brown butter cake + cookie dough frosting

There are many things I am thankful for, but I think it's safe to say that family is the thing I am most thankful for. Growing up in our house was loud and silly, and as my sisters and I have gotten older I couldn't be more happy at how close the 5 of us remain. As adults we can still enjoy time with our parents and I count that one of my life's greatest blessings.

I've sorta grown into being the cake baker for celebrations in our family, and I think it suits me. Nothing makes me more fulfilled than filling bellies with cake! 

This past weekend was my middle sister's birthday. She's not a huge fan of chocolate or things that are too sweet, so this cake was perfect. It's dense and buttery with a frosting that tastes exactly like cookie dough. At one point over the weekend she even announced that this was her favorite cake of all time. 

Happy birthday, Chels. Love you more than I could possible write in a blog post.

**The cake recipe makes 2 round cakes. If you decide to use both cakes and want to frost the whole cake, I would triple the frosting recipe. I only used one, and the frosting recipe below was only enough to cover the top.

Brown Butter Cake with Cookie Dough Frosting

recipe from here

For the Cake

Vanilla bean pod, seed scraped out
12 oz unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 whole eggs + 4 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk

Brown your butter, and pour it into a bowl. Refrigerate for an hour or until solidified. (I followed the directions from here)

Preheat your oven 350 degrees, and grease/flour two round cake pans.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the brown butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In alternate batches, add in the flour mixture and the milk. 

Pour the batter into prepared pans, and bake for 30 - 40 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the Cookie Dough

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add in water and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in the flour and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough while you make the frosting.

For the Frosting

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla until creamy. Slowly add in the milk. 

Pull the dough from the fridge, and add to the frosting mixture. Pile it all on top of your cooled cake.