Cardamon-Spiced Brown Butter Cake, with baked-in Caramelized Pear Chunks//Roasted Pear Caramel Filling//Brown Butter Chai Buttercream, cut with a touch of cream cheese
A note on the photographs:
Some of the photos were taken by me, and others were taken by my friend Rachel Craven.
This cake is one of my favourite sweet creations to date. We begin with a light vanilla cake made with brown butter, which is spiked with freshly-ground cardamom. The cake batter is then dotted with roasted caramelized pear before it’s baked. The rest of the caramelized pears are then blended to create the most delectable roasted pear caramel that you’ve ever tasted. This special caramel makes for the most wonderful filling for the cake. And, finally, there is the icing. Ahh…this icing. It’s made using brown butter and chai butter, with a little cream cheese to lighten it all up. The chai butter is made by simmering butter with organic chai tea leaves until it’s wonderfully spiced. So freaking good. The cake part itself is just a variation off of my vanilla bean cake recipe that I created for my London Fog, Blueberry & Vanilla Bean Cake. It’s the same cake, but uses brown butter instead of plain butter, with the addition of cardamom, and the usage of vanilla extract only. If you’d like to learn more about the crumb of the cake, and the rational behind the method, it’s in the forward for that recipe!
This cake is a labour of love to make. The caramelized pears, the caramel that we turn them into, the brown butter, and the chai butter are all steps that simpler cakes don’t have. Make this cake if you want a unique and delectable baking project for the day—it’s so very worth it! But if you don’t want to spend several hours in the kitchen baking, I would rather recommend trying my Almond, Lemon & Raspberry Cake GF Option), or my Walnut Coffee Cake. Both are absolutely spectacular, if I may say so myself, and very simple to make! Certainly no less delicious for the reduced hours in the kitchen.
Recipe:
Makes 1 6-inch cake
Roasted Caramelized Pears
Notes
The baking time and temperatures can vary significantly for this recipe, based on your pears. The juiciness of pears varies so much, that each time you make roasted caramelized pears, it will likely differ—even using the same variety. Therefore, know that you must watch the pears and use your best judgement when it comes to the temperature of the oven, and how long to bake them for. I have given guidelines, but your pears may require major adjustment to them. Generally, you want the pears super soft, and the caramel a rich (medium dark) golden colour. If it looks like the caramel is going to burn before your pears are soft, turn the heat way down (350-400 degrees Fahrenheit, according to your judgement). You can always give them a flash of high heat at the end for 10-15 minutes (at 425 degrees Fahrenheit again) if your pears then get soft, but your caramel isn’t rich enough in colour. So it’s all easily adjustable as you go! The only unfixable mistake is burning the caramel, so err on the side of caution with the temperature, as you can always increase the heat at the end to caramelize things.
Likewise, based on the juices released by the pears, you could end up with some excess butter at the end that has separated from the caramel and won’t mix in (it’s supersaturated). Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. Don’t stress, you did nothing wrong! It’ll be just fine.
I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.
Ingredients
120 g unsalted butter
200 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
640 g ripe pear, peeled and cut into medium sized pieces (about 6 medium; measurement taken once cored and peeled, so you must start with more)
Instructions
Make sure that you read the notes above (the first 2 bullet points, specifically), as they are very important. This recipe requires your judgement, as pear juices vary drastically. I have given tips in the notes for beginner bakers on how to make adjustments, and “look-fors".
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.
We will be using a a baking pan/tray with a high enough lip to allow for caramel bubbling up, and that can be both in the oven and set over heat on a stovetop. In it, place butter (any temperature). Set the pan over medium heat on your stovetop. Melt. Turn off the heat, and whisk in sugar and salt. Mix in the pear cubes, until they are fully coated.
Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and mix with a spatula. Bake for another 15 minutes. Mix. Bake for a final 15 minutes. Note that this was my baking temperature and time for this day. This varies with each batch of pears. You may need to turn the heat up or down at any point, bake it for more or less time, and/or check it more often. Once again, see notes for more specific tips. The pears are done when they are very soft, and the caramel is a rich (medium dark) golden colour.
