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sliced southern caramel cake

Caramel Cake Recipe

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Recipe by Rose

  • Prep Time30
  • Cool Time40
  • Cook Time35
  • Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield20 1x

Description

This Southern Caramel Cake recipe is rich, buttery, and surprisingly easy to make, thanks to a semi-homemade shortcut that still delivers incredible flavor. Made with a simple yellow cake mix base and layered with a luscious homemade caramel filling and frosting, this old-fashioned caramel cake has that classic, melt-in-your-mouth texture everyone loves. 

Ingredients

Units Scale

CAKE INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Yellow Cake Mix
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup buttermilk (see buttermilk substitution here)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

CARAMEL GLAZE INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

CARAMEL FROSTING INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream, or more if needed
  • 16 oz. confectioners’ sugar (~ 4 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Spray two 8-inch cake pans with cake release spray or homemade goop.
  3. Place the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Mix on medium speed for at least 3 full minutes, until the batter is well blended and smooth.
  5. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.
  6. Bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes… until golden brown, and they spring back when pressed. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Remove from the pans and allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

 Caramel Filling Instructions:

  1. While the cake is baking, add the butter, brown sugar, and milk in a small saucepan.
  2. Heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, about 3-5 minutes over medium heat.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Use immediately.

Frosting Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add in the brown sugar and cream.
  2. Heat until it boils, then remove it from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.
  3. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar while mixing.
  4. Add the vanilla.
  5. Continue mixing until the frosting reaches the desired consistency (**and is completely cooled if you plan to use it in a piping bag).
  6. Place the cake over a pan or larger plate to catch the frosting as it runs off.
  7. You may need to add small amounts of cream to get the right texture for pouring.
  8. Pour over the cake. **SEE NOTE BELOW

Assemble the Cake:

  1. Place one layer of torted cake on your cake plate, uncut side up.
  2. Spread one-fourth of the caramel filling evenly over it and allow it to soak up into the cake (you may want to poke holes in it with a toothpick or fork. Note: if you put the filling on the cut side and try to spread, it may tear up the cake.
  3. Repeat for all layers.
  4. Once all 4 layers are stacked, make and pour the warm frosting over the outside of the cake.
  5. To decorate, you will need to let the frosting cool for much longer and possibly whip it to a consistency that can be piped. **SEE NOTE BELOW

Equipment

Notes

    • The caramel frosting will be thin and pourable when it’s warm. That’s actually how traditional caramel cakes are often done, just poured right over the layers and allowed to drip down the sides. But if you wait too long, it’ll thicken and become unpourable.
    • Have your cake torted and prepped on a wire rack before you make the frosting.
    • To easily move the finished cake from a wire rack to a cake plate, use a cardboard cake round underneath the layers on the wire rack.
    • For the best pourable frosting, I add an extra 1/4 cup of heavy cream into the frosting and mix it on high speed just until it’s incorporated. Then pour the warm frosting over the cake immediately. Be sure to have something under it to catch the dripping frosting pool.
    • For more of a decorating consistency, you will need to mix this frosting for a long time, maybe as long as 30 minutes, until it is completely cooled and thickened. I mixed mine for probably 20 minutes or more in my Kitchenaid before it was cool and thick enough to use in a piping bag and to smooth like buttercream.
    • If you’re not in a hurry, you can also cover it in plastic wrap with the wrap touching the surface of the frosting to prevent a skin and let it cool on its own for an hour or so, then whip it and use it to decorate.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 370
  • Sugar: 43.4 g
  • Sodium: 45.7 mg
  • Fat: 20.4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 46.4 g
  • Fiber: 0.1 g
  • Protein: 2 g
  • Cholesterol: 80.4 mg

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Find it online: https://rosebakes.com/caramel-cake-recipe/

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