Thyme brown butter cakes
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Stuart West
Thyme brown butter cakes
Recipe by Tom Waters
These are great at the end of a meal – really moist, buttery and indulgent. They’re best served slightly warm
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
288Kcal
Fat
19gr
Saturates
9gr
Carbs
26gr
Sugars
21gr
Fibre
0gr
Protein
4gr
Salt
0.2gr
Tom Waters
Tom Waters is the chef-owner of Gorse, Cardiff's first-ever Michelin-star restaurant. Opened in May 2024, Gorse, takes both inspiration and ingredients from nearby regions – to the point that almost everything on the menu comes from Wales. Tom has also previously worked in award-winning kitchens, including at The Fat Duck in Berkshire.
See more of Tom Waters’s recipes
Tom Waters
Tom Waters is the chef-owner of Gorse, Cardiff's first-ever Michelin-star restaurant. Opened in May 2024, Gorse, takes both inspiration and ingredients from nearby regions – to the point that almost everything on the menu comes from Wales. Tom has also previously worked in award-winning kitchens, including at The Fat Duck in Berkshire.
See more of Tom Waters’s recipes
Ingredients
- 130g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
- 5g thyme leaves
- 170g dark brown soft sugar
- 75g ground almonds
- 25g cornflour
- 20g plain flour
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- zest of 2 lemons
- 3 medium egg whites
- icing sugar, to dust
- crème fraîche, to serve
Step by step
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Leave it to cook until the bubbling sound subsides and it turns a nutty, speckled brown (but don’t let it burn). Remove from the heat, add the thyme leaves – take care, the butter will spatter – and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain into a bowl and leave to cool for a further 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, almonds, cornflour, plain flour and salt. Pour in the slightly cooled butter and add the zest of 1 lemon, then stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks using an electric hand whisk. Fold into the batter, one third at a time, until combined. Rest the batter in the fridge, covered, for at least 30 minutes (or up to a day ahead). Grease 8 holes of a muffin tin with butter and chill in the fridge with the cake batter.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C. gas 6. Divide the batter between the 8 greased muffin tin holes until about two-thirds full. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until risen, browned and springy to the touch. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then ease the cakes out of the muffin tin and leave to cool for a further 10-15 minutes on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm, dusted with icing sugar, plus dollops of crème fraîche and the remaining lemon zest.
