Cake with burnt butter, rosemary, thyme and Callum Liddicoat honey

This delicious, moist cake is one of the Park Hyatt Auckland Executive Pastry Chef’s go-to recipes, which he sometimes eats for breakfast with crispy bacon, but is just as good with a cup of afternoon tea. .

Ingredients

500g	unsalted butter, chopped (for burnt butter)
3	large sprigs of rosemary
8	sprigs of thyme
270g	Honey
125g	Milk
2 eggs	lightly beaten
10g	vanilla extract
300 grams	self-rising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon	baking soda
100g	caster sugar

Swiss Buttercream Frosting

200g	egg whites (about 7 eggs)
250g	caster sugar
425g	butter, at room temperature

directions

For the Swiss Buttercream Frosting: Place the egg white and caster sugar in a mixing bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and whisk until the mixture is hot, the sugar is dissolved and the egg mixture is frothy.
Place the bowl on the mixer with a whisk and whisk until the mixture is thick and frothy, then let cool.
Once the mixture has cooled, start adding your cubed butter little by little. The mixture will fall down and look like a hot mess, but keep adding the butter and your buttercream will come in and eventually be thick and fluffy and ready to go.
For the cake: Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Prepare a 20cm cake tin or a good sized cake tin.
Place the butter, rosemary and thyme in a saucepan and process into burnt butter – strain immediately and discard the herbs.
In a large bowl, put 100 g of burnt butter, honey, milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Add flour, baking soda and sugar and whisk until smooth.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes (do not open the oven for the first 40 minutes). Once cooked, take out and let rest for 5 minutes.
Bring the remaining butter to a boil and pour or brush the top of the cake. Once the cake has cooled, invert it onto a cake rack. Spread Swiss Buttercream Frosting on top. Best consumed at room temperature.