FOOD NEWS
Take Your Boxed Cake Mix Up A Notch With Some Brown Butter
By Betsy Parks
It's easy to doctor up a boxed cake and make it taste like it was baked from scratch. Brown butter can be added in place of oil in any mix to add a nutty, toasty flavor boost.
Measure the brown butter to the same volume as oil in the instructions. If you're subbing brown butter for regular, add an extra tablespoon of water to compensate for evaporation.
To brown your butter, cut it into equal-sized chunks and melt them in a pot over medium heat. The fat and solids will separate and begin to turn brown within six to eight minutes.
Stir or swirl the pot to evenly cook the butter and turn it deep brown. Take it off the heat, pour it into a heat-safe bowl, and let it cool before adding it to your cake mix.
Use unsalted butter because it won't foam as much as salted butter. The brown butter can get very salty and concentrated since the cooking process evaporates a lot of water.