Fat-Washed Browned Butter Almond Cake with Bourbon Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Walk into a trendy bar and you’re bound to find a cocktail touting “fat-washed” as a seductive descriptor, and for a good reason. Fat-washing, popular with mixologists, yields incredibly rich flavors in cocktails. Infusing fats such as coconut oil, bacon, or butter into a liquor lends incredible depth and mouthfeel and can do the same for desserts.

This recipe incorporates both the fat-washed bourbon and the residual bourbon-infused browned butter in a moist almond-based cake. Enrobed in a silky bourbon-vanilla bean buttercream, this richly flavored but lightly textured dessert exhibits subtle toffee and caramel notes. It also acts as a blank canvas for other flavor combinations to highlight fat-washing as an approachable method to elevate the humble layer cake. This cake is a great backdrop for a variety of fall flavors and fillings: Homemade or store-bought pumpkin butter marries beautifully with the toffee notes of browned butter and brown sugar and mellows out the punchier bourbon notes in the buttercream. Make this cake centerpiece-worthy with the addition of gently stewed or poached fruits mingled with seasonal spices such as cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg generously spread in between the layers.

Fat-Washed Browned Butter Almond Cake with Bourbon Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Browned Butter Almond Sponge Cake

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup solidified bourbon-infused brown butter reserved from the fat wash recipe, room temperature
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 3 large eggs, room temperature

1. At least 24 hours in advance, prepare brown butter-washed bourbon. Reserve the solidified fat that is removed after freezing and straining.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick oil.

3. Combine reserved solidified bourbon-infused browned butter, oil, and sugars in a bowl or a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until fully incorporated. Set aside.

4. Whisk flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Set aside.

5. Add eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, scraping down the bowl as you go.

6. Add one-third of the flour mixture, beating on low. Turn the mixer off and add ⅓ of the whole milk. Scrape the bowl well and repeat in alternations until all the milk and flour mixture have been added and the batter is just combined.

7. Pour half the batter into each prepared pan.

8. Bake for 25-27 minutes until the cake bounces back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Cool completely.

Bourbon Soaking Syrup

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 4 Tbs. fat-washed bourbon

1. Add sugar and water to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the fat-washed bourbon.

Bourbon Vanilla Bean Buttercream

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 Tbs. fat-washed bourbon
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high until whipped and pale in color, about 3 minutes.

2. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, beating on medium speed, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

3. Once all the sugar is added, beat on high for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the fat-washed bourbon, vanilla paste, and salt and beat for another minute.

Assembly:

1. Using a serrated knife, cut the top (dome) off of each cooled cake layer.

2. Using a pastry brush, spread half of the soaking syrup on top of the trimmed cakes,

letting it soak in. (Use leftover syrup for another cake recipe or in cocktails.)

3. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream over one layer.

Optional: Add 1/3 cup apple or pumpkin butter. Create a small well in the center of the layer with an offset spatula or a spoon. This will help keep your filling from spilling out.

5. Stack the next layer on top. Spread remaining buttercream on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

6. Cake will keep up to 3 days tightly covered at room temperature.

TIP: Only have a muffin tin on hand? This recipe can easily be modified to make a dozen cupcakes. Fill each cup 2/3 of the way full and bake for 20 minutes. No need to trim the domes off the cupcakes when soaking, they’ll absorb all the liquid as is.

TIP: Cake layers can be made in advance. Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and tin foil and freeze. Fully defrost before assembly.