Brown Butter Hazelnut Layer Cake

If you know me at all or have been following the blog for any amount of time, you know that brown butter and hazelnuts are some of my favorite ingredients. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that this brown butter hazelnut layer cake with brown butter buttercream was born!

I tend to opt for cupcakes over everything else and I almost never make layer cakes because they take so long to make properly, but when I do make them it's just so satisfying! Honestly I forgot how fun it can be, so I think there might be more layer cake recipes in the future! Layer cakes can seem intimidating, but I promise they actually aren't that hard! It just takes a few good tools, techniques, and patience (the worst part).

Before we get started, please note I use hazelnut flour* in this recipe for extra hazelnut flavor. It can be hard to find so you can always make your own (just put whole hazelnuts in the food processor) or you can just sub almond flour or cake flour.

So let's dive in! First things first, you need to make a LOT of brown butter because it goes in both the cake and the buttercream. I recommend making layer cakes over the course of 2 days because it's just easier. So make the cake layers and all the brown butter the night before, then do the buttercream and decorating the next day.

Day One: Make the Layers and Brown Butter

Neither of these steps take a ton of time, so I usually just do them both the evening before I want to decorate my cake.

How Do You Get Perfect Cake Layers??

There are a few tricks that will help you get perfect, even layers!

 First, you need good nonstick cake pans and pan spray. I use three 6×2 inch Fat Daddio’s* layer cake pans and I love them!! It's super important to get actual layer cake pans because the sides are perfectly straight! It's a little annoying because this means you can't stack them, but your layers will have perfect sides! With just a tiny bit of pan spray, the cakes just slide right out and never stick! For pan spray, I love both Everbake Pan Spray and Baker's Joy*!

Next, is trimming your cake. This can be a little tricky, but it's super easy once you do it a couple times. Let the cakes cool completely to room temperature, then take a large bread knife and very carefully slice off the very top of the cake so that you have a perfectly even layer. I like using a big bread knife because it's sharp, serrated, and long enough to go through the entire layer at one time.

And of course freezing the layers! So after you've let the cake layers cool completely and trimmed them. Wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap in place in the freezer overnight. Don't take them out until right before you start assembling the cake! This allows the frosting to slide on smoothly and prevents any crumbs from getting in the frosting.

How to Make Brown Butter

If you're afraid of calories, you might want to just stop reading because this cake calls for 2 ½ cups of butter. Yep, you read that right. But I promise it's so so good!

Both the cake and buttercream call for brown butter, so I find it easier to just make 2 separate batches. But you can also make it all together and weigh out the difference if you have a food scale* (½ cup of butter weighs about 110 grams). So you’ll need 220 grams for the cake and 330 grams for the buttercream.

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma.
3. Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly).
4. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning.
5. For the cake, let the butter cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before using.
6. For the buttercream, it needs to cool completely to room temperature so that it’s solid but pliable.

Day Two: Make the Buttercream and Decorate

After you make the brown butter buttercream, remove the frozen cake layers from the fridge. Assemble the cake with buttercream and chopped hazelnuts between each layer and then smooth a very light coating of frosting around the top and edges of the cake. Then put the assembled cake back in the freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour. This is called the crumb coat. It helps trap any crumbs in that thin layer of frosting so that your final layer of frosting is perfectly smooth. The crumb coat isn't always necessary when you're working with already frozen cake layers, but I recommend doing it every time.

Decorating Tips

• To decorate all of my cakes and cupcakes, I use this Wilton Decorating Kit* and I love it! It’s super easy to use and has a ton of tips in different sizes. For this brown butter hazelnut cake, I used the 1M tip*.
• I absolutely love my rotating cake stand*! I hesitated buying one for a long time, but it really does make getting nice, even frosting so much easier!
• My must have tools for frosting cakes are an offset spatula* and an icing smoother*. Both are super helpful in achieving that perfect, smooth outside frosting.
• I use a 6 inch cake board* to transfer my cakes from the turning caking stand, to the stand I like to photograph with.

If you make this brown butter hazelnut layer cake, please leave us a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. Happy baking!

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