Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

This luscious Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting is filled with chocolate ganache and frosted with fluffy, sweet-salty caramel frosting -- the stuff dreams are made of! This cake is perfect for celebrations or whenever you need a special treat.

Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

When you want to take your regular cake up a notch, make this chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting. This is a literal dream of a cake, one you'll be making over and over. First, you have dark, rich chocolate cake layers that sandwich an even richer and darker chocolate ganache. It's so good! But the crowning glory is the fluffy caramel frosting that's kissed with a hint of salt.

This gorgeous cake is perfect for birthdays or any special celebration. You do need to make three components to put it together, but neither one is particularly difficult. And the result is a stunning cake that will be asked for again and again! And, you can use the chocolate cake with any frosting you choose. It's a sturdy, foolproof recipe that will be your jumping-off point for any flavor combination you like.

What You'll Need to Make This Chocolate Cake

Here’s what you’ll need to make this incredible cake The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card below.

FOR THE CAKE

• Chocolate
• Flour
• Baking soda
• Fine sea salt
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Unsalted butter
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• Buttermilk
• Boiling water

FOR THE GANACHE

• Heavy cream
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips

FOR THE FROSTING

• Granulated sugar
• Water
• Heavy cream
• Fine sea salt
• Vanilla extract
• Unsalted butter
• Powdered sugar

How to Make Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

FOR THE CAKE

1. Heat the oven and prepare the pans: Preheat oven to 350℉. Butter three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust the pan with a little cocoa powder. Shake out the excess.
2. Melt the chocolate: Melt the chocolate. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients: Whisk the dry ingredients together.
4. Cream the butter and sugar: In a large bowl, cream butter. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy.
5. Add the eggs: Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to incorporate.
6. Stir in the rest of the ingredients: Stir in melted chocolate. Add half the dry ingredients and combine. Add the buttermilk and the rest of the dry ingredients and combine. Add the boiling water on low speed until just incorporated.
7. Bake: Pour batter into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

FOR THE GANACHE

1. Make the ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream until just barely boiling and remove from heat and pour over the chips. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then whisk and stir to completely melt the chocolate into the cream. Whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool – the ganache will thicken as it cools. Tip: I stick the bowl in the fridge for a bit to speed up the process.

FOR THE FROSTING

1. Make the caramel: Briefly stir together granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat (make sure the sugar is melted). Continue cooking, without stirring, until the mixture turns dark amber in color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Add the cream: Remove from heat and very slowly – mixture may froth up initially – add in the cream and vanilla, stirring with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Stir in the salt. Set aside until cool, about 25 minutes.
3. Whip the frosting: Then, cream the butter in a large bowl, beat on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add the caramel and powdered sugar, and mix until completely incorporated.
4. Assemble: Spread the bottom cake layer with a thick layer of ganache, top with another layer, add ganache, and top with the third layer, then frost the top and sides with the salted caramel frosting.

Tips for Success

Need subs? I’ve got you covered! Read on for substitution suggestions and tips:

• Make it gluten-free: This is a traditional cake that's easily adapted to be gluten-free by substituting 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour for the flour.
• Watch the caramel carefully: Caramel can be tricky, so the best practice is to watch it carefully while you're cooking it.
• Use any leftover caramel in other dishes: Make a sauce! Or turn it into a cake.
• Make it ahead: Bake the cake the day before you plan to serve it - I always try to bake my cakes a day in advance so that the flavors can fully develop and the crumb firms up, making it easier to frost them. You can frost the cake the day of.

Serving Suggestions

Chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting is amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or chocolate ice cream.

Storage Options

Store the leftover cake, tightly covered with foil, in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can serve it cold or bring it to room temperature before serving.

More Chocolate Cakes

• Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
• Oat Flour Chocolate Cake
• The Best Chocolate Cake

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Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

Nicole Spiridakis

This luscious Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting is filled with chocolate ganache and frosted with fluffy, sweet-salty caramel frosting is the stuