The Cake You NEED in Your Life

You had me at Brown Butter Frosting 🍰🧁

Friends, get excited, because you’re gonna wanna bookmark this post for later.

Let me start by saying I consider myself more of a savory cook than a baker for the simple reasons that I’m:

a) not very good at following directions
b) slightly dyslexic with my numbers and I get all those 1/2s, 1/3s, and 1/4s confused
c) not very patient (so waiting for something to cool is nearly impossible.)

However, this past Easter Sunday, I had a BREAKTHROUGH. Not a religious one, mind you (I think that ship has sailed). A CULINARY BREAKTHROUGH.

Having never made a cake before, I did what Big Cats do and boldly decided to take an unproven recipe to a party. Risky, I know.

But fortune favors the bold. And my hunch that this would be a hit at the party was 100% true since my devotion to brown butter hasn’t failed me yet.

Today, I’m sharing the recipe for Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting (Lori’s Version), via Female Foodie, incorporating some minor tweaks I made because see above about not following directions.

Added Peeps bc it was Easter! Also because my frosting skills need work 😅

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Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Serves 8-10

Ingredients 

Olive Oil Cake

• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil¹

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 1/4 cups whole milk

• zest and juice of 1 large lemon

• zest of 1 medium or large orange²

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Brown Butter Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)³

• 3.5 cups powdered sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice⁴

• 2 pinches of kosher salt

• 2-3 Tablespoons whole milk or half and half, plus more as needed

Directions

Olive Oil Cake

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously grease a 9-inch springform pan on the bottom and sides. Line the bottom of the pan with a 9-inch round of parchment paper and grease again. Set aside.

• In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, combine the olive oil and eggs until smooth. Add the milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange zest, and sugar and combine again until smooth.

• Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the olive oil mixture all at once, and combine, still with your whisk attachment, until ingredients are just barely incorporated. Do not overmix. Remove bowl from stand mixer and use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and make sure all ingredients are incorporated.

• Place the springform pan directly on a cookie sheet, pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake in the oven for 70-80 minutes (note: mine was done about 65 minutes, so set your timer on the shorter side and check then.) The cake will be done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. If the toothpick is wet in the center, continue baking for 5-minute increments until done. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
  

Brown Butter Frosting

• Warm a medium-sized saucepan to medium heat and add butter. Once the butter has completely melted, allow it to brown, stirring frequently and gently scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula. The butter will foam and sizzle as brown specks appear on the bottom of the pan.** When the aroma of the pan is nutty and the bottom of the pan is a toasty-brown color remove from heat and let cool completely.

• Once the butter is completely cooled, beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer; first on low speed, then increasing as the two ingredients become incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, salt, and milk, and continue to beat until smooth. If the frosting is still too thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.

Assembly

• Once the cake is completely cooled and the frosting is made, assemble your cake. Use a butter knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the springform pan if needed. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake and place on a cake stand.

• Frost the sides and top of the cake with a thin layer of frosting using an icing spatula. Set in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to allow the base coat or "crumb coat" to set. Take out of the fridge and add remaining frosting, gently scraping the side of the cake with a bench scraper or cake scraper for a clean edge. Using the edge of your icing spatula, create a simple swirl on the top of the cake by gently pressing the spatula into the frosting while turning the cake in a circular motion, moving the spatula from the edge of the cake, slowly toward the center as the cake rotates. This is most easily done with a cake turntable but can be done on a cake stand too.

THEN SERVE AND LET THE COMPLIMENTS ROLL IN!

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1. Ina Garten’s voice always echoes in my head when I read “GOOD OLIVE OIL” and makes me paranoid that my Kirkland-brand bottle doesn’t meet the criteria. But really, if it’s EVOO and not expired you’re fine. It’s just like, kinda the main ingredient, so better quality is preferable. But don’t stress about it.

2. Fun fact: I’m allergic to oranges, so I just doubled down on the lemon zest and thought it was amazing. 🍊

3. I used European unsalted butter from Central Market which has a higher butterfat content. If you have the option I’d go for it.

4. You could omit this, but I found the frosting flavor unbalanced without some acid. And this reinforced the lemon flavor in the cake, which I loved!