Just when you thought you couldn’t take a sauce or baked good to another level, along comes brown butter.
In the last few months, brown butter has been popping up all over and touted as liquid gold. We can certainly see why. Knowing how to make it and having this technique in your repertoire is an easy way to take dishes to new flavor levels. It’s also a way to impress dinner guests.
When you brown butter by heating it gently over medium heat, it not only turns color but the taste goes from sweet cream to nutty. It’s similar to how garlic goes from pungent to sweet and nutty when roasted.
To make brown butter, you start with unsalted butter, which is pale yellow. Melt it in a skillet, and cook it until it begins to brown. What’s happening during the process is the water is evaporating. It doesn’t take very long, but you need to watch it carefully so the butter doesn’t burn. If you cook it too long, it will turn black, and burn.