Brown Butter Vanilla Dulce de Leche Cake
Servings 8
This is the ultimate rich and gooey layer cake! Brown butter vanilla sponge that's soaked with dulce de leche milk. Then layered with tangy vanilla frosting and dulche de leche. Great for any occasion!
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.
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