After I was a child, I used to be mad for Twix sweet bars. What’s to not like, proper? Shortbread, caramel, and chocolate. I couldn’t get sufficient. Even right now, my mother has luggage of candies in my grandmother’s closet to offer out to the mailwoman, the handyman, and the youngsters at her church. And when she’s not trying, I plunder the closet and loot all of the Twix.
So, it was inevitable I’d make a cake with two of my favourite flavors. (In case you’re a fan of my podcast, Speaking With My Mouth Full, you recognize I’m a large America layer cake aficionado.)
However what I’m not enamored of is American buttercream frosting. I typically discover it gritty, and over time, it will get weirdly crusty. Blech. That’s a direct results of utilizing mountains of powdered sugar. So, I got down to create a frosting that had the graceful suppleness of French buttercream coupled with the punch of taste (however not the sweetness) of American frosting. In different phrases, no powdered sugar.
That was no straightforward job. I failed time and time once more in each doable means. The caramel was both soupy or rock strong. If I cooked it too little, it was pale and muted. If I cooked it an excessive amount of, it tasted burnt. Then there have been the experiments with how a lot butter to make use of. An excessive amount of, and it was like consuming a stick of fats; too little, and it had no richness.
Frankly, I used to be about to throw up my fingers and go the confectioner’s-sugar route. Then I attempted yet another time. That was my Goldilocks second. The frosting was neither too slack nor too agency, neither too bland nor too overpowering. To borrow her phrases, it was excellent.
From there, it was a fast leap to ending the dessert, as I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe of all time—Hershey’s chocolate cake—with a couple of elaborations of my very own.
I hope you get pleasure from it!
Why Our Testers Liked This
The testers swooned over this wealthy chocolate cake with caramel frosting as a result of it was “moist and fluffy.” They have been additionally delighted with the “straightforward meeting directions” and no-fail methodology for making caramel frosting.
Notes on Substances
- Chocolate cake–This recipe makes use of my favourite cake–Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe, which is infused with espresso to amp up the flavour of the cake.
- Granulated sugar—Many caramel recipes name for superfine sugar, which you can also make at residence by blitzing granulated sugar in a meals processor. However why undergo the expense of shopping for or making it? I’ve had nice success with plain ole white sugar.
- Unsalted butter–I want to make use of unsalted butter for the reason that salt content material can range from model to model in salted butter, but when it’s essential to use butter that incorporates salt, scale back the salt within the caramel to 1/4 teaspoon, and don’t add additional salt to the frosting.
- Vanilla Extract (not pictured)–Vanilla provides a roundness to the caramel taste and lends a refined richness.
Tips on how to Make Chocolate Caramel Cake
- Soften the sugar for the caramel in a big light-colored saucepan or skillet, which can enable you monitor the sugar because it melts and modifications coloration. Cook dinner till a darkish amber coloration.
- Fastidiously pour within the warmed cream a bit at a time.
- Whisk within the butter and vanilla extract, if utilizing.
- Sprinkle the salt over the caramel and whisk till easy.
- Pour the caramel into a big bowl and canopy with plastic wrap. Cool for 3 to 4 hours till fully room temperature.
- Whip the caramel till gentle and ethereal, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Plop within the butter cubes a couple of at a time, and whip.
- When all of the butter has been added, proceed whipping the buttercream till easy and satiny.
- Frost the cake and devour!
Widespread Questions
(See video above) Ah, the everlasting frosting dilemma. Buttercream will curdle and separate due to temperature points, particularly when the fats (butter, on this case) is simply too chilly. Each the butter and the liquid (caramel, right here) must be at heat room temperature (68° to 70°F | 20° to 21°C) for them to create a easy satiny combination.
In case your frosting curdles, you are able to do one in every of two issues:
1.) Run heat water over the skin of the blending bowl to take the chilliness off and proceed beating, or
2.) Simply let the mixer beat away for 15 to twenty minutes. Finally the butter will heat up resulting from friction, and it’ll all come collectively.
The simplest technique to keep away from any drawback is to verify the caramel and butter are fully, 100% at heat room temp.
You may put together the cake layers as much as 5 days earlier than serving, and the caramel frosting might be made and refrigerated as much as 2 days earlier than utilizing. I like to recommend assembling the cake the identical day you’re serving it, however leftovers will hold for as much as 3 days within the fridge.
You may freeze the muffins and frosting individually for as much as 3 months. Wrap the cake layers properly in plastic wrap, and retailer the frosting in a freezer-safe hermetic container. Carry each to room temperature earlier than assembling the cake. You may need to re-whip the frosting to make it gentle and fluffy once more.
How is This Frosting Totally different from American Buttercream?
American buttercream frostings use heaps and many confectioner’s sugar, which, to me, is gritty and overly candy. This caramel frosting is much like European buttercreams. A sugar syrup is made (on this case, home made caramel) to which butter is added. The caramel supplies the sweetness, which is advanced and nuanced. As a result of there’s cream within the caramel, it whips up like a dream and desires just one stick of butter as in comparison with the 2, three, and even 4 of American frostings.
Professional Suggestions
- Put on an oven mitt when including the cream to the melted sugar if caramel making is new to you. It could actually get steamy.
- Retailer leftover cake underneath a cake dome within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
Extra of our Greatest Chocolate Cake Recipes
Write a Evaluation
In case you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, think about leaving a evaluation, a star score, and your greatest photograph within the feedback beneath. I really like listening to from you.–David
What’s higher than a moist chocolate cake slathered in home made salted caramel buttercream? Including a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it an important birthday cake. Subsequent time, I would pour caramel excessive of the cake for an additional kick of taste.
