At this time of year we are all so busy making the most of the summery weather and produce that baking can take a back seat – who wants to switch on the oven when it is so hot? Well, this unassuming looking cake is one that I love to make early in the morning before the day has had a chance to heat up – it is quick to come together and only takes 25 minutes in the oven. The creme fraiche keeps it moist and the nutty browned butter gives it a wonderful depth of flavour that is caramel like with the brown sugar.
Brilliant to take on a picnic or take to a barbecue. This is also a wonderful cake to have as a pudding too if you have people over – gently sauté some banana slices with a little butter and sugar (and perhaps a dash of orange juice or Cointreau) until caramelised and serve with a slice of the cake, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and perhaps a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
On another note; do you find that sometimes when you bake, your biscuits/cookies either brown too much or not enough even though you have followed instructions carefully? Blamed the recipe? Blamed the oven? Well, I came across this article on King Arthur Flour twitter feed – The Secret to Perfectly Browned Cookies. It’s all about the finish on your baking sheets and no, you don’t need to buy new ones; just adjust the timing once you have identified your sheets.
Well, I hope you are ready to party! I am co-hosting Fiesta Friday #24 today along with Indu @ Indu’s International Kitchen and Hilda @ Along the Grapevine. Indu has some truly amazing Keralan recipes as well as a host of healthily ones on her blog. Hilda lives on an idyllic 7 acre property, forages and documents her tasty results on her blog. Do pay them a visit and say hello!
If you would like to join, we would love to have you! Please do read the guidelines here, which are very simple. Well, let’s Fiesta!
Quick Brown Butter Cake with Cocoa Nibs
INGREDIENTS
- 55g unsalted butter
- 135g soft brown sugar
- 60 ml creme fraiche (or yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk)
- 60 ml milk
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 tsp vanlla
- 165g plain/AP flour
- ¾ tsp table salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3Tbsp cocoa nibs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F. Line the bottom of 9 or 10 inch non stick pan.
- Measure out the brown sugar into a large mixing bowl, rub out any lumps and set aside.
- Measure out the flour salt and baking powder into a medium sized bowl; give it a light whisk to aerate and combine and set aside.
- Get the rest of the ingredients to hand – not something I do normally but this cake comes together so quickly that it is best to do so.
- Over a medium low heat, melt the butter in a small stainless steel saucepan (the lighter colour of the pan means that you can see when the butter is brown). It will start by getting frothy and then really foam up. The butter starts to brown when it starts smelling nutty. Do not walk away from the pan at this stage; lift the pan off the heat and swirl to settle the foam and see what the colour of the butter is keep it over the heat but not on it while you are doing this.
- Pour it over the sugar, scraping in all the nutty brown sediment that will have settled at the bottom of the pan.
- Whisk with a handheld mixer until the sugar look like damp sand – about 2 minutes.
- Add the creme fraiche, the milk and the 2 eggs and whisk, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. The mixture will not thicken but it will be very liquid – make sure that it is well mixed about 2 or 3 minutes in total.
- Stir in the flour mixture and with a light hand, stir to combine – do not over mix.
- Gently stir in the cocoa nibs .
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until golden. Test by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer – it there is any batter clinging to it, pop the cake back in for another couple of minutes.
- Cool in the tin for 15 minutes then remove from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Lovely plain with a cuppa or served as a pudding with pan-fried bananas, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
Brown butter…. creme fraiche… all my favorites! Looks and sounds delicious :)
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Thanks so much – I love that nutty caramel flavour that you get from using brown butter.
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Selma! Selma! I am glad you are co-hosting again! :D
It is really crazy to turn the oven on while the sun is on it’s highest. I agree with you baking earlier in the morning. And this sounds really good, but I might need to replace the cacao nibs with the regular chocolate chips. Thanks for taking over (with Indu and Hilda) while Angie is away. I know you will have fun today. Happy FF#24! <3
xx Bubbles
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Hi Bubbles – hope all is well with you – I missed hosting with you! It’s been a really busy party with lots of lovely recipes this week – as usual! Happy FF to you too!
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Oh Selma the cake looks divine!! I will definitely be trying it out soon!😊
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Thanks Farianti – it’s so quick and easy…
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Oh Selma! delicious recipe!
