Salted Caramel Gooey Brown Butter Cake

5 from 2 votes

This salted caramel brown butter cake is rich, decadent and will have ya lickin' the plate clean!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Cooling Time10

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 402kcal

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray (bottom and sides), then layering with a round of parchment paper, then spray again.
In a small 1-quart saucepan, add unsalted butter and cook over medium low until it melts and starts to bubble. Continue cooking until bubbling subsides and butter turns brown and smells fragrant and nutty, about 6-8 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together yellow cake mix, eggs, and cooled brown butter until it comes together into a thick batter.
Spread evenly into prepared springform pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add cream cheese and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute, until combined and smooth.
Continuing on low speed, add in eggs one at a time, allowing each to fully incorporate and scraping down the bowl between each egg.
Increase speed to medium and add in caramel sauce and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour cream cheese mixture on top of brown butter cake layer. Gently tap pan on counter two or three times to release air bubbles.
Place in oven and bake until edges brown and start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center is gently jiggly, 35-38 minutes. Do not overbake or you lose the gooey texture.
Remove cake from oven and let sit in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the ring around cake.
Garnish by sprinkling powdered sugar over the top. For each slice you serve, drizzle with caramel sauce then sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Enjoy warm!

Don't Rush the Brown Butter: Let that butter brown slowly over medium-low heat. You want a deep golden color and a nutty smell. If you rush it, you might burn it!
Room Temp Everything: Make sure your butter, eggs, and cream cheese are all room temperature. Cold ingredients don't blend as smoothly.
Don't Overbake: Keep an eye on that cake! You want the top to be jiggly when you take it out. If you overbake it, you'll lose that signature gooey texture.
Let It Rest: Once you take the cake out of the oven, give it 10 minutes to cool in the pan before removing the ring. This will help the layers set without falling apart.