Learn to make richly flavored brown butter cream cheese frosting with this simple recipe. This creamy frosting tastes unbelievable on banana cake, pumpkin cake, spice cake, zucchini cake, and a lot extra. You solely want 5 elements, however make sure you permit time for the browned butter to re-solidify within the fridge.
How do you make silky, creamy, tangy cream cheese frosting even higher? By including essentially the most magical ingredient of all—brown butter.
I first shared this frosting on my zucchini cake and banana layer cake, and readers went wild for it. With a lot love and reward, it solely felt proper to present this fan-favorite its very personal highlight. It greater than deserves it!
Listed below are just some of the numerous, many critiques:
One reader, Sarah, commented: “That is only a touch upon the brown butter cream cheese frosting (which I used with a distinct cake recipe)—it’s THE BEST FROSTING I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. No exaggeration. The nuttiness, the tang, the vanilla, the just-right-sweetness, ohmygoodness. It’s actually excellent.★★★★★“
One other reader, Mary, commented: “I now wish to use brown butter frosting for any cake that requires cream cheese frosting… SO GOOD!!! ★★★★★“
One other reader, Peter, commented: “I’ll actually by no means make cream cheese frosting every other means ever once more. Even my buddies who don’t like cream cheese liked it. ★★★★★“
One other reader, Eva, commented: “Wow! I’m not an enormous fan of frosting. Most of it’s too candy for me… This one, nevertheless, is superb—the mixture of candy, salty, and umami made it exhausting to cease licking the bowl. ★★★★★“
It’s simple to see why this frosting is so common. You may have the entire tangy creaminess of already-pretty-perfect cream cheese frosting, plus the delicately nutty, toffee-caramelized taste from brown butter on high of it.
I don’t overload the frosting with sugar, both—simply sufficient to bulk it up with out masking the brown butter taste. Right here’s every part you must make it:
Easy methods to Make Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
It’s easy to make, however you do want to permit time for the browned butter to re-solidify within the fridge. You may brown the butter first, earlier than you even make your cake, or do it whereas the cake is baking or cooling.
Browning butter takes lower than 10 minutes, and I’ve a complete tutorial on easy methods to brown butter if you happen to want some further assist.
After you brown the butter on the range, refrigerate it till it’s re-solidified:
Then beat the solidified brown butter with softened (room-temperature) cream cheese to make the bottom of the frosting. Lastly, add within the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt, and beat the frosting till it’s clean and creamy.
Simply have a look at all these beautiful specks of pure FLAVOR!
Success Tip: Use the Proper Cream Cheese
Your brown butter cream cheese frosting will likely be skinny and runny if you happen to’re not cautious about the kind of cream cheese you utilize. Be sure to use an 8-ounce (226g) brick of full-fat cream cheese, not reduced-fat or “gentle” cream cheese, and never the cream cheese unfold that is available in a bathtub. Save the cream cheese unfold for topping your bagels.
The #1 cause bakers find yourself with runny frosting is as a result of they’re unintentionally utilizing cream cheese unfold as an alternative of a brick. There’s a HUGE distinction! For the most effective, thickest, and most profitable frosting, use the bricks of actual, full-fat cream cheese.
Additionally, ensure that the cream cheese sits out at room temperature for a short time earlier than you want it. In case your cream cheese is simply too chilly once you start beating it, you’ll find yourself with a lot of tiny lumps of cream cheese in your frosting. You don’t need these in your cheesecake, and also you don’t need them in your frosting, both!
Can Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting Be Piped?
Cream cheese frosting, together with this brown butter cream cheese frosting, will be difficult to pipe as a result of it’s so creamy and mushy. Nonetheless, if you happen to refrigerate it previous to piping, it ought to maintain form higher. Suit your piping bag with a piping tip, fill your bag with the frosting, then refrigerate it for 20–half-hour earlier than piping.
Nonetheless, don’t count on it to be as sturdy as buttercream. Give it some thought: cream cheese proper out of the fridge is far softer to the contact than chilly butter is! So save any intricate piped designs for vanilla buttercream, and keep on with a fundamental spherical tip for piping cream cheese frosting.
How A lot Frosting Does This Make?
The quantity within the recipe card under makes sufficient to frost 1 / 4 sheet cake (9×13-inch pan), a batch of 12 cupcakes, OR a skinny coating on a 2-layer cake. When you want sufficient frosting for a 3-layer cake, see recipe Observe under.
Attempt This Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting on:
Description
Learn to make richly flavored brown butter cream cheese frosting with this simple recipe. This creamy frosting tastes unbelievable on banana cake, pumpkin cake, spice cake, zucchini cake, and a lot extra. You solely want 5 elements, however make sure you permit time for the browned butter to re-solidify within the fridge. When you want sufficient to frost a layer cake, see recipe Notes under.
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, lower into 4 slices
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 cups (300g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Brown the butter: Set out a medium heatproof bowl or glass liquid measuring cup since you’ll want it on the finish of this step. Place the sliced butter in a light-colored skillet or saucepan. A lightweight-colored inside means that you can decide when the butter begins to brown. Soften the butter over medium warmth, stirring or whisking always. As soon as melted, the butter will start to foam. Proceed stirring/whisking, conserving a detailed eye on it. After about 5–7 minutes, the butter will start browning and also you’ll discover calmly browned specks forming on the backside of the pan. The butter can have a nutty aroma. The colour will steadily deepen, from yellow to golden to golden-brown; as soon as it’s a lightweight caramel-brown coloration, instantly take away from warmth and pour into the bowl; make sure you scrape out and embrace the brown solids which have fashioned on the underside of the pan. Cool for 10 minutes at room temperature, then switch to the fridge to chill fully and solidify.
- Make the frosting: In a big bowl utilizing a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the solidified brown butter on excessive velocity till creamy and clean, about 1 minute. Add the cream cheese and beat once more till clean and mixed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the edges and backside of the bowl as wanted. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low velocity for 30 seconds, then steadily improve to excessive velocity and beat for two minutes.
- Unfold the frosting on cooled cake or cupcakes. When you plan to pipe the frosting, switch it to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip and refrigerate it for 20–half-hour earlier than piping.
- Cowl leftover frosting tightly and retailer within the fridge for as much as 1 week.
Notes
- Make Forward Directions: You may brown the butter as much as 3 days prematurely and retailer it within the fridge till you might be able to make the frosting.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Mild-Coloured Skillet or Stainless Metal Skillet | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Quantity: This recipe makes sufficient to frost 1 / 4 sheet cake (9×13-inch pan), a batch of 12 cupcakes, OR a skinny coating on a 2-layer cake. When you want sufficient frosting for a 3-layer spherical cake, improve the ingredient quantities to the next and observe the identical directions: 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature, 12 ounces (339g) full-fat brick cream cheese softened to room temperature, 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Brown Butter: For extra info and troubleshooting, see this publish on easy methods to brown butter.