Crunchy Creamy Sweet: Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Friday, April 13, 2012

Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Before each family event or a holiday, I spend a lot of time planning the meal. I want everything to be special, yet not too time-consuming.

When it comes to a dessert, the pressure is greater.

I always look for something I haven't made before. Be it a new recipe or a new way to decorate.

I want a show-stopper... a jaw-dropper... a give-me-a-slice-right-now! look. :)

My Hubby gave me all of these when I presented him this cake.

Mission: accomplished!

Few notes about the cake:

The original recipe from Cook's Country calls for cake flour to achieve a velvety texture.
I used AP flour simply because I didn't have the cake flour. I usually don't.
To substitute AP flour for the cake flour, simply subtract 2 Tbsp of flour per cup. For example: I needed 3 cups of cake flour, so I measured out 3 cups of all-purpose flour and took away 6 Tbsp from it.
I decreased the sugar amount because of the addition of the frosting.
I left the amount of butter called for because it was a holiday cake after all. :)
The cake is dense. You can definitely taste the cream cheese in it.
It's not overly sweet. You can pair it with a fruit compote, like the magazine suggested.
One word to sum it up:
SCRUMPTIOUS!

Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

2,5 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
1/4 c milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 c granulated sugar
3 sticks butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese, softened

Grease and flour your Bundt pan. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients ( flour and salt ). Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks, milk and vanilla.Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese for about 1 minute. Slowly add the sugar.
Beat for 3 minutes until fluffy.
Slowly add the egg mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread evenly.
Bake 90 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I suggest rotating the pan after the 45th minute.
Cool the cake in the pan for few minutes. My cake started to pull from the sides while cooling so I ran a toothpick around the top edge so it won't rip as much. Cool additional 10 minutes.
Invert the cake onto a wire rack or straight onto your serving plate.
Cool completely before frosting.

source: Cook's Country April/May 2012 Issue

Few notes about the frosting:

It's nothing you tasted before. Seriously! It's amazingly delicious - but be warned, it is addicting! YUM!
So make it.
For me.
Pretty please? :)
Yes, I know: "the physical appearance of the "please" makes no difference..." I dare you to guess what movie this sentence comes from! lol :) ).

Brown butter frosting

1 stick unsalted butter
2,5 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 - 4 Tbsp milk

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, 6 - 10 minutes, until it's brown and has nutty fragrance.
One way to know when your butter is almost done, is to wait until it stops sizzling in the pan. If you don't hear it, that means that the butter will start browning and at this point you want to keep a close eye on it. It will brown fast.
Pour it into a heat proof bowl, add sugar and vanilla. Stir until smooth. It should be quite thick, but for this cake we want it to be a drizzling consistency so we can pour it onto the cake. So add the milk and stir again, until it reaches the drizzling consistency. Pour over the cooled cake. Refrigerate immediately so the frosting will set.