Set aside 24 pear cubes to dot into the cake layers (use tongs, caramel is scaldingly hot!), and proceed to the next step of blending up a roasted pear caramel with what remains.
Roasted Pear Caramel
Ingredients
Remaining caramelized pears and caramel
Potentially: 2 tbsp-1/4 cup full-fat cream
Instructions
Pour remaining caramelized pears and caramel into a high-powered blender (I use a Vitamix). As I state in the notes above, based on the juices released by the pears, you could end up with some excess butter at the end that has separated from the caramel and won’t mix in (it’s supersaturated). Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. Don’t stress, you did nothing wrong! If this has happened, just use a spoon to get the caramel out of the pan, and don’t use the separated butter.
Blend on high speed, using a plunger as needed, and stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. This may take a few minutes. Give your blender a break as needed, if you feel like it’s working too hard for too long. Again, based on your pears, you may need to make an adjustment. It’s sometimes the perfect viscosity at this point, in which case you’re done! If, however, the caramel is super thick, and you know that it won’t easily spread to fill a cake, blend in some cream (any temperature) to thin it out. Use your judgement, and remember that you can always add more, but can’t take away!
When you have a smooth, spreadable (but still thick!) consistency, remove the caramel from the blender, and set it aside in a bowl at room temperature until you’re ready to fill the cake. If you made this the day before or something, store it in the fridge, but make sure that it’s room temperature for when you’re ready to use it. Damage control: if ever you do this, and it’s thicker than when you first made it, put some hot water from the tap in an empty bowl. Set your bowl of caramel in/over it, so that the water is touching the sides but won’t get in. Let it sit for a few minutes, stirring it every couple of minutes, until it reaches the desired consistency. Easy peasy fix!
Cardamon-Spiced Cake
Notes
If you can, please do use cardamom pods and freshly grind the seeds. It really does make all the difference in terms of the flavour of the cake, as compared to the pre-ground equivalent.
As is stated in the ingredients and instructions below, we will be making the brown butter for both the cake and the icing at this point. 60 g will go into the cake, and 225 g will be reserved for the buttercream.
I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.
Top tip for room-temperature eggs: if ever you don’t have the time to take them out of the fridge early enough, or yet if you forget, you can place them in a bowl covered with hot water for 5 minutes, and they will become room-temperature just like that!
Likewise, you can bring your cream to room temperature by lightly heating it in a saucepan.
Make sure that the bowl used for the egg whites, as well as the beaters, are perfectly clean. Even trace amounts of a fat can hinder the whites from whipping into stiff peaks.
Video link to demonstrate how to fold egg whites into cake batter, for those who haven’t done this before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfgz10xdq6k Skip to the 2 minute 45 second mark.
Ingredients
60 g brown butter, room temperature [Start with 370 g butter though, at this point. We are making 285 g of brown butter—60 g will go into the cake, and 225 g will be reserved for the buttercream. When making brown butter, you generally end up with 30% less butter than what you started with, due to evaporation during the cooking process. Hence to make 285 g we must start with 370 g.]
110 g coconut oil (measured before melting)
230 g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 + 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
25 medium pods of cardamom
4 egg whites, room temperature
330 g sugar
1 cup (250 g) full-fat cream, room temperature
3 tbsp pure vanilla extract
24 pieces of roasted caramelized pears, set aside earlier
Instructions
Make the brown butter, beginning by measuring 370 g of butter (any temperature) into a medium saucepan. Brown the butter over medium heat. [If you don’t know how to do this: cook, stirring occasionally for about 7 minutes, until the butter is a caramel colour and smells nutty.] Immediately remove from heat, and pour the brown butter into a bowl. Place this bowl in the fridge until the brown butter resembles the consistency of room-temperature butter, at which point it’s ready to use for the cake and buttercream. Stir it every so often as it solidifies in the fridge, as we want the flecks to be uniformly distributed throughout the butter; if you don’t they will all sink to the bottom, and then you won’t have the same flavour/substance for both the cake and buttercream. Again, we will be using 60 g for the cake, and set the rest aside for the buttercream.
