Chocolate Caramel Cake

5 from 3 ratings

Chocolate Caramel Cake

The best, classic, old fashioned, easy chocolate caramel cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients from scratch. Soft and moist with silky smooth caramel icing.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: Slices

Calories: 974kcal

Author: Abeer Rizvi

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

2 Eggs Large, Room temperature
1 cup Buttermilk
½ cup Oil
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 cups Granulated sugar
1 ¾ cups All-purpose flour
¾ cup Cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
1.5 teaspoon Baking soda
1 cup Water Boiling hot

Caramel Icing

¾ cups Butter Unsalted
2 cans Evaporated milk 12 oz. each
2 cups Granulated sugar
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake

In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Keep aside.
In another mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda.
Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture, alternating with the hot water and mix until just combined.
Pour batter in two greased and floured round cake pan (Dimensions: 8x3).
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to cool down completely.

Icing

While the cake is baking and cooling, prepare the icing. In a nonstick saucepan, add butter, evaporated milk, and sugar and cook over medium heat until everything has fully melted.
Reduce heat to "medium low," stirring often and cooking uncovered for the next 1.5-2 hours, ensuring it doesn't burn and is thickened and darkened to a golden brown color. Icing is ready when it can THICKLY coat the back of your spoon.
Remove from heat and mix in vanilla extract.
Let it continue cooling for 30-40 minutes at room temperature. It will thicken further as it cools. If it's not cooling fast enough, you can chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes too.
Pour this on top of the cooled cake and use a spatula to spread it evenly and make swirls on top.
Sprinkle some chopped nuts around the top and bottom of the cake and enjoy.

Notes

This recipe yields 2 round 8 inch cakes to make a double layer cake with filling in middle but I wanted to make a single cake and used a round 9x3 inch pan. You can decide what you would like to do. Both options work well.
Don't over-bake the cakes because that will make them very dry and crumbly. They are ready when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Please don't rush when making the icing and don't use very high heat because you can end up burning it.
You must use nonstick saucepan to make the icing to prevent sticking and burning.
Evaporated milk is different than condensed milk and cannot be used interchangeably.
The icing will thicken further as it cools. It should be a thick consistency that can easily be spread on a cake without dripping everywhere.
The cake and icing must cool completely before you assemble everything or else you will end up with a sticky mess.
If your icing has become too thick, mix in some warm heavy cream.
If your icing is too thin, then first thing you need to do is make sure it was cooked long enough to evaporate excess liquid. It's ready to be removed from heat when it's thickly coating your wooden spoon. The second thing you must do is to let it cool completely because it thickens further as it cools. Use a fridge to cool it faster.
I used chopped nuts as rustic decoration. You can decorate with mini chocolate chips, Homemade Sprinkles, chopped up candy bars or even Chocolate Leaves (With Mint).
Use unsalted butter to prevent this cake from becoming too salty.
To make homemade buttermilk substitute, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 1 cup whole milk. Stir the mixture gently and let it rest for about 5 minutes. It should have curdled.
Read additional tips and variations above.
Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Nutrition