Coffee Cake with a Caramel Vibe: Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake

As I mentioned before, I've been very low on milk chocolate and dark chocolate couverture as I wait for chocolate season, i.e., weather cool enough to have chocolate shipped safely to my house. But I do have a good supply of both white chocolate and caramelized white chocolate, so I decided to try Yossy Arefi's recipe for "Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake." She specifically recommends caramelized white chocolate in the headnote.

Like all of the recipes in Snacking Cakes, this recipe requires minimal effort, although you do have to get out a pan to brown some butter. You brown butter and let it cool slightly; whisk in brown sugar and eggs; add yogurt, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg;  incorporate flour, baking powder, and baking soda; and fold in chopped toasted pecans and white chocolate. I had purchased yogurt to make this recipe but right before adding it I realized that I had accidentally purchased nonfat yogurt instead of full fat. I made a last minute decision to substitute full fat sour cream instead. I poured the batter into a parchment-lined 9-inch pan, and sprinkled coarse sugar and more pecans and white chocolate on top before baking.

I don't know how this cake would have turned out if I had used yogurt, but the sour cream version was tender and delicious; the flavor reminded me of classic coffee cake, with a slight caramel vibe from the brown sugar and caramelized white chocolate. Pecans were the perfect addition to this cake, and I liked the fact that the nuts were distributed throughout the cake. This seemed like a deluxe coffee cake, and it tasted fantastic even without any crumbs or streusel. I would definitely make it again.

 

Recipe: "Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake" from Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi.