If you need me, I'll be off in the corner licking the bowl because this is maple buttercream made with brown butter and white miso just might be the best thing I've eaten all year.
"This is a keeper. I make wedding cakes and wanted to make a groom's cake with something different. I tried these two recipes exactly as described, and I will use this as the middle layer between my favorite chocolate cakes. The cake will be decorated with Reeces Peanutbutter cups (the Groom's request). This is perfect." - Toni
For all its simple sophistication, this brown butter frosting is deeply complex and very adult. All by itself, miso includes a rich bouquet of sweet, salty, umami, sour, bitter, and astringent flavors. And browning butter magically transforms it into something nutty, rich, and intensely toasty.
Add some maple syrup and powdered sugar to all those layers of flavor and you end up with an umami rich frosting that is perfectly balanced between sweet and savory.
And if you think that "savory" doesn't belong in frosting, think again because you will not be able to stop eating this.
xo
-Rebecca
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Ingredients needed to prepare this recipe
You only need 4 ingredients to make this frosting:
- Unsalted butter. It's important to use unsalted butter for this frosting because miso is salty. If you use salted butter there's a good chance your frosting will be too salty.
- Powdered sugar. Also known as confectioners sugar.
- White miso. You can use any kind of miso to make this frosting, but I think white miso is the best option. White miso isn't fermented as long as yellow or red miso and has a more mild, sweeter flavor.
- Maple syrup. Use the real stuff for this frosting, not imitation maple syrup.
How to brown butter
Cut the butter into chunks and put it in a light-colored saucepan. (Dark pans make it difficult to tell when the butter is browned.)
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty.
Once browned, pour the butter into a small bowl. Be sure to scrape all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan into the bowl - those brown specks contain a lot of flavor. Let the butter cool completely at room temperature until it's solid again.
If you like, you can speed the cooling process up by putting the bowl in the refrigerator but be sure to bring the butter to room temperature before using to make this frosting.
By the way, if you want to make it ahead of time, brown butter will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.
Cakes that pair well with maple miso brown butter frosting
I created this frosting specifically for this brown butter cake but honestly, there are so many kinds of cake that would be delicious slathered with a thick layer of maple miso brown butter frosting. Here are a few of my other top choices:
I usually like to frost this creamy chocolate almond cake with chocolate orange buttercream, but swapping that out for maple miso brown butter frosting is a delicious option. Chocolate, almonds, and brown butter is always a winning combination and the bit of maple and miso add smoky complexity that just brings out the flavor of the chocolate.
Speaking of chocolate, I'm not sure there's a chocolate cake this frosting wouldn't be delicious on. Try it on chocolate spice cake, dutch oven chocolate cake, devil's food cake, or these chocolate cupcakes.
Of course, since nearly every kind of frosting goes well on a a white cake, try it on this super soft and flavorful vanilla cake. Likewise, it would be divine in place of the chocolate frosting on this yellow cake or on this super rich spice cake.
More brown butter recipes
One final thing: If you love miso as much as we do, check out this recipe for miso butter which is good on everything and I do mean everything.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me.
Happy baking!
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📖 Recipe
Maple Miso Brown Butter Frosting
This recipe makes enough frosting to generously cover a single layer 8-inch round cake that is 3-inches thick. My favorite cake to pair with this frosting is brown butter cake.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (73 grams) white miso
- ½ cup (156 grams) maple syrup
- 1 - 2 cups (114 - 227 grams) powdered/ confectioners sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Instructions
- To brown the butter: Cut the butter into chunks and put it in a light-colored saucepan. (Dark pans make it difficult to tell when the butter is browned.) Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty. Once browned, pour the butter into a small bowl. Be sure to scrape all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan into the bowl - those brown specks contain a lot of flavor. Let the butter cool completely at room temperature until it's solid. You can speed the process up by placing it in the refrigerator but bring it back to room temperature before using. (Brown butter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.)
- When the brown butter has cooled to room temperature and is in a solid state (not melted), scrape it into a large mixing bowl and add the miso, maple syrup, 1 cup of the powdered sugar, and the almond extract (if using).
- Useing an electric mixer, beat on low speed just to get everything blended without powdered sugar flying around the kitchen. Then, beat the frosting on medium-high speed until creamy and lightened slightly in color, 3-5 minutes. Stop every once in a while to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add as much more powdered sugar as you need to bring the frosting to the consistency you like it. The more you add the stiffer the frosting will be.
- If not using right away, scrape the frosting into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: ¼ cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 325mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 0gSugar: 26gProtein: 1g
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Toni Pratt-Reid says
This is a keeper. I make wedding cakes and wanted to make a groom's cake with something different. I tried these two recipes exactly as described, and I will use this as the middle layer between my favorite chocolate cakes. The cake will be decorated with Reeces Peanutbutter cups (the Groom's request). This is perfect.
Rebecca Blackwell says
My mouth is watering at the thought of a chocolate, maple miso cake with peanut butter cups!!! That sounds incredible! I am so glad these recipes are working out well for you, Toni! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I truly appreciate it!!!
Dianne Desmond says
I never post comments ever - EVER, but feel that I must say something about your Brown Butter Cake and Maple Miso Brown Butter Frosting that I made last week. It was over-the-top amazing. Way over. I have never had so many compliments and comments about anything I have baked before - and I bake a lot of tasty things! My friends and family kept comparing it to "crack" (and no, none of them have ever tried crack ... that I know of...). So it is now known as my "crack cake" and I am never to bake anything else again!
Thank you so much Rebecca! I was already a big fan of your recipes and you now have a few more fans!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Dianne! This comment just made my whole week! I am so glad that the cake got such rave reviews! A good cake requires a good baker and your friends and family are so fortunate to have a master baker baking crack cake for them. (I am tempted to change the name of this recipe… 😂) Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! I appreciate it so much!
Benjamin Serrano says
what kind of white Miso should I use for the Frosting Dry or Paste, there's so many types of them? Thank You!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Benjamin! I usually use white miso because it's slightly sweet and less intense than other kinds. I believe white miso is also called shiro miso. Let me know if you have any other questions! And I'd love to hear what you think of this frosting after you make it!