Burnt Butter and Brown Sugar..Nigella Strikes

Nigella does it again! Waaay before the Vogue article on brown butter, Nigella was already advocating it in How to Be A Domestic Goddess - in the form of this aromatic cupcake.

"A mouth-filling nuttiness" is how she described it, I'd describe it as sweet, slightly burnt and caramelly (Ok, so obviously I lack her prose. But it's true). It's hard to describe - it is a complex scent, like a burnt kinda sweet - or sweetness with depth, like palm sugar maybe?

Anyways, they're really worth making for the smell alone. I can't say that I'm really crazy over them (maybe it's my unsophisticated palate - after all, Vogue loves them, for goodness' sake - haha)




The trick with browning butter is knowing when to stop - when the butter reaches the colour of rusty water and there are lots of solids (black) at the bottom. Strain them out (some will fall through the sieve - but that's ok, that's that slightly burnt flavour you want.

I did not make the burnt-butter frosting this time, as my butter is precious and I don't like buttercream frostings anyways. I might give this a try sometime, though, as the reviews are really good and Nigella's taste - well, I've trusted her and it has always paid off handsomely.

Here's the recipe:

150g unsalted butter

125g self-raising flour

60g golden caster sugar

65g light muscovado sugar (Note: I used all brown sugar for this)

2 large eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 tspn baking powder

2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 200c and then get on with burning your butter.

Put it in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring all the time until it turns a dark golden colour. Take the pan off the heat and strain the butter into a bowl or cup, as it will have made a sediment. In other words, this is like clarified butter, but with a smoky note.

Let the butter solidify again, but it must remain soft. (I put it in the fridge for a while).

When the butter is solid but still soft, put all the cake ingredients except the milk in a food processor and blitz to a smooth batter.

As normal, add the milk down the funnel, pulsing sparingly to form a soft, dropping mixture. Divide between the paper cases, and cook for 15-20 minutes