Brown Butter Bundt Cake w/ Toasted White Chocolate Ganache
Updated: Mar 27, 2020
A recipe for mini bundt cakes have been in the works for quite some time now. I bought this cute mini bundt pan from a Williams Sonoma outlet and was super excited to use it even though I am not much of a baker. I made a long list of different flavors that I had come up with as potential candidates for *the* recipe but none of them were screaming winner to me. Until one day, it hit me...I wanted something warm, rich and nutty, slightly toasty and just decadent for this winter weather, which brought me to BROWN BUTTER BUNDT CAKE WITH TOASTED WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE!!!
I know I know, it's a mouth full but damnit this cake is SO good. It is exactly what I was expecting when I concocted this combination in my mind. If you've visited Starbucks during the holiday season, you may have seen their toasted white chocolate mocha. Forget pumpkin spice and peppermint - toasted white chocolate is the real MVP here! I'm usually not even a fan of white chocolate, but toasted white chocolate is next level. It's nutty and rich which compliments the notes of brown butter really well. Believe me when I say your kitchen will smell heavenly as soon as you start this recipe!
Toasting the white chocolate is a bit of a process, it's easy but does take some time. You can prepare this the night before if you want to save some time. The brown butter can also be made ahead and stored in the fridge until ready for use. Anyway, without further ado, I bring you - Brown Butter Bundt Cake w/ Toasted White Chocolate Ganache! You guy are really gonna love this one, I promise!
Brown Butter Bundt Cake w/
Toasted White Chocolate Ganache
Yields: 8 mini bundt cakes or 1 regular bundt cake
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) + 1 tbsp (for greasing)
200g granulated sugar (approx. 1 cup)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
210g unbleached AP flour (approx. 1 3/4 cups)
For the ganache:
6 oz baking white chocolate, bar or wafers - not chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions:
Toasting the chocolate:
1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Break up chocolate bar and place on baking sheet in even layer. Toast for 8-10 minutes and remove from oven to mix around. Repeat this step 4-5 times, it will take approximately 40-50 minutes. The chocolate will turn a golden caramel color. Remove from oven and scrape onto parchment paper, place in refrigerator to cool until solid. Keep in fridge until ready to make ganache.
For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare your bundt pan by spreading a generous amount of butter to grease it.
2. Make the brown butter: Cut the sticks of butter into even pieces so they melt evenly. In a light colored pan (so that you can see the butter brown), melt butter on medium heat. Keep stirring frequently so that it cooks evenly and to prevent burning. Once butter is melted, it will come to a boil. It will bubble as the water burns out. Once the bubbling starts to subside, the butter will turn clear and foamy and brown bits will start to form on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring as the butter starts to brown, it will have a nutty aroma. This should take around 12 minutes total. Remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl of browned butter in the fridge immediately to stop cooking and so it can solidify. ( I will have a video of this in my highlights on my Instagram page - apparently I forgot to take pictures during this time).
3. Remove butter from fridge after 20-30 minutes until is soft/room temperature texture (mine was still soft when I took it out so I did not have to wait for it to soften).
4. In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a cake mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Beat on high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing in between and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Then add in vanilla, salt, and baking powder - continue mixing.
5. Lastly, add in flour and mix until everything in incorporated. Do not over-mix.
6. Spoon cake mixture into bundt pan. If you're using a mini-bundt pan like me then fill them up 2/3 of the way. It should be fine with a regular pan. Spread mixture evenly and place in oven to bake for 22-25 minutes for mini-size bundt cakes or 35-40 minutes for a regular cake.
7. While the cake is baking, make the ganache: Remove toasted white chocolate from fridge and break into pieces, place in a glass bowl. In a small saucepan, on medium, heat the heavy whipping cream until hot, just starting to steam - do NOT boil. Pour hot cream over white chocolate and wait 1-2 minutes. Whisk until smooth and set aside.
8. When cake is done baking, remove from oven. Poke with a toothpick, if it comes out clean it is done. If not then pop back in the oven for a few more minutes, it should be golden brown. Once cake is done, place on a cooling rack to bring to room temperature. Pour ganache over the cake(s). Serve warm or even with a scoop of ice cream if you really want to indulge!
Did you make this recipe? Please tag me @thecurriedcook or #thecurriedcook or both so I can see your recreation!
