Tastes great and yummy!
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 batch: enough for a 2- or 3-layer cake |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, divided
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- ½ fluid ounce bourbon whiskey
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally and cook until the milk solids turn brown and give off a nutty fragrance, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Combine the remaining 1/4 butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Pour the browned butter into the mixing bowl and set aside for about three minutes, letting the warm butter soften the cream cheese and cold butter. Scrape the black seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the bowl. Add the bourbon and mix on low speed until smooth.
- Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and cream, alternating between the two, until the proper consistency is reached. If the frosting is too soft for decorating, refrigerate it for about half an hour before using.
- For best results, use high-quality bourbon. I use Maker’s Mark®. You may substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract for the vanilla bean seeds.
Reviews
I have made a similar version of this many times. These were just as good. I used maple syrup instead of bourbon. They were sweeter than I expected. I also use Challenge butter and this adds immensely to the flavor. I used ground walnuts, which I love, that are not noticed by the nut haters! The last thing I switched out was the flour. I used King Authors bread flour. People line up for these bars!
I LOVED this recipe! It was easy to prepare, was delicious and paired well with a gingerbread cake I made.
I added a bit more bourbon and it was heavenly! I’ve put in on carrot cake and my dark chocolate cake …. not sure which one is better. I strongly suggest spending the extra money on the vanilla bean. I’ve tried it both ways and the real bean is much better.
I made this to frost a red velvet cake for Christmas. It is a delicious frosting and worked well with red velvet. I made it according to the recipe at first, substituting extract for the vanilla bean and using Jack Daniels because that’s what I had in. The flavor was excellent, but I wanted a thicker consistency, so I added another 8 oz. of cream cheese and another 1/2 oz. of bourbon. It was a nice, thick consistency for a filling between the layers and for piping. The changes also lessened the sweetness a bit, while maintaining the wonderful flavor.
Amazing frosting! I didn’t have vanilla bean so I used extract. I ended up only using 3 cups of sugar. Delicious! And the perfect filling for the ginger cookies I make. I served them with a small glass of barley wine.
Great flavor! Glad I tried it.
Love this recipe! I make it all the time for cakes, and people always rave about it! I also thin it with milk and use it as a glaze for my carrot cake pancakes! Make sure to use a smooth bourbon, since whiskey really does make it hot tasting. The first time I tried it, I used it on a banana cake. The frosting was stringy and was not pipeable. I altered the technique for the recipe based on my Joy of Cooking…I did not alter the ingredients. If you allow the browned butter to cool slightly and then cut it into cold cream cheese in the food processor, you can actually obtain a decorator-worthy frosting.
OMG! You could put this on anything or eat it with a spoon! I generally don’t like frosting but this is amazing. I didn’t have vanilla bean so I had to use vanilla extract (I used 1 TBSP). My husband and I love our whisky but our favorite is the grocery store brand (yep, you should try it). Si
This was so tasty. I put in on top of apple spice cupcakes and it was a huge hit. Will definitely be making this one again… A LOT!!!
Wonderful flavor. I actually used maple syrup instead of bourbon. The cooked butter and maple syrup make a great combination.
yes one sub. tsp vanilla for bean. So yummy, I waved my wand to remove all the calories and cholesterol, I suggest the same for all of you!
I left out the bourbon with no negative effects. Frosting was outstanding! Everybody wants the recipe!
This is a lovely marriage of a brown butter and cream cheese frosting. Very rich and nutty with a little tang. I used Kraken Spiced Rum instead of bourbon and a tsp of vanilla rather than the vanilla pod. Make sure it follow the step to let it cool, that will give you more control on consistency will adding sugar (a lesson I learned the hard way from a similar recipe 🙂 )
This is probably the best frosting I’ve ever made. I don’t typically like frosting very much, but I could eat this stuff by the spoonful. I used salted butter because that’s all I had. Browning the salted butter over med-low for a full 15 minutes, gave it a salted caramel taste. A 1/2 ounce of bourbon isn’t very much, so it definitely doesn’t taste boozy. I used Bulleit bourbon, and I think it just added to that caramel taste. Followed the recipe exactly, except that I added the vanilla bean to the butter while I was browning. So. Dang. Good. Perhaps those who didn’t think it made enough of a difference for all the trouble didn’t brown their butter long enough. Keep it low and slow and stir constantly; set the timer for 15 minutes and don’t give up!
Nice! Used Nielsen N Massey bourbon vanilla instead of the vanilla bean and the whiskey. Very nice. Smooth and spreadable. Perfect frosting for carrot cake!
delicious for what it is – but i’m not terribly a fan of over sweetened cream cheese frosting. Sad panda. I should have cut the sugar in half!
Meh. I suppose this depends on whether you’re planning on using this frosting to decorate with or as an icing, but it required either 1) significant chilling, or 2) additional confectioner’s sugar to be usable for piping. Maybe I did it wrong, but the complexity of flavor others were raving about was not there for me. Onward.
This recipe is fantastic. I made the banana cake recipe from my Southern Living cookbook (which has a smidge of bourbon in it) and was looking for a cream cheese frosting to pair with it. This was a perfect fit. I don’t like my frosting too thick and this covered a three layer cake with the right thickness for my tastes (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick). If you love a really thick layer of frosting you might want to multiply the recipe accordingly. I bet it would even be good with a coconut cake. Yum!
This is absolutely delicious! I paired this frosting with “Sam’s Famous Carrot Cake” recipe and voila… the perfect match. If it’s a little too sweet for your liking, apply less sugar or less frosting to your cake! Simply delightful!
Superb frosting! I made it exactly as written, except I doubled the recipe. I used this on Sam’s famous carrot cake from this site, and it was perfect. A silky, complex frosting, that was perfectly sweet. I made this cake and frosting for a wedding, and it was a huge hit! Thank you so much. For the pine person who reviewed this negatively, my guess is that you didn’t brown the butter properly, as that can be tricky.
This is a very tasty frosting, but lacks the cream cheese flavor I was hoping for. Regardless of that – this frosting was very yummy in it’s own right. I did not add the cream because the consistancy was fine without it. The color was beautiful and the vanilla bean added not only a fine taste but an interesting look with all the little vanilla specks! I doubled the bourbon which is probably why I didnt need the cream. Great frosting, but still looking for a cream cheese frosting that has a cream cheese taste. I WILL be using this recipe again though.