Brown Butter Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese and Strawberries

Instructions

For brown butter:

1. Place butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat on medium low. Once butter is melted, continue to cook for 10-15 minutes. The butter will sputter a bit, that's okay. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan every minute or so. You'll know it's done when the butter is a deep golden brown color, smells super nutty, and the solids look burnt. Remove from heat and let cool at least 20 minutes before using.

For cake:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish (can be round or square) with parchment paper. Spray the parchment and the sides of the pan and set aside (if you don't have parchment, just spray the bottom and sides of the pan).
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cooled brown butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and sugar.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk wet ingredients into dry until just combined—do not overmix.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 25-27 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream cheese on medium until smooth, 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the heavy cream. Reduce speed to medium-low, and continue to whip until mixture reaches semi-stiff peaks, about 4-5 minutes. Continue to scrape down the bowl every minute or so to make sure the cream cheese mixes with the cream and isn't lumpy.
6. Hull the strawberries and slice on the bias.

To serve:

1. Flip out cake onto a serving platter. Use a spatula to spread the whipped cream cheese over the cake; it doesn't have to be perfectly even. Top with the sliced berries, and serve.