Finely grind the seeds from the cardamom pods, using a mortar and pestle. If you’ve never done this before, you need to cut the cardamom pods open with a small knife, and grind up only the seeds within.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.
Butter and flour 3 6-inch baking tins.
Melt refined coconut oil in a small saucepan. Pour into a small bowl to cool.
Sift flour, freshly ground cardamom, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
Place egg whites in a very clean medium bowl and set aside (egg whites won’t whip to stiff peaks if there are traces of fat in the bowl).
Place 60 g of the brown butter in a large bowl. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.
Add in sugar and cooled oil. Beat on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Add in vanilla extract. Beat on high for 30 more seconds.
Add in dry ingredients and cream, alternating in additions—do 3 rounds of dry ingredients, and 2 rounds of wet ingredients (begin and end with dry ingredients). Each addition should be fully combined on low speed. Do not over mix.
With fresh, clean beaters, beat egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff, about 2-3 minutes. If you’re not sure if your whites are stiff enough, know that you should be able to turn the bowl completely upside-down without anything budging.
Gently incorporate whites into the cake batter, using a spatula, until fully combined. [For those new to baking—see notes for a link to a video showing how to do this. That is, there’s a specific technique to it to avoid bursting the air bubbles in the whites.]
Pour batter evenly into the 3 cake tins. If you feel like being very precise, you can use a kitchen scale.
Dot 8 pieces of the roasted caramelized pears (set aside earlier) into each tin. I make a circle with 7, then add 1 in the very centre. No need to push them down—they will inevitably sink to the bottom.
Place cake tins in the oven, and bake for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out virtually crumbless. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter, or many wet crumbs, let it bake for 2 more minutes.
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then remove from tins and let them cool completely on cooling racks. There will certainly be some (if not all of the) pieces of the roasted caramelized pears that won’t have come out, and will be stuck to the tin. They will easily come out with a butterknife, and just press them back in place.
Brown Butter Chai Buttercream
Notes
We need 280 g of butter to make the chai butter for the buttercream. We start with 280 g because as the chai butter cooks, some of it evaporates. The finished product is, on average (if the steps are followed accurately), 50% less than the quantity that we started with. This depends on the brand of tea (the coarseness affects this mostly). It could be that it makes as low as 30% less, but I suggest playing it safe the first time that you make this—better too much than too little.
If you end up with more than 185 g of chai butter, only use 185 g in the buttercream. [Put any extra on crêpes, French toast, etcetera, with a good dollop of maple syrup! You could even whip it with some mascarpone and icing sugar (not forgetting to add a touch of vanilla and salt), if you want to get extra fancy.] If you end up with less, just top it up with more plain butter (the flavour will still be strong enough, don’t worry).
The chai butter, and effectively the buttercream, will taste exactly like the tea that you choose. Therefore, please use a high quality tea—organic if you can! When I have loose-leaf tea on hand, I choose that, but when I don’t, I cut open individual tea bags, and empty out the contents into my measuring cup.
With these special butters, they can get softer than normal butter when left out at room-temperature for a long time. If your butters or buttercream feel a little too loose, just pop them in the fridge for 10-25 minutes to firm them up a touch as needed. If it was the buttercream, just re-whip it afterwards for 30 seconds.
Ingredients
280 g unsalted butter *see notes
1/4 cup chai tea leaves
225 g brown butter (made earlier; recipe in the cake section), room temperature
300 g powdered sugar
150 g cream cheese, room-temperature
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
Optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Place butter (it doesn’t matter what temperature it is to begin with) in a saucepan, with the chai tea leaves. Set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly bubbling. At that point, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes, take the saucepan off of the heat, and let it steep for a final 5 minutes.
