Brown Butter Carrot Cake with Vanilla Lime Curd and Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake is seriously delicious and combines a moist and nutty brown butter carrot cake with a tangy vanilla lime curd and a luscious, if finicky, cream cheese frosting. The cake has a slightly nutty flavor thanks to the brown butter, while the curd adds a tartness that cuts through the sweetness of the cake. The cream cheese frosting is perfectly balanced, not too sweet, and complements the flavors of the cake and curd.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cake, Dessert, Pastry, Sweet

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Brown Butter Carrot Cake

450 g shredded carrots
150 g egg
75 g buttermilk
400 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
360 g AP flour
350 g unsalted butter
4 g baking soda
8 g baking powder
4 g salt
4 g ground cinnamon
2 g ground clove
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Vanilla Lime Curd:

2 ea eggs
100 g butter
90 g lime juice
85 g sugar
3 ea lime zest
1 ea vanilla bean

Cream Cheese Frosting:

500 g butter *might need more*
600 g cream cheese
900 g powdered sugar
¾ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Brown Butter Carrot Cake:

Melt the butter in a small pot over medium-high heat until it turns deep golden brown.
Grate the carrots and ginger.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
Pour the cooled brown butter into the egg mixture and whisk well.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until combined.
Fold in the grated carrots and ginger.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease two 9-inch cake pans with oil.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cakes completely and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, then freeze until ready to use.

Vanilla Lime Curd:

In a small pot, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla bean seeds, eggs, and sugar until fully combined.
Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, whisking continuously, until it reaches 180°F (82°C).
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps and all the zest.
Whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated.
Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes
Add the cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and beat until fully combined.
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and beat until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
Chill the frosting for at least 30 minutes before using.

Notes

I ended up adding about 300g more butter total to the frosting. Use this frosting recipe with caution! It was weird!