PANCAKES IN ANOTHER FORM! BROWN BUTTER MAPLE CAKE WITH BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

BROWN BUTTER MAPLE CAKE WITH BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

Sunday means breakfast: a stack of pancakes brimming with blueberries and swimming in syrup.

Sunday means brunch: elegant mimosas in long stemmed flute.

Sunday means BBQ, or a  barbeque: the one a Southern treat, and the other a hot dog and hamburger staple of American life.

Whatever your Sunday looks like, this cake brings it all together.  Brown butter and maple syrup make a batter that tastes a lot like pancakes.  And the sweet blueberry compote has a hint of mimosa elegance from a dash  of balsamic vinegar.  The single layer cake looks elegant but is easy to make. Just what’s needed for a Sunday afternoon barbecue, whatever you are serving!

Start with the cake.

Brown some butter in a medium saucepan.  Let it melt over low heat then increase the heat slightly until it bubbles and foams up.  Watch out!  It may spit a bit as the milk solids start to brown.  Stir it often until it is a golden brown and smells nutty.  Keep a close eye on it, it can go from golden to burnt in seconds.

It is the milk solids in butter that brown, not the fat. Watch the solids closely. They can go from golden to burned in seconds

Put the browned butter in the bowl of your mixer along with the brown sugar and mix it up really well. At least a minute!  Add the eggs, syrup and vanilla beat it some more.  (A lot more.  You know the drill.) It will look creamy and lighten in color.

Beath the batter for at least five minutes before adding the flour and buttermilk

Stir in the flour and the buttermilk in turns.

The batter will be thick. Spread it evenly in the pan before baking

Then bake the cake.

You can do this a day or more ahead.  I baked mine and froze it for three days until I needed it.

Make the blueberry compote.

The blueberry compote will need to cool so go ahead and make it while the cake is baking.

Blueberries and water in a pan.  Cook  until they start to breakdown and are bubbling.  Then add the sugar and cornstarch mixture.  Cook it until it is thickened. Add a little more water if it is overly thick.  It should look glossy and fresh.  Finally add some salt and balsamic vinegar.  Let it cool in a bowl on the countertop or store in the refrigerator until needed.

The blueberry sauce should be thick enough to hold it’s shape but not too much so!

Make the icing.

This is a simple buttercream.  If you would like something a little more tart use ¼ cup of butter and  ¼  cup of cream cheese. Put everything in the bowl and beat it until it is white and shiny.

As you continue to whip the buttercream it will get whiter in color

Finally make a simple soak of milk and maple syrup.

And you are ready to put the cake together.

Poke a few holes in the top of the cake and then brush the soak over the top.

Icing the cake comes next.  This is your choice.  You can spread the icing on top and then pile the blueberries in the center.  Or you can pipe a nice circle around the edge of the top and put the berries in the center.

I don’t like an overly sweet cake so I piped the icing around the rim of the cake

Finally garnish it with a sprig of fresh herb: mint, basil or thyme are all good choices.  I had some purple basil from my garden which I used.

I thought the purple basil looked so dramatic but you can use other herbs for the garnish to get a greener, lighter look

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BROWN BUTTER MAPLE CAKE WITH BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• ½ c butter
• 1 ¼ c cake flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ c brown sugar
• ¼ c maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¾ c buttermilk

FOR THE BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

• 3 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 1 ½ c blueberries
• 1 ½ tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
• 4 tbsp water

FOR THE CAKE SOAK

• 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp maple syrup

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• ½ c butter
• 2 ½ c powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp milk
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

MAKE THE CAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8” cake pan with baking spray.
2. Cut the butter into eight pieces and melt in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once the butter is melted, increase the heat slightly until the butter begins to bubble and foam up. Stir frequently until the butter is golden brown. Watch it closely as it will go from brown to burnt in seconds.
3. Put the brown butter in the bowl of your mixer and add the brown sugar. Beat together for one minute. Add the eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat together for 3-5 minutes until it is lighter in color and creamy.
4. In a small bowl stir together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture, stirring to combine. When just mixed, stir in half of the buttermilk. Mix and add half of the remaining flour. Mix again and add the rest of the buttermilk followed by the remaining flour.
6. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure it is all mixed in and spread in the prepared cake pan.
7. Bake 35-37 minutes until it is pulling away from the sides of the pan and a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Cool for fifteen minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

MAKE THE BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

1. Place the blueberries and lemon juice in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat. Cook, stirring and crushing a few of the berries until it is juicy and simmering.
2. Mix together the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt then add them to the berries. Stir it until it has thickened. If it looks too thick, add a little water. Remove from the heat and add the balsamic vinegar.
3. Cool completely.

MAKE THE CAKE SOAK

1. In a small bowl stir together the milk and maple syrup until they are blended.
2. MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
3. Beat the butter in the bowl of your mixer on medium high for 1-2 minutes until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. Add the sugar, maple syrup, milk, and salt. Pulse the mixture two or three times on low until the sugar is mixed in, then increase the speed to high and beat for 5 minutes, stopping once or twice to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until the mixture is very light and fluffy.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE

1. Poke some holes in the top of the cake and brush the top all over with the maple soak.
2. Pipe a ring of icing around the outer rim of the cake.
3. Pile the blueberry compote in the center of the cake.
4. Garnish with fresh thyme, mint or basil (optional)

Recipe Notes

Notes

The cake can be baked a few days ahead and frozen. Let it thaw on the counter for hour before icing it.
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can frost the top of the cake and place the blueberries on top of the icing in the center of the cake.

If you want a less sweet icing, replace 1/4 c of the butter with 1/4 c of cream cheese.