An alternate title for this cake could be Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Walnut Crumb Cake or OMGBestEverWalnutCrumbCake. However, I thought maybe those were a bit excessive so I went for simple, which is my default these days but, kept the brown butter in that title because we all know that brown butter is magic (jazz hands).
I was craving the kind of casual cake that doesn’t require layers and could be eaten at brunch, or in the afternoon with a cup of tea, or as a sweet way to cap off the day–basically anytime of the day (another possible title: Anytime of the Day Cake?). It’s inspired by a cake my mom makes but, she uses cake mix and pudding and while it’s super delish I wanted a smaller cake and didn’t want to have to buy a mix or anything (not that I have anything against that sort of thing, as evidenced by this Bourbon Cherry Streusel number).
Anyway, CAKE. I love walnuts for their almost bitter quality that works so well with sweet things, plus they remind me of the dessert my grandpa would always make for us when I was growing up: vanilla ice cream, walnuts, and that Hershey’s syrup that came in a can generously drizzled over the top. He was my favorite and I love to make things that I think he’d like and this cake is definitely one of them. The cake has a fine, moist crumb thanks to sour cream, plus a streusel-y middle and topping with lots of toasty walnut crunch that works so well with all those sweet, warm flavors of browned butter and vanilla bean. It’s delicious and exactly the sort of thing I want to bake these cool, cloudy days since it seems that the weather here has surrendered to the upcoming season and so have I, for that matter.
- For the vanilla sugar:
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- For the crumb topping:
- ¾ cup of the vanilla sugar
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, browned
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- For the batter:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup of the vanilla sugar
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, browned
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- For the glaze:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
- pinch of salt
- To make the vanilla sugar combine the sugar and scraped seeds from the vanilla bean in a bowl and rub the vanilla seeds into the sugar until well distributed. Skip this step if you’d prefer to use vanilla extract–sub in a teaspoon in both the batter and the crumb topping.
- Brown the butter by cooking it in a saucepan over medium-low until it becomes foamy, stir it occasionally until the solids in the butter turn deep, golden brown and smell fragrant like toffee. Remove from the heat to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with a parchment circle. Set aside.
- To make the crumb topping stir the brown butter, sugar, flour, walnuts, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- To make the batter whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. In another bowl whisk together the vanilla sugar, browned butter, sour cream, and eggs. Pour the sugar/butter mixture into the flour mixture and fold until just combined and there are no longer any dry streaks of flour in the batter. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan and crumble half of the crumb topping over the batter, repeat in another layer with the remaining batter and crumb topping. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the 4 tablespoons of browned butter with the confectioners sugar and salt, plus enough milk to make it thin enough to drizzle.
This is so my kind of coffee cake! I love walnuts and brown butter anything is going to be bomb!
Yes! Thanks, Tori!
Oh man, using a springform can is a WAY better idea! Optimal crumb keeping procedure, girl. Yum!
#priorities
Oh girl, this looks so damn good! Your drizzle skills are magic.
Thanks, homegirl!!
Girlfriend, this cake looks SO good! It’s the crumb cake of my dreams, and then some!
carb dreamz!
OMG get in my belly NOW! This looks so good! I can never turn down a crumb cake. I’m going to have to make this for my hubby and he will be a very happy man. Thanks Cindy!
Crumbs for life!
Omgeeeee… They are so bomb.com
Thanks, Jenn!
This looks and sounds like a dream come true.
Thanks, Sarah!!
Oh my goodness Cindy this looks insanely good! That crumble topping is kiiillling me, and your photos are stunning. So with you on the long post names – I always have to try to dial it back a bit so you don’t have to stop to breathe in the middle of the title!!
Sometimes it’s tough to reel it in! Thanks, Claudia!
You’re so right about walnuts being great in sweet things and growing up my mom, the crazy nut lover, put walnuts and everything and this post reminds me that I miss that! This cake looks so good! Way to crumble and drizzle that top!
Your mom sounds like a smart lady 😉
Holy smokes Cindy this looks good.
Thanks, Kasey!!
Ohmagah this cake!!
:D!
This looks delicious – I love walnuts and a good glaze is something I find hard to resist!
Thanks, Krys!
I want this cake sooooo bad!!
You have to go on Martha’s show to introduce the world to your brown butter walnut crumb cake. Thank you for sharing
LOL, thanks Joanne!!
Hi! I Just wanted to let you know I made your cake this evening and it is DEE-licious. The brown butter in each element really makes it special. The only changes I made were to toast my nuts before making the topping (adds great flavour!) and I didn’t add in the cinnamon. It’s mentioned in the instructions, but not in the ingredients- just a heads up there! My layers were not so pronounced as yours are. The middle layer actually sank to the bottom! But that may be because I chilled the topping before crumbling it as it was a very wet sandy texture when I first made it- any ideas? Thanks for this great recipe!
I’ve fixed the cinnamon omission, thanks for catching that. I’m not sure what the issue with the sinking topping is, sorry about that! I think refrigerating is a good idea, though.