Brown butter chocolate chip cake with bourbon caramel frosting

The same thing happens every year, I forget my blog birthday. Poor Call me cupcake. So neglected. So last week was Call me cupcake's 6th birthday. SIX YEARS of blogging. That's a long time! And it's still just as fun. Six years calls for cake.

To be honest I struggled to come up with something to bake, which is usually never a problem for me. Often I have too many ideas floating around in my head, but I've been lacking inspiration lately, and most of all I've been procrastinating everything. And I mean everything.
Anyway, I started thinking of brown butter. I really like brown butter. Why not bake something with it? Ok, I'll bake something with it. That's pretty much how it went down in my head. Because who can sit around and wait for inspiration? I know I can't. I just have to make something and hope it turns out well. And it turned out really, really well I think.
So here's to Call me cupcake and all you lovely people who have followed along on this journey, I hope we get to spend many more years together in this little space I decided to create six years ago.

BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
WITH BOURBON CARAMEL FROSTING


INGREDIENTS
BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
Recipe adapted from Raspberri cupcakes

Remember that the brown butter needs to be prepared ahead of time as it takes some time for it to solidify!

300 g unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups (360 g) all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (240 ml) milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (330 g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
150 g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (I used 75 g milk chocolate and 75 g dark chocolate)

BOURBON CARAMEL
2/3 cup (150 ml) heavy cream
1 cup (225 g) granulated sugar
1 scant stick (100 g) cold butter, in cubes
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
2 tbsp bourbon (can be omitted)

BOURBON CARAMEL FROSTING
4 large egg whites (approximately 150 g)
3/4 cups 1 1/2 tbsp (180 g) granulated sugar
2 sticks 2 tbsp (250 g) butter, at roomtemperature, cut in cubes
1/2 cup bourbon caramel (recipe above)

TOPPING
Apricots
Peaches
Cherries


INSTRUCTIONS
BROWN BUTTER
1. Place butter in a small saucepan on medium heat and stir until it melts completely.
2. Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the milk solids turn brown and the butter smells nutty, about 5-10 minuter longer. Take care not to burn (it will continue to brown even after you remove it from the heat, so take it off early).
3. Scrape the melted butter and browned bits into a small bowl and chill until almost solidified but still soft enough to be beaten with an electric mixer (about 20-30 minutes in the freezer, an hour or so in the fridge).


BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
1. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and flour three 15 cm (6 inch) cake pans.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside. Mix milk and vanilla in a measuring jug, set aside.
3. Beat browned butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Alternately add flour mix and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and stir until blended.
6. Pour equal amounts of mixture into prepared tins and bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the outside is golden, about 34-37 minutes. Make sure not to over bake (or the cake will be very dry) so start checking after 30 minutes.
7. Let the cakes cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then carefully turn them out on to a wire rack to cool completely.


BOURBON CARAMEL
1. Gently heat the cream in a small saucepan. Set aside.
2. Put the sugar in another saucepan and heat on medium high until the sugar starts melting around the edges. Carefully swirl the sugar with a heatproof spoon until all the sugar has melted. If you’re using a baking thermometer, the sugar should be about 338°F (170°C).
3. Add the butter, piece by piece, and stir until melted. Carefully add the warm cream (it will bubble up!) little by little and stir until smooth.
4. Pour caramel into a jar and let cool 10 minutes before adding salt and bourbon. Leave the caramel to cool to room temperature while you make the frosting.


BOURBON CARAMEL FROSTING
1. Pour egg whites and sugar in a clean and heatproof bowl (preferably stainless steel or glass). Put the bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. The bowl should fit snugly, and the water should not be touching the bowl.
2. Whisk the sugar and eggs with a whisk constantly until the mixture reaches about 65°C (about 140-150°F). If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, just rub some mixture between your fingers. If the sugar has melted and mixture is hot to the touch, it's ready.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat, beat until white, fluffy and cool with a stand- or electric mixer. This step can take about 5-10 minutes.
4. When the bowl feels cool to the touch, start adding the butter, piece by piece. Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled and soupy just keep beating until smooth! Add the caramel and beat until completely smooth.


ASSEMBLY
1. If cakes are rounded on top, even out with a knife. Cut all three cake layers in half using a sharp serrated knife (you'll end up with six thinner layers). Put the first layer on a cake board or a cake stand. Drizzle a couple of teaspoons of caramel on top of the layer. Spread frosting on the first layer. Add the next layer and repeat until you've used up all six layers
2. Spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake (this is the crumb coating layer, to hold all the crumbs in place) using an offset spatula. Put the cake in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until the crumb coating layer has firmed up a bit (leave the bowl of frosting in room temperature).
3. Spread the remaining frosting all over the cake until cake is smooth. For a totally even and smooth surface, dip an offset spatula in warm water and dry it between every pass. Works like a charm!
4. Decorate the cake with halved apricots and slices of peach, cherries and pour some extra caramel over the cake (just make sure it's cold enough or the buttercream will melt). Serve each cake slice with extra peach slices (this cake is absolute heaven paired with peach!) and caramel sauce.