Around springtime means celebration seasons. We have birthdays, Mother’s Day, graduations, and farewell parties to attend to and host. Recently, I created this cake for a friend’s birthday. It has a pairing of sweet and salty flavors and with three layers will feed a crowd. The cake is a moist chocolate with salted caramel buttercream filling. Topped with chocolate ganache and drizzled with additional caramel and cracks of fresh sea salt, this cake is stunningly elegant and perfect for any celebration.
Keep reading for the full recipe after the jump!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Layered Cake
10-12 servings
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cup sugar
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cup milk
For the Homemade caramel sauce:
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
For the Chocolate Ganache:
- 10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 C heavy cream
For the Salted Caramel Buttercream:
- 1 c. butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 c. salted caramel sauce, at cool room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 ½ c. powdered sugar
- Pinch Kosher salt
Directions:
For the cake, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of four 8 inch cake pans. Line each pan with a round of parchment paper and butter the parchment paper. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add cocoa powder and whip until creamy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Equally divide batter among four prepared pans and bake 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the homemade caramel sauce, in a small saucepan melt butter over medium high heat. Once butter is melted add the sugar and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil and continue to stir until caramel comes to a soft boil state. It will coat the back of your spoon in soft ribbons or be around 220 degrees F. Remove from heat. Add the heavy cream and salt. Return to low heat and stir, until caramel binds together.
In another sauce pan, heat heavy cream over medium high heat. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Your chocolate ganache is complete.
In a mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and powdered sugar. Add the salted caramel sauce, vanilla extract and salt.
To assemble the cake: Remove parchment rounds from cake layers and place on cooling racks. Once the cake is cool, use a serrated knife to make sure the top of each cake is level. On a cooling rack, place each cake layer with a generous coating of salted caramel buttercream as the glue. Continue until you have reached the top. Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper below the cooling rack. Pour ganache over the cake, making sure to drizzle over the sides of the cake. Allow the ganache to set up for 2-3 hours. Drizzle remaining caramel sauce on top of the ganache for a finishing touch.
Enjoy this delicious and rich cake!