10/18/2026
🍁 Sunday — “The Brown Butter Apple Cake Trend”
Apple cake is cozy, right? But apple cake made with brown butter? Even better. 😂🍎
Browning the butter takes just a few extra minutes, but it gives the cake this warm, nutty flavor that regular melted butter just can’t match. Add cinnamon, juicy apples, brown-sugar crumbs, and a maple glaze, and you’ve got a dessert that’s seriously hard to leave alone.
🍎 Brown Butter Maple Apple Crumb Cake
Makes about 12 servings
For the cake:
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, for browning
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, finely diced apples, such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith
For the crumb topping:
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the maple glaze:
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1–2 tablespoons milk
• Pinch of salt
Let’s bake! 👩🍳
1️⃣ Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease your Pampered Chef Fully Glazed Stone Rectangular Baker.
2️⃣ Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir it often, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go. It will foam first, then the milk solids will turn golden brown and start to smell wonderfully nutty.
As soon as it reaches that golden color, pour the butter into a heat-safe bowl, making sure you get all those browned bits. They’re where the flavor is!
Measure out ½ cup for the cake. If needed, add a little melted butter to reach ½ cup. Let it cool until just warm, and save any extra browned butter for another use.
3️⃣ For the crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter with a fork. Keep mixing until clumps form, then set it aside.
4️⃣ In one bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl, whisk together the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla, then whisk until smooth.
5️⃣ Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until everything comes together. Try not to overmix. Gently fold in the diced apples.
Spread the batter into the prepared baker, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top.
6️⃣ Bake for 40–50 minutes, checking at 40 minutes. The center should spring back lightly when you touch it, and a toothpick inserted into the cake should come out without wet batter.
Let the cake cool before glazing.
7️⃣ Whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, salt, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Add more milk, a little at a time, until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle.
Drizzle it over the cooled or slightly warm cake.
🤎 A quick note about browning the butter:
The flavor comes from the milk solids in the butter. As they turn golden, they give the cake that deeper, nuttier taste.
Once the butter starts to brown, stay close because it can burn quickly. Pour it out as soon as it reaches that golden color, and don’t leave those browned bits behind—they’re the best part.
My Apple Wedger makes quick work of coring and wedging the apples before peeling and dicing them. And the Fully Glazed Stone Rectangular Baker makes it easy to take the cake straight from the oven to the table. 🍎
Save this for your next fall baking day, and send it to the friend who always picks the apple dessert. 🍁
Now tell me: would you choose brown butter and maple glaze, or cream cheese frosting? 👇