brown-butter cake with vanilla and honey frosting

When it comes to butter, ‘browned ’ is just a posh way of saying it’s a bit burnt. So if you ever leave butter in the pan for too long, consider it a blessing in disguise; browning adds a nutty, caramel-y flavour that’s scrummy-as.

The technique isn't just reserved for savoury dishes, either. Take this lovely cake by Jenny Park over at Spoon Fork Bacon – the batter includes a whole cup of the good stuff (pop over here if you want to read up the proper method for browning). Once out of the oven, it's topped with a vanilla-honey frosting made from cream cheese and, you guessed it, more butter (not that we’re complaining). For some extra flair, Jenny also adds candied thyme sprigs. Fancy, right? Head this way to get started.