Caramel cake

by Andrea Gámez

Cakes are most of the time made for special days, and this caramel acke was made for one special occasion: my sister’s birthday. And it meets her requirements: having no chocolate at all.

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Caramel cake is both simple and difficult to make, because making caramel is a bit hard, and it is hard to work with. You can make either a caramel sauce or a thicker caramel to use as part of the frosting. We make and use a caramel sauce, because we also add a cream cheese forsting to this, so that it balances out the sweetness of it all.

The whole point of this caramel cake is the caramel itself, but let’s not forget there are also other ingredients at play. This, all and all, id definitely one of our best cake recipes, no joke.

You can also simply buy the caramel sauce for this recipe, but it won’t be as tasty nor as fun to make as it is to make it from scratch, even if you get it wrong at first.

We have no idea why we hadn’t uploaded a caramel cake recipe here before. It is one of the classic all american cake recipes out there. Now, the thruth is there are a bunch of cake recipes you can find. But I can assure you this vanilla cake base recipe is at least one of our top 10 recipes to always have at hand, it is that good.

Now, when it comes to making the caramel. It can happen that once it is ready the butter separates, but don’t worry. If this happens you can fix it by adding a tablespoon of boiling water and mixing again. This should fix it. If you don’t want to add more water just heat up the caramel mixture once more while stiring and then use it to decorate.

If you like this recipe, you have to go see our funfetti cake, which is perfect for birthday celebrations.

Caramel cake

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Refrigeration Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10

Ingredients
  

For the cake:

  • 2 C (260 gr) all purpouse flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp (12.5 gr) baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp (1.7 gr) salt
  • 4 eggs, big and at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 C (300 gr) granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 C (112 gr) unsalted butter
  • 1 C (240 ml) whole milk
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) vegetable oil (not olive oil)

For the caramel:

  • 1/2 C (100 gr) granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 C (100 gr) brown sugar
  • 1/2 C (120 ml) evaporated milk
  • 1/2 C (112 gr) salted butter
  • 1/2 tsp (2.5 gr) baking soda
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

For the frosting:

  • 1 C (225 gr) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3/4 C (92 gr) powdered or confectioners sugar
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions
 

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 375º F (180º C). Line two round cake pan of about 9 inches (23 cm) with parchment paper.
  • In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In a big bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar using an electric mixer or hand whisk for 7 minutes until the mixture turns lighter in color and triples its size.
  • Add in the flour mixture in three separate additions. Beat for 30 seconds tops after each addition, just until you no longer see the flour. Do not overmix.
  • In a heat ressistant bowl place the butter and milk and microwave for 2 minutes for the butter to melt and the milk to heat up. Once ready, add in the vanilla extract and oil. You can also do this on the stove using a pot, but it is important not to let the mixture boil.
  • Add in about 1 C of the previous egg and flour mixture to the butter one and beat until it is well combined. This is to temepr both mixtures.
  • Carefully pour the butter mixture into the big egg batter bowl and beat for no longer than 1 minutes until you get a soft and smooth batter.
  • Divide the batter pouring it into both cake pans and making sure you make the big air bubbles come out of each by hitting the cake pans with the batter inside against the kitchen countertop a few times. Bake for 30 minutes until the cakes turn slightly golden brown and a wooden stick comes out clean when inserted.
  • Once ready, take the cakes out of the oven and let the cakes cool down in the pans for 10 minutes. Then, turn them out and let them completely cool down on a cooling rack.

For the caramel:

  • Put all the ingredients but the vanilla in a pot, then put it on the stove over low medium heat.
  • Slowly cook until it boils, stiring constantly with a rubber spatula until it boils. At first a lot of bubbles will form, but they witll not form as much when keeping on cooking and the sugar caramelizes.
  • Once the caramel has a light brown color take off the heat. This can take up to 20 to 40 minutes depending on your stove. If you have a kitchen termometer, then use it and make sure the caramel reaches 233º F (112º C) before removing it from the heat.
  • Once cooked, add in the vanilla extract and combine. Let it cool down for at least 15 minutes.
  • Put the caramel in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer or hand whisk for 3 minutes for it to have a spreadable texture. Set aside until needed.

For the frosting and to assemble:

  • On a big bowl pu the cream cheese and powdered or confectioners sugar and mix using a hand whisk or an electric mixer for 3 minutes unitl the mixture turns lighter in color and fluffier.
  • Add in salt and beat for 2 minutes more until you get a soft mixture with a creamy consitency, perfect for decorating a cake.
  • Place one of the cakes on top of a cake stand or plate where you are going to serve it. Spread about half of the frosting and 1/4 C of the caramel on top, without covering the sides, to make a naked cake.
  • Place the other cake on top and decorate the cake with the rest of the frosting only on top. Add 1/4 C more of the caramel and decorate as you prefer. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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