Ladies and gentlemen: I have a new obsession… brown butter. Yes, not burnt, but brown butter. All thanks to Jessica of Life’s Simple Measures and Secret Recipe Club. Brown butter is surprisingly easy to make considering how much extra flavor it adds to anything you put it on. It is basically a cooking process that requires toasting the milk solids in butter so that it turns a rich, nutty brown color. This frosting is the star of the show – it literally takes the cake!
I am so happy that I had the opportunity to make this cake. Jessica has tons of amazing recipes on her blog so once again, I had a hard time choosing only one recipe to replicate. I’ve been on a little bit of a dessert kick lately so I thought I’d carry that out a little longer… I’m not overweight yet! I started drooling over her Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Frosting but I have a great banana bread recipe from my mama that I didn’t want to mess. I decided to make the cake from her Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting but swap the frosting for the brown butter version that was on the bars. Ooooooh am I glad I did! I actually only made half of the frosting needed but it was just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the cake. 
It’s definitely more of a cake than banana bread but don’t worry it still qualifies as a breakfast treat in my mind. Another thing to be prepared for is this recipe yields a lot of cake. Not like that’s a problem in my house… but I just thought I’d throw that fact out there. You will have to keep it stored in the fridge because of the ingredients but the cold causes the frosting to harden up. I popped a big old piece in the microwave for 25 seconds the next day and it tasted like it had just come out of the oven. There’s nothing better.
Cake Ingredients:
- 4 large ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Directions:
- In a small bowl, mash bananas and milk together. Set aside. Heat oven to 375°F and spray a 13″ x 9″ pan with cooking spray. In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter, oil and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Gradually mix half of dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mix in mashed bananas. Add remaining dry ingredients and beat until just combined.  Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, start working on the frosting. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately. (It will start to foam up which is normal.)
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Whisk together until smooth. If your frosting is coming out too thick, just keep adding a splash of milk until you reach the desired consistency. It should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting. Using an offset spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm cake. It will be easier to spread while the cake is still warm and more fun to eat!
Tutti Mangia!
Related posts:
- Banana Bundt Cake This Banana Bundt Cake recipe is compliments of Dorie Greenspan but I also adapted it from the blog Lottie and Doof. I’ve told you how...
- Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping and Brown Sugar Glaze This recipe is courtesy of Mr. Emeril Lagassi from Food Network. It got rated with 5 stars based on 205 user reviews so it was...
- Baked Blueberry & Banana Oatmeal I love weekends. I used to love them because I had the opportunity to sleep in and do nothing but watch TV and relax all...
what a gorgeous cake! I’ve actually never made brown butter frosting, but I really need to get on that. Love banana cakes of all kinds!
I love bananas and so do my kids so this is a definite must try for me! Looks delicious and is the perfect recipe for Secret Recipe Club!
Banana cake is my all-time favorite cake!! I’m thinking birthday cake for ME (even if it is still a few months away)!!! Have to try this frosting, brown butter, YUM!
So glad you chose this for your SRC post!
I love, love, love banana cake! I just love how naturally moist it is and topped with brown butter icing? Heavenly! Great choice.
Banana cake is one of my favorites! This one looks so good with that delicious brown butter frosting!
So glad to see you chose these bars! That brown butter frosting is amazing, huh? I had to keep myself from eating it all. If you liked these, you should really try the bars from the original recipe, they’re OUTRAGEOUS. I promise
Glad to be in SRC with you!
The cake sounds awesome but the frosting even better! Isn’t is amazing what browned butter can do?
These look wonderful. I need to save that icing recipe for my pumpkin bread – it would be perfect.
I’ve never made anything with browned butter, but this makes me want to try! Great choice
There’s nothing better than a good old-fashioned banana cake. Great SRC pick.
Yes, yes, yes. Brown butter improves everything. What a great SRC recipe.
I’ve made a very similar recipe, this looks amazing.
Mmmm! I love a good banana cake, yours looks incredible but this brown butter frosting has totally won me over! It sounds so good, I’d seriously like a big big slice of this asap! Yum!
Umm, brown butter frosting? I’m 100% in. This sounds amazing!
Hi Jamie – your cake looks wonderful!!! We’re trying SO hard to avoid sweets so I read your post and just about drooled
Loved having your blog. You’ve got so many wonderful recipes. And,how you do everything you do, I’ll never figure out. Looking forward to keeping in touch, Kate
You had me at banana cake but then wait…BROWN BUTTER Frosting! Get out of town! Must try asap!
Oh Jamie…this looks fabulous! Isn’t browned butter amazing! I bet it was the perfect topping for this delicious cake! Great choice! : )
Ooh, the brown butter frosting makes these a stand out cake!!! Excellent SRC choice…so yummy!
You had me at banana! I always have lots of bananas around, and this looks like I need to bake this! Yummy!
I am MAJORLY craving browned butter and/or a banana baked good now! This cake looks amazing! I love how you combined the best of both recipes.
This is seriously making my mouth water! I also love brown butter, so delicious! What a wonderful cake!
This looks so good! I haven’t tried browned butter yet, but I know it’s going to be awesome when I do
[...] – For Secret Recipe Club this month I posted Banana Cake with Brown Butter Frosting from Jessica’s blog. I also happened to make one of her savory [...]
Stumbled onto your blog via the blog hop and just wanted to show you some blog luv! def enjoyed this post
new follower!
http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com
Brown butter adds such wonderful flavor and your cake looks delicious. Saving this recipe.
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my Group ‘A’ SRC entry: Broiled Sushi.
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Wandered over from the blog hop. Love that you paired two different components from two different recipes to make one ultimate recipe. I love banana, but have to admit I haven’t quite got on the brown butter bandwagon. May have to.