No shade for pumpkin spice cakes and treats—I do love a custardy pumpkin bread pudding—but I was ready for a change. I wanted to make a cake that would both satisfy my itch for a casual cold-weather dessert and expand it a bit. I pushed the Libbys aside and instead grabbed a bottle of maple syrup and a bag of shelled walnuts. This is my Browned Butter Maple Cake, and I’ll be making it all winter long, thank you very much.

I used my Ninja food processor to make the toasted walnut flour (it’s quick and worth it) and to blend most of the ingredients, which makes the recipe easier overall. What makes this cake special isn’t any complicated technique or difficulty—it’s actually not hard to make at all—but how the flavors stack up, one heavyweight after another. You start with brown butter, add toasted walnut flour, a layer of malty maple syrup, a splash of tangy buttermilk, and finish it all off with a (technically optional) sip of bourbon.

Start by browning the butter in a pan while you toast the walnuts in the oven. Neither takes long, but once they’re done, both components can be set aside and allowed to come to room temperature while you measure out the other ingredients. Use a pastry brush to thoroughly grease the bundt pan (or whatever pan you choose), then dust it with flour. The nut batter will want to stick to the pan, so don’t skip this step.

The result is a very special cake. The soft crumb is a perfect balance of sweet maple, toasted butter, and bitter walnut. The bourbon perfumes the cake and complements the walnut flavor. I prefer these cakes unglazed because I like to grab a slice without mercy and nibble on it as I walk around the house, but I added a simple maple glaze to give people the option: it takes a little while to whip up, and if you like maple, it’s just right.