Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake
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Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake is moist, full of chocolate, and covered with a delicious silky sweet frosting.
Well ladies and gentlemen, its finally Friday! HAPPY FRIDAY!!! That means its time to bring in the weekend with another edition of “Diving into Decadence”.
I made this Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake for a get together a few weeks ago. It was absolutely divine! It received rave reviews from everyone, kids to picky adults.
The frosting is what makes it so special. I have never had anything like it. It is caramel mixed with milk chocolate and salt. The salt sounded odd to Chad, but truth be told after he tasted it, he walked out of the kitchen with a little cup full of frosting.
The cake is easier than it looks from the directions. Basically you are making a chocolate cake. Then for your icing you will make caramel and pour it over milk chocolate and add butter later. It goes in and out of the freezer a few times, but that is about it!
Enjoy!
Recipe from Anne Thornton
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Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature for 30 minutes
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, or make your own
Frosting
- 18 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
- 10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- Sea salt flakes, recommended: Maldon
Instructions
For the cake
- Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9 by 2-inch) nonstick round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper, and then butter the paper.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together onto parchment paper. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 4 or 5 minutes. Add your eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until completely incorporated before adding each additional egg. Mix in the chocolate and vanilla, making sure to combine really well. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Make sure to let it mix thoroughly.
- Pour half the batter in each pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 minutes. Remove the pans to racks and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes or so. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, then turn them onto the racks. Remove the paper and let the cakes completely cool.
For the frosting
- Put your chocolates in a big bowl. Put the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring up to a boil. As soon that happens, stop stirring and let it boil until it turns an amber color, 8 to 10 minutes or so. (If you think that it needs another stir, brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, and stir the entire mixture, picking up the pot itself by the handle, being careful not to touch the caramel or else it could crystallize.)
- Once the mixture reaches that dark amber color, turn the heat down. Stand back from the pot and add the cream very slowly, stirring with a heatproof spatula. (If you are nervous about the steam, wear a kitchen glove to protect your hand.) Continue to stir until all is incorporated.
- Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the fine salt. Take off the heat and pour the caramel over the bowl of chocolate. Whisk to combine, making sure all the chocolate melts. Pop in the fridge for about 1 hour until completely chilled.
- Take the frosting out of the fridge and beat it with a hand mixer just until it becomes spreadable. Add the butter in pieces and mix until it’s all combined. Pop back into the refrigerator for another hour.
Assembly
- Place 1 cake layer on a cake platter, flat-side up. (You want the cake flat-side up so when you get into it you’ll have nice and even layers.) Evenly spread 2 cups of the frosting over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, then put the other cake layer on top, flat-side up.
- Spread the rest of the frosting over the top and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the top with more salt flakes.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Oh, YUM!! This looks SO delicious! Off to print off a copy 🙂
It is a pretty looking slice! It sounds delicious! Happy Friday!
Hey girl. I am going to get to your email I swear. I have been so busy and I want to write you a long email so stay tuned! I love this chocolate cake though! Delicious
That frosting really was delicious! Loved it.
This looks amazing..I love the salty/sweet combo, especially when it involves caramel and chocolate.
craving chocolate right now and this looks so satisfying!
Oh good grief this just looks insannneeee, what a cake! 🙂
Decadent it is.And my favourite chocolate:) Yum yum yum:)
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That looks so good – if only I wasn't vowing to go on a diet!! It is spring time here in Australia!!!!
Need. This. Cake. Love it! 🙂
delicious looking cake looks wonderful
Gorgeous! Love the salty sweet combo! I must admit, I'm afraid to make caramel because I have a feeling I'd just burning, but I might need to try it so I can try this cake! 🙂
Hi,
I'm actually planning to make this cake tomorrow but am confused by one part of the recipe. For the frosting you say to add the sugar and "1/2 water" to a saucepan but the recipe doesn't call for water. Do you mean 1/2 cup of water or 1/2 of the cream or what? This looks so good and I'm excited to make it for a bridal shower but don't want to mess it up.
Thank you!
Yes, that should read 1/2 cup water. I will change it on the recipe. Thanks for catching that. If you need any more help, feel free to ask.
This looks fantastic and I'm going to make it for a friend's birthday this weekend! One question, I've had bad experiences with caramel frosting in the past…how thick is it? Last time I made a similar(ish) recipe, the caramel was super runny and the cake ended up looking 'melted'…do you think this cake would transport well?
Thanks!
@Mollie, I made this cake in the summer in Arizona, so I did have to refrigerate it. If you are in a cool climate, I think it would transport well.
I made it and it was awesome! Thank you for the recipe! http://bit.ly/uooTrX
Making this as we speak, the frosting is too thick to spread and not the same as the picture… It's very dark and thick like fudge. I guess I'll add some whipping cream….? Hope this isn't a waste of time/ingredients. 🙁
how much sea salt are we supposed to add???
Just a few pinches on each layer are perfect.
What kind of cocoa did you use?
I have made this cake with Hershey's Cocoa and with Pernigotti Cocoa. Both were sensational. The fat content in the Pernigotti is higher so it was a hit more rich. Hope that helps.
Enjoy!
What brand of cocoa did you use for this? I know it says unsweetened, but I was just wondering what brand was used. This is delicious! I can't wait to make it!
My boyfriend loves salted caramel, so I knew i had to make this cake for his birthday! He absolutely loved it and kept coming back for more!