Wednesday, January 28, 2015

TWD | Baking Chez Moi | Brown-Butter-and-Vanilla-Bean Weekend Cake

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking Chez Moi
by Dorie Greenspan





Sorry to say, I am short on time - so this is going to be quick, as were the photos, taken just before I left for work, hence the poor lighting.


This loaf cake has a similar texture to pound cake, but not as heavy. It is made with the typical ingredients of flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, butter (which as been boiled until it turns a rich caramel color), vanilla (four teaspoons! if not using a vanilla bean), heavy cream, and optional rum.

Unfortunately, the brown butter and vanilla flavor was lost by the over-powering taste of the rum - partially my fault, for I'm sure I added too much rum - measuring over the bowl, the first tablespoon overflowed.

The cake had a somewhat dense, spongy texture, with a sweet crispy crust (my favorite part). Dorie mentions that this is lovely toasted as well, should it last long enough to go stale.  Should I get the time, I would like to make this again, minus the rum altogether, for I think the vanilla and brown butter would lend a delightful flavor to this loaf cake.

Head over to the Tuesdays with Dorie website and look for the LYL link for this cake to see how the other bakers fared with this recipe.

It is the rule of TWD not to share the recipe on our blogs. You will find the recipe on page 6 of Baking Chez Moi; it is however, available on Google books.



16 comments:

  1. I was totally in love with the sugary crust! The vanilla was the dominant flavor for my cake, not the rum. Love the texture of your cake!

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  2. Great looking cake...this was a favorite here and yours looks delicious. Yep, those crispy edges were so good, I did give some thought to cutting off the edges like a piece of bread for others and saving those just for me but in the end I thought that wasn't really nice. lol :-)

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  3. Your cake looks great. I didn't use rum and it both smelled and tasted of strongly of vanilla, which was a very good thing!

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  4. looks good (I'm on board with a nice rum cake!)...and I agree with you and the others on the tastiness of the crust.

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  5. Try it with less rum or leave it out. I didn't add any and it was a delicious cake!

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  6. I like how much height you were able to get on that loaf!
    I liked the rum, but I am sure it would be just as delicious without.

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  7. Your cake looks great! I used 2 Tbsp of rum, and it became the dominant taste of my cake. Like you, I think I'll leave it out next time.

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  8. Thanks for the heads up on the run, Cathleen. I am planning on baking this tomorrow and I will leave it out. I want the butter and vanilla flavors to shine. Yours does look beautiful! ~ David

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  9. This was such a great cake…a new “go to” recipe for me! I ate the last of mine this morning, toasted! Yours looks perfectly beautiful!

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  10. Your cake looks great -- especially on those napkins!

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  11. I used white rum, as that's what I had on hand, and didn't find it overwhelmed the cake. Based on so many folks' feelings about the dark rum, I think I'll stick with the white rum going forward.

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  12. I found this cake makes a perfect breakfast snack if you're running off to work although definitely not the healthiest. I used amaretto both times I've made it but I'm sure it will taste great without any alcohol as well.

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  13. I also used white rum but you could just leave it out. I thought it was good toasted too. We enjoyed this one but I am not sure I would make it again.

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