Mini Brown Butter Lemon Cakes

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with butter, then dust muffin wells with flour. Set aside.

Prepare batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the browned butter and sugar until creamed and lighter in color (~2 mins).

Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet; beat until just barely combined.

Add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk until just combined, DO NOT over-mix.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin wells.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 mins, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove and cool completely before topping.

Prepare lemon curd: In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Then whisk in the lemon juice, eggs, sugar, and lemon zest.

Place in the microwave and cook for 1 min. Remove and whisk thoroughly. Microwave again for 30 secs, remove and whisk well. Repeat 4-6x until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Whisking well after each heating is key!

Once thickened (like custard), cool and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Once ready to top cakes, prepare whipped cream: Add the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt to a large bowl; beat until smooth. Add the heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.

Once cakes and lemon curd are cooled, top with the whipped cream and lemon curd. Serve and enjoy!