Place a large sieve over a bowl large enough to contain the butter. Pour the contents into the sieve. Using a spatula, mix and press the tea leaves, trying to get as much butter as possible out of it. Discard the tea leaves.
Place the chai butter in the fridge, and wait for it to solidify to the point that it’s the same viscosity as room temperature butter. Mix occasionally during this waiting period, so that the contents solidify uniformly.
Place brown butter in a large bowl, set over a scale. Check that you have 225 g. If you have more, remove some. If you have less, top it up with some plain butter. Add in chai butter. Check that you have 185 g. If you have more, remove some. If you have less, top it up with some plain butter. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
Add in powdered sugar, and beat on high for 3 more minutes.
Still beating on high speed, add in cream cheese, tablespoon by tablespoon. Beat for a whole minute after the final addition of cream cheese.
Add in vanilla extract and salt, and beat in until just combined (I do this on medium-low). Taste the buttercream, and decide if you’d like to add in the cinnamon or not. For me, some brands of tea make it necessary, and others are strong enough that it’s not necessary. If using, mix it in on medium-low, until combined.
Assembly
Ingredients
The roasted pear caramel made earlier, room temperature
Whatever you would like to decorate. I used dried florals, but please have fun and be creative. Note: you can purchase the pictured dried floral bouquets on the shop section of this website! These little dried floral bouquets are fastened with twine, which hides floral wire underneath—which is what sticks it into the side of the cake. It’s just my favourite look—so special and modern, and something I haven’t come across anywhere else!
Instructions
Put a dollop of the buttercream (about a tablespoon) in the centre of the cake stand, and then place the first cake layer on it (don’t level the cake layers off).
Top with a couple of large dollops of icing (for those who don’t feel comfortable eyeballing this—I used 100 g. Using an offset spatula or butterknife, disperse icing into an even layer across the cake. Next, pipe a ring around the outermost line of the cake. You are creating a "well" for the caramel. Repeat these steps with your second layer of cake (just keep it on a plate for now). Refrigerate both of these cake layers for 20 minutes, to firm up your “wells".
Remove your two cake layers from the fridge. Gently fill each "well" with the roasted pear caramel, and evenly spread it out. Remember that I put a tip in the instructions for that caramel for how to loosen it up if it unexpectedly becomes too thick for some reason.
Gently place the second cake layer on top of the first, frosting/caramel side facing up. Top with the third cake layer, flat side up (upside down).
Spread buttercream around the sides and top of the cake. I like to start with an offset spatula, and then take over with an icing smoother (also called a scraper). It’s your choice as to how you want to ice the outside of your cake. I personally like to fill in the gaps of the sides of the cake in this first step, to make it all even, and just do a thin outer layer. I then refrigerate it for about 20 minutes.
After that first layer is hardened, I then do a smooth round of icing the cake. Try to get it so that you don’t see the cake peaking through. And, I like to get an unfinished line at the top lip of the cake—it looks modern and naturalistic in style, which is what I’m after. [Since the first layer will have hardened, it will be easy to work with, as the layers wont’t be sliding around. If you’re pressed for time, however, or you are doing a more rustic style of icing application that doesn’t require stability (like big swoops), you can just put it all on in one go (not 2 steps). You do you! I just want to explain how I do it, in case you’re new to baking, and could use the tips on how to make the cake easy to work with as you ice it, with a smoother style in mind.]
Refrigerate cake for another 20 minutes to solidify the buttercream. At this point, I did a final thin layer to create the slightly textured look that you see in the photos. Truthfully, I wish it was a little more textured/imperfect, but I was feeling a little under the weather when I made this cake, and wasn’t as “on”/patient as usual! So feel free to make it a little more textured than I did—that’s what I usually would do.
Decorate the cake as desired.
Enjoy at room temperature, or just barely chilled. If it has fully chilled in the fridge, the buttercream will be harder, so take it out of the fridge with enough time for the icing to soften before devouring!
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Ella, This look beautiful and I imagine delicious! The floral bouquets are a delightful design!
Sent with love, Maria x