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Thank you Simi :)
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Good looking cake!
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Thanks Mr Fitz! Does any baking go on in your house?
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Not really.. Dessert is usually ice cream or fruit or a piece of candy,
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The link about perfectly browned cookies doesn’t seem to be working.
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Anne, thank you for the heads up – I fixed the link now.
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I searched it out – very interesting post.
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It is, isn’t it? Did you read through the comments – lots of info there too. I guess the same goes for cake pans too…I have such a jumble of light and dark ones…
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Such an easy recipe Selma! So saving it for the days when I don’t want to bother myself with complications. It is almost like a chocolate chip cookie in a cake avatar :).
Sonal
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Hi Sonal – it does look like a giant chocolate chip cookie but is is really very soft and moist – not kookie like at all!
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I am absolutely adoring the addition of cocoa nibs x
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Thanks D – I bough a packet earlier in the year and it’s coming in quite useful…:)
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I love the look of this cake. Sounds delish!
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Thanks Hilda – it was very nice – not too sweet either.
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This would be a show stopper at any picnic. Brown butter with cocoa nibs is a fantastic concept. The cake looks moist, too! Mmmm
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Thanks Shanna – the brown butter just gives it another layer of nutty, buttery flavour – I found that it got even more moist the next day. Hope you are keeping well x
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Browned butter on everything!!!!! I love this cake. I love love love it. It looks so moist and summer dreamy…. Perfect!
I also found that King Arthur flour cookie post this week and thought it was genius! I’m glad you shared it here :)
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Thanks! There was a real trend last year for browned butter but it’s just so delicious in baked goods and over fish too!! That KAF cookie sheet post was such an eye opener – and I have such a jumble of sheets and tins too…
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I can’t wait to try this cake. It sounds amazing. Perfect for summer entertaining. My cat loves it when I cook with creme fraiche. Emma.
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Emma, that is so cute! Your cat that is! Yes, this is a great little summer cake – quick, easy and delicious!
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Thanks so much for co-hosting this week. Lovely recipe, my mouth is watering already! Happy Fiesta Friday! :)
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It’s been a pleasure co hosting this week – lots of lovely recipes and stories too. Thanks for taking part!
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Selma, now I know what to do with these cacao nibs my husband bought. I really like the ideas you gave also for making it into a sort of “pudding.” Many thanks, too, for co-hosting today!
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Cacao nibs are quite bitter but I like that in chocolate. My pleasure to host – it’s been a busy party this week…
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looks yummy Selma
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Thanks Tanveer – let me know if you make it x
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I love cakes with brown butter! This one must taste so good, Selma! Thanks for sharing :)
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My pleasure Naina!
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You had me at brown butter! How lovely and easy too!! Great addition to the FF party :)
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Thanks Anjana! Brown butter is just so lovely in baked goods!
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Wow, three things I really like are cocoa nibs, creme fraiche, and of course, browned butter!
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Thanks Dave – it’s such an easy bake too.
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Selma – I will try your method for beurre noisette. Usually, it is very hit and miss with me as as I always seem to get it either too strong or too blueh! And this recipe is another excuse to get some more Willie’s Cacao out of the larder! :-)
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Mac, the secret is not to walk away from it and get on with something else, something that I am all too often guilty of!
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Thanks Selma. I’ll give it a try when my sous chef is away then. Just lost some sugar syrup as I heard a lot of miaows as I discovered Rachel spraying Rat the Cat with water because she was too hot! Mac
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Looks absolutely delicious! And I would love mine with the sautéed bananas please. ;) When I was new to baking and discovering new ingredients, I went looking for brown butter in the supermarket- no wonder I didn’t find it anywhere. :p
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Aditi, that really made me smile. So sweet! But imagine if it was actually available – that would be fabulous! Now, here is your portion with the sautéed bananas…
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Another winner Selma – and love the ideas of how to serve your cake. It all looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing your tips on baking too. Have fun co-hosting and thanks for doing it. Not quite sure what the “you’re next” button is all about?
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Thanks Loretta – loved your lilies this week by the way! If you are talking about the button on Angie’s post, it used to really confuse me too!
