Caramel And Chocolate Layer Cake

Can anything beat a fudgy chocolate layer cake covered in the silkiest sweet caramel buttercream and liberally dripped in salted caramel sauce? This Caramel And Chocolate Layer Cake is a real showstopper that is super simple to bake but has proper wow factor!

Layer cakes are hands down my favourite things to bake but they do take a bit of time and preparation. I find it easiest to bake my cake layers the day before then all I have to do the next day is ice and decorate.

Stabilisation

As this cake has a soft filling you may find it helpful to insert a dowel into the centre of the stacked layers once filled for support. Otherwise you could end up with sliding layers if it's a warm day! Freezing the crumb coat before applying the final coat of icing will also help.

Salted Caramel Drip

Feel free to use store bought salted caramel sauce for the drip if time is tight. I've added my homemade recipe below if you fancy making some yourself - it is delicious and really easy - you don't need a thermometer and it can be stirred throughout (unlike it's cousin caramel - we have a love-hate relationship!). When adding the drip to the cake, warm the sauce a little in the microwave so it runs smoothly. A drip/melt bottle will also help massively. The bottles I have found the best can be found here. If you don't have a bottle don't worry, just pour a little sauce on top of the cake and using a teaspoon gently nudge the sauce over the sides at intervals to create the drips.

INGREDIENTS

Cake Layers:

• 275g softened butter

• 275g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tbsp golden syrup

• 85g cocoa powder

• 190g self raising flour

• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water

• 150g sour cream

Buttercream:

• 165g butter

• 565g icing sugar

• 2 tbsp milk

• 2 tbsp golden syrup

Finishing Touches:

• 1 jar of salted caramel sauce to drip (store bought is fine or please see below for the homemade recipe)

• Flower & White Chocolate Drops and Bites to decorate

Caramel Sauce

• 150g butter

• 200g light brown sugar

• 250ml double cream

• 100g golden syrup

• 1 tbsp sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Cake Layers

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C/140 degrees C fan

2. Grease and line three 6” cake tins

3. In a large bowl or a stand mixer, cream together the butter and golden caster sugar  on a high speed until light and fluffy (around 3 minutes)

4. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking together between each addition

5. Add the golden syrup and vanilla extract to the bowl and combine

6. In a separate bowl, add the self raising flour and cocoa powder and gently stir together

7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time and whisk very gently on a low speed until fully combined and no lumps remain

8. Finally add the sour cream and coffee to the mixer and whisk gently

9. Pour the mixture equally into the prepared tins 

10. Bake in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean

11. Once fully baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out to cool fully on a wire rack

Buttercream

1. Place the butter into the bowl of the stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to beat for a few minutes on a fairly high speed until it has lightened in colour and texture

2. Slowly add the icing sugar, golden syrup and milk a little at a time and mix until combined

3. Beat the buttercream on a high speed for about 5 minutes or until it is silky in texture

4. If the frosting is a little thick, add another tablespoon of milk

5. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and beat out any air bubbles by hand using a spatula

Caramel sauce

1. Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup over a low heat, stirring constantly

2. Once simmering, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the double cream and sea salt (Please be very careful as the caramel will be very hot!!)

3. Allow to cool and set

Cake Assembly

1. Once the cake layers have cooled you can begin assembling

2. If any of the layers have domed when baking, carefully remove the domes until the layers are level and the same height

3. Place one of the layers bottom down on a 6″ cake card

4. Add a layer of buttercream and salted caramel sauce, then place a second cake layer on top, repeating the buttercream and caramel

5. Place the final layer top down on the frosting

6. Cover the whole cake in a thin layer of buttercream using a long palette knife. This will lock in the crumbs. Scrape off any excess using a cake scraper

7. Place the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes to help the buttercream crumb coat to harden

8. Remove from the freezer after this time and frost the cake in a final layer of buttercream, using a scraper to keep the sides straight and neat

9. Drip the salted caramel sauce over the top of the final layer of buttercream, allowing a little to fall over the sides and smoothing the top. If the caramel is too solid, gently warm the jar in the microwave for about 10 seconds to loosen it

10. Decorate the cake by placing Flower & White Chocolate Bites and Drops on top of the caramel drip. 

NOTES

• You may find an acrylic disc useful for placing over the top of the cake when applying the final layer of buttercream. This will help keep your sides straight when using the scraper. To remove the acrylic disc, place the cake in the freezer again for another 10 minutes then use a knife to gently slide under the disc to cut the buttercream away.

• To help when moving the cake, place an 8″ cake card under the 6″ card to avoid disturbing the buttercream.

• A cake turntable will help immensely when frosting the cake layers.

• Adding coffee to the cake layers will help intensify the chocolate flavour – you won’t taste the coffee flavour

If you're a fan of layer cakes like me why not try this Chocolate Orange Layer Cake?