–Tucker P.
For the salted caramel frosting
Make the salted caramel
Be sure to have all of the components for the caramel on the prepared.
Unfold the sugar evenly in a light-colored saucepan or deep skillet, which helps you to monitor the sugar’s coloration change, and crank the warmth to medium-high.
Because the pan heats, shake and swirl it typically so the sugar heats evenly. Keep away from stirring for the second.
As soon as the sugar begins to clump, stir with a heatproof spatula. The sugar will undergo varied phases—all of them scary-looking! At first, it’ll look wavy, then chunky, then hopelessly like a pile of tan pebbles. Maintain cooking.
As soon as melted, let the sugar flip amber (consider the colour of an outdated penny) with out stirring. Watch intently to forestall burning.
- CAREFULLY pour within the cream a bit at a time, whisking constantly.
☞ TESTER TIP: The caramel will bubble furiously, so stand again whereas drizzling within the cream.
Boil the caramel for 1 minute, whisking till any cussed arduous bits of caramel soften.
Slide the pan off the warmth and whisk within the butter, salt, and vanilla, till easy.
Pour the salted caramel sauce right into a heatproof bowl and let it sit at room temperature for an hour. Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap, and depart it on the counter for 3 to 4 hours or in a single day.
Make the salted caramel frosting
Whip the room-temperature caramel within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a handheld electrical mixer on medium-high velocity, till fluffy, 3 to five minutes.
Beat within the room-temperature butter, a bit at a time, till easy and supple. (In case your frosting curdles, see the FAQ above.) Add a pinch of sea salt, if desired.
Assemble and frost the cake
Place one cake layer on a turntable or cake plate. Plop about 3/4 cup of frosting on high and unfold to the sting.
Crown with the second cake layer and plop 1 1/2 cups of frosting on high. Unfold the frosting thinly excessive and sides of the cake with an offset spatula to create a crumb coat, which, as its title suggests, seals in crumbs!
Slide the cake within the fridge for 20 minutes to set.
End adorning the cake with the remaining frosting. Then…devour!
- Safety–Put on an oven mitt when including the cream to the melted sugar if caramel making is new to you. It could actually get steamy.
- Temperature—It’s essential that the caramel and butter are at room temperature earlier than making the frosting; in any other case, you’ll have a curdled mess in your fingers!
- Storage—Leftover cake might be saved underneath a cake dome within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
Serving: 1 sliceEnergy: 308 kcalCarbohydrates: 35 gProtein: 1 gFats: 19 gSaturated Fats: 12 gMonounsaturated Fats: 5 gTrans Fats: 0.1 gLdl cholesterol: 59 mgSodium: 158 mgSugar: 35 g
Diet info is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Recipe © 2024 David Leite. Pictures © 2024 David Leite. All rights reserved.
Recipe Testers’ Critiques
Salted caramel is one in every of my favourite issues to make, and buddies are at all times pleased to see a brand new spin on it. Final vacation, they loved a dessert with caramel sauce and to their shock, they went residence with their very own container to get pleasure from.
Frosting? I couldn’t wait to make it. The dry caramel methodology is simple to work with, and the outcomes are incredible, simply utilizing easy components. When making caramel, it can at all times bubble up when the cream is added. I extremely suggest utilizing a big, high-sided saucepan to offer loads of floor space if you happen to don’t have a deep skillet.
What to slather it on? Chocolate cake, after all! It’s an ideal pairing with this frosting, which is sweeter than buttercream and excellent for caramel lovers. It’s an important special day dessert.
This tasty, versatile, and comparatively simple-to-make frosting will elevate any cake! Apply it to your best chocolate cake to show it into one thing particular.
This salted caramel frosting is without doubt one of the solely frostings I’ve ever eaten that really tastes like salted caramel and isn’t too candy. It pairs superbly with so many various desserts, or you possibly can get pleasure from it spoonful by spoonful by itself!
We ate it on a banana chocolate chip layer cake, and subsequent time I make my favourite chocolate stout cake I plan to high it with this. This recipe includes a bit of little bit of ready time, nevertheless it’s price it and fairly foolproof (if you happen to’re affected person sufficient!).
The dry caramel that serves as the muse for this frosting was a pleasure to make. Be prepared to face on the range for 10 to fifteen minutes because the sugar melts and caramelizes, however the nice information is that this caramel actually can’t crystallize on you! Watch the colour of the sugar intently because it cooks so you possibly can cease the caramelization on the degree you’d like. I made this twice to experiment with totally different levels of darkness of the caramel, and each have been scrumptious!
One advice – utilizing a shallower, wider saucepan or high-sided skillet somewhat than an ordinary deep saucepan will assist the sugar soften extra shortly and make your life simpler.
The temperature of the caramel and the butter within the closing steps of bringing the frosting collectively is essential – be sure that they’re each round 70ºF to make sure that the frosting doesn’t curdle. If it does, you possibly can strive heating up a bit of little bit of the combination within the microwave for a couple of seconds after which returning that to the blending bowl and persevering with to beat, or maintain your fingers on the facet of the blending bowl whereas the mixer runs to softly switch a few of your physique warmth to the combination. Simply hold beating till it comes collectively (which can take a bit of longer than you anticipate!).
