Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Easter Nest Cake

Chocolate chip cake frosted and on a copper cake stand.

5 from 5 votes

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Easter Nest Cake

Easter nest cake enriched with brown butter is a great celebratory cake to make for any special occasion, not just easter!

Prep Time1

Cook Time20

Decorating time20

Total Time1 20

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Servings: slices

Calories: 1177kcal

Author: Sasha Hooper

Equipment

6 inch cake tin (loose bottomed)
Stand mixer

Ingredients

Brown Butter

675 g (3 cups) unsalted butter

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

225 g (1 cup) browned unsalted butter, at room temp see previous step
225 g (1 cup) caster sugar
4 large eggs
225 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
60 ml (¼ cup) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
175 g (1 cup) chocolate chips

Brown Butter Frosting

225 g (1 cup) browned unsalted butter, at room temp see previous step
500 g (4 cups) icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1-2 tablespoons milk or as needed
100 g (3.5 ounces) dark chocolate
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

To decorate

dark chocolate bar
mini chocolate eggs, micro chocolate eggs, golden eggs

Instructions

Brown Butter

Begin by making brown butter. You need to complete this step ahead of time as the cake recipe requires room temperature butter.
Cut the butter into slices and place in a large saucepan. Melt the butter over a medium heat. Once melted, keep heating the butter, whisking frequently to keep the milk solids moving, until the milk solids start to brown. This can take a while, 10-15 minutes, but you don't want to rush it by turning the heat up too high as it can soon go from browned to seriously burnt. When the butter starts to froth, you know you're getting somewhere.
675 g (3 cups) unsalted butter
The brown butter is ready once you have reddish-brown bits at the bottom of the pan and it smells wonderfully nutty. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl immediately. Leave to cool for a while then transfer to the fridge to set (or freezer if you're in a rush).

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/350F. Lightly grease and line 2 6" loose-bottomed baking tins (or 4 if you have them).
Place your room temperature brown butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (or use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer). Add the sugar and cream together with the paddle attachment for a few minutes until pale and fluffy.
225 g (1 cup) browned unsalted butter, at room temp, 225 g (1 cup) caster sugar
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
225 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Crack in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture with each one to prevent curdling, beating well for a minute or two between each egg.
4 large eggs
Add all but one tablespoon of the flour to the butter/egg mixture. With the mixer on low, slowly mix in the flour until combined.
Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and mix gently until combined. Do not overbeat the mixture.
60 ml (¼ cup) milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Toss the chocolate chips with the remaining flour and then gently fold these into the batter.
175 g (1 cup) chocolate chips
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 (or 4) tins. If using 2 tins, keep the other half of the batter at room temperature until the other cakes have come out of the tins. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat for the remaining batter if you have it.

Brown Butter Frosting

Place the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer). Add half of the icing sugar and beat well for a few minutes until well combined.
225 g (1 cup) browned unsalted butter, at room temp, 500 g (4 cups) icing sugar
Add the remaining icing sugar, vanilla and salt and keep beating for several minutes until it's pale and fluffy. Add a tablespoon or two of milk and beat until the buttercream reaches your desired consistency - you want it to be spreadable but not too soft.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-2 tablespoons milk, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave if you prefer).
100 g (3.5 ounces) dark chocolate
Split the frosting in half. Put one half in a separate bowl and keep the other half in the bowl of your mixer. Pour in the chocolate and the cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Add some more milk if needed.
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Assembly

Place one of the cakes onto a plate or cake stand. Spread with chocolate frosting. Repeat with the remaining cakes/chocolate frosting.
Using a palette knife, spread the top and sides of the cake with the plain brown butter frosting.
To make the chocolate curls for the nest, take a bar of dark chocolate and a sharp knife. Carefully pull the knife over the surface of the chocolate towards you to make curls. Carefully pick them up using the knife and place them around the outside of the cake to form the nest.
dark chocolate bar
Fill the inside of the nest with chocolate eggs of your choice. Dig in and enjoy!
mini chocolate eggs, micro chocolate eggs, golden eggs

Notes

I like to brown the butter the night before and then remove the it from the fridge in the morning so that it can come up to room temperature before I bake. You'll have more than you need but the butter does decrease in volume as it browns so it's easiest to start off with extra to make sure you have enough! Just use the leftovers anywhere you might use butter!

The chocolate chips might sink to the bottom of your cakes but it's no big deal and will still be delicious! Tossing the chips in flour helps to reduce this but those chocolate chips will go wherever they like!

Nutrition