Raspberries brown butter cake

New Delhi, February 2017.

"Do not use your blog only for the Challenge. Share your recipes, spread them over the world."

These were my niece words. Followed by a lot of "but" from me.

It's not because I don't want to share, not at all. It's because I think that the net is already saturated of cooking stuffs. I have nothing to teach, a lot to learn.

And I admit, I'm a very shy person. Not the in the window "see me, see me" kind.

But she insisted.

In the end, she convinced me. I think I'm becoming like Michael, my husband, who can't say no to her. Maybe.

She is also teaching me to take food pictures with the camera. I'm not a good student, but I promise I will improve.😊

The other day, we went to a local farm market and we found a lot of organic, nice red berried. Blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and so on. The surprise was that they were relatively cheap  and good, compared to the imported ones that you can find everywhere here in Delhi.

I bought a bunch of them and on the way home I've been ruminating on what to do with, besides eating them just plain. Which we did, of course.

Lost in my thoughts, I remembered a fragrant and nutty flavored raspberry cake I ate once in my friend Esther's house in Tel Aviv.

So I asked her the recipe, it was just mouth watering, as I remembered.

Here it goes

Esther's Raspberry Brown Butter Cake

for a 20 cm cake:

170 grams butter

4 eggs, at room temperature

300 grams sugar
300 grams flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
200 grams raspberries

Icing sugar for dusting and an handful of raspberries to decorate (optional)

First of all, you have to brown the butter. If it's the first time you do it, I advice you to use a stainless steel pan, so you will see the color of the butter change. If you're not new in doing this, use the pan you want. Heat the butter in a large pan until melted. Medium heat is best for this. Rotate the pan to allow an even cooking. After several minutes, you will see the foam, then you will watch it to change color from yellow to darker. When the butter turns golden or light brown just smell it. If you smell nutty, similar to hazelnuts or toffee, it is done. 

Do not overcook, otherwise it will taste bitter and will be harmful for your health. 

Once is done, remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven at 180°C. 

Grease and light flour a 20 cm cake tin

In a bowl, with an electric mixer, mix the brown butter, eggs and sugar. Blend them. Add the vanilla extract and the milk and mix.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add this mixture to the butter batter, mixing at low speed to avoid a big mess.😅  Mix until incorporated.

Add the raspberries stirring by hand...or with a spatula, I prefer using my hands, it's the funniest part.

Pour the batter in the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

It has to be golden in the edges. The toothpick test is useful, too.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Put it on a wire rack to allow cool completely.

Dust with icing sugar and decorate with fresh raspberries, if you desire.

Enjoy and let me know.