosting around the cake.
- Spread more dulce de leche on top and let it drip down the sides. Garnish with some flaky sea salt if desired. Then enjoy!¾
Notes
- Cake flour substitute: replace the 2 cups of cake flour with 1 ¾ cups of flour mixed with ¼ cup of cornstarch.
- Prepare ahead of time: the cake layers can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge or freezer.
- I use store bought dulce de leche, which can be found in the baking aisle alongside the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milks.
I made this for my parent’s wedding anniversary. My mom has a thing for brown butter. I found the cream cheese icing to be too sweet but other then that this cake was a huge hit! They loved this one over the other I made that day and even raved about it. It also taught me a lot of new things with baking so, thank you!