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What that does mean though? It’s the last button posted along with all the other posts. It says “You’re Next”. Not sure what it means, and I’ve never clicked on it either.
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I think that the “you’re next” box is just showing what position you will be in the overall scheme of things. Loretta, I am so sorry for the late reply – I’ve been so busy that I have not even been able to reply to all the comments from 2 weeks ago nor did I post anything last week – eek!! it’s been really hot here as well and I have zero energy at the moment – urgh!!
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It looks and I’m sure it tasted marvelous, Selma! :P
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Thanks Fae – so easy to make. Your multicoloured jellies are amazing!
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Pingback: Fiesta Friday #24 | The Novice Gardener
its just adorable, perfect and simple this is….brown butter mmmmmmmmmm jsut feel like digging this.
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Please, do help yourself! Glad you like it!
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What are cocoa nibs, Selma? I’m having a great time checking out the recipes on Fiesta Fridays.
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How did I miss your blog all these days? You have amazing recipes posted in here :)
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Can’t pass by without saying g’day, Selma ! – but I do hate you, you know … [grin]
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You have the most innovative cake recipes, Selma! Browned butter and cocoa nibs! I love. your ideas for serving too, makes me drool.
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Looks like a delicious cake Selma, thanks for sharing a great recipe :-)
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Your cake looks superb Selma and thanks for co-hosting FF :)
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It looks amazing, perfectly browned and lovely ☺️☺️
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You have a very popular blog!
This looks lovely!
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The cake looks delicious and perfect with a glass of milk. I think I could skip dinner and go directly for the dessert with a lovely cake like this, Selma. Have a lovely weekend! :)
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Brown butter, cocoa nibs, cake, yes please. Looks delicious!! There is so much delicious food at this weeks fiesta, amazing.
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Lovely to be co-hosting with you and Indu this week. Fiesta Friday has become such a popular event and keeping up with all the delicious recipes, including your cake of course, is quite a challenge, but well worth the effort, don’t you think?
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Wow gorgeous cake!! I loved it.. I am mot that good at baking..😔! Its my dream to bake a yummy cake !! I think i should take advice from you all ,my wonderful baking friends😊., need to try this some day soon..
Happy FF❤❤
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Selma…..this sounds soooooo wonderful! The flavors….yum!!!
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What a lovely cake. Love the combination of ingredients. Superb!
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Looks delicious – I use cocoa nibs in my cannolis :)
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Oooh, this cake sounds great! :D and that ingredient combo – yummy!
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Oh Selma, your post makes me miss baking cake!!!! I have not baked a cake for awhile now that it’s Summer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t crave it. You are so right to bake it first thing in the morning, and enjoy it all day long afterwards. <3 <3 <3
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This sounds wonderful Selma and love the fact that it cooks in just 25mins! I’ve not used cocoa nibs before… do they give they chocolatey taste, without being quite so sweet? I’ll have to look out for them…
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Wow it looks delicious.. Never tried with Chocolate nibs.. Thanks for the idea will try soon:)
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Selma, Simply delicious and such a comforting cake- one that I would love to bake and eat any day, whether its hot or not! Loved that you added cocoa nibs too. And your suggestion of serving it as a pudding most agrees with me! Love a sticky pudding cake anyway! Lovely! :)
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Your cake looks so rich and moist Selma. Joining a bit late but couldn’t miss the party. :)
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This is my kind of cake, Selma! Problem is… is that I will probably make it, and it will be one of thise things that I grab a sliver every time I walk by!! Its a perfect recipe! Thank you so much for hosting this week! You are truly a lovely host! <3
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Anytime I go to the small flour and seed shop just behind my house I always stop admiring cocoa nibs… they have tempted me several times since I didn’t have the recipe to use for. Your cake looks so yummy and texture looks very moist… I’m sure next time I will come back home with a small bag of cocoa nibs… Thanks a lot Selma!
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Ooo yummie. That cakes looks like it is right up my alley. Lovely post Selma!
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sounds amazing! I’ve never baked with brown butter, but I do love eating things made with it!
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Wow, such a very tempting cake!
Thanks for co-hosting Selma. Happy Fiesta Friday! =)
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Sorry for the ridiculously late reply Nino – thank you so much for your kind comment – I look forward to seeing what you bring next week!
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