This chocolate caramel cake with sea salt is a showstopper! With 3 layers of chocolate cake, a divine chocolate caramel buttercream and flecks of sea salt, it’s a winner!
Guess what today is? It’s my birthday! I took the day off of work and plan on skating and shopping at the outlet mall so it should be a good day (fingers crossed that there are some awesome sales).
I had a difficult time deciding what cake to bake for my birthday this year. I scoured through recipes and pins but nothing jumped out at me. So I did the next logical thing – I asked Addie. Without hesitation, she said that I should bake a chocolate caramel cake. Now why didn’t I think of that?
The cake took no time at all to bake, but the frosting was a little bit more complicated to put together. It required me to make caramel over the stovetop, and then I had to melt it into chopped chocolate for the frosting. The frosting, while extremely decadent, didn’t have as much caramel flavor as I had hoped. But hey, I am not complaining because the frosting is still ah-mazing.
I visited my college roommate over the weekend and brought her and her parents a large slice of this cake for them to try. All of them agreed that it was phenomenal – especially the frosting. The cake itself is moist and chocolatey, and the frosting could have been a meal on its own. It’s that good! I liked the sprinkles of sea salt on top of each layer to cut down on the overall sweetness of the cake.
If you need a bake a cake for a special occasion, this is it. Just make sure you save a slice for me.
Chocolate caramel cake with sea salt
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 and 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/4 cups mayonnaise full fat
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon flaky salt such as Maldon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Grease three 8-inch diameter cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix the eggs and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the mayonnaise and vanilla and beat until just combined.
- Turn the mixer down to low and alternately add the dry ingredients and 1 and 1/3 cups of lukewarm water in 3 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the 3 prepared cake pans and bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting, place the chocolate in a medium bowl.
- In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, melt the sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ cup water and bring to a boil. Keep stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to heat until the mixture turns into a deep amber color, about 10–12 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in cream (the mixture will bubble vigorously). Return to medium heat and continue to stir until the caramel is smooth, about 2 minutes. Take the saucepan off the stove and pour the caramel over chocolate and stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth. Let the mixture cool and stir occasionally.
- Transfer the chocolate-caramel mixture to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or simply use a handheld mixer). Beat the caramel on medium-high speed, and slowly add in the butter, until frosting has thickened. Transfer the frosting to the refrigerator for about 20 minutes until it is thick enough to frost.
- To assemble the cake, place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or platter. Evenly spread about 1 cup frosting on top and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Repeat with remaining layers and frost the sides with remaining frosting.