Chocolate Caramel Cake Recipe

Today's post is a little different but still entirely exciting especially if you have a massive sweet tooth like myself (hoping to share more of these types of posts if y'all like this)! So, if you follow me on snap chat (@prepstepsnaps) then you will have seen that yesterday I was making a cake. But not just any cake…. a caramel cake with chocolate icing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Today is my dad's birthday so yesterday when I finished up work early I decided to bake him something special. I have always loved baking but usually it is cookies or cupcakes. I am so glad I ventured over to cake making because it may just be my new favorite and that's a good thing since there are so many summer birthdays (and more importantly cakes!) in my family.

While I found the cake and icing recipes online I wanted to share exactly how I made this cake with y'al since I combined 2 different recipes. Although I have yet to try the cake all together (and this has been torture but we are finally indulging tonight) the pieces I tried while making it were scrumptious solo and are sure to be that much more delicious paired together. I'll be sure to let you know! 

So, as I mentioned earlier this is a caramel cake (3 tier cake with caramel icing holding it together) with the tastiest chocolate icing coating the cakes exterior. It wasn't too difficult to make and wasn't a whole day process although it did require running the dishwasher since I'm very skillful when it comes to dirtying dishes.

For the Cake… 

| Ingredients |

3 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs (beaten)

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

| How to Make |

1. start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. grease three 9-inch round pans and then generously flour all three pans

3. combine flour and baking powder in a bowl

4. beat butter and sugar in another bowl at medium speed until smooth. I beat these together with a hand mixer although I am sure a mix master would work just as well. add eggs to this mixture beating until smooth.

5. at a low speed alternately beat in flour mixture (step 3) and milk. lastly, beat in vanilla

6. scrape into prepared pans, dividing evenly

7. bake for 20-15 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

8. cool in pans on wire rack for at least 10 minutes (if you remove sooner the cakes will likely break)

For the Layer Icing…

| Ingredients |

1/2 cup unsalted butter (although I know salted would add a fun twist)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 cups confectioners sugar

| How to Make |

1. melt butter in saucepan over low heat

2. add brown sugar bringing mixture to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar

3. remove from heat and allow mixture to cool

4. pour butter and brown sugar mixture into confectioners sugar beating and incorporating milk until smooth

5. stack cake layers spreading icing between each layer

For the Outer Icing… 

| Ingredients |

1 cup softened butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

5 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 tablespoons milk

| How to Make |

1. whip butter and cocoa together, I used our kitchen aid mixmaster

2. stir in vanilla and powdered sugar

3. pour in milk until icing reaches desired consistency

4. scrape sides and whip again until light, fluffy, and smooth

5. coat outside of cake (or 24 cupcakes) and save a little extra to eat (you deserve it after baking all of this)

My final product:

So, if y'all don't recognize me next time you see me it is probably become I've miraculously convinced my family that the cake was terrible and instead ate it all myself. But really… after tasting that chocolate outer icing I considered making another batch of the icing to eat with a spoon! I hope y'all enjoyed this post and if so I would love to continue to share fun recipes I've tried with you (hopefully next time with more photos)!

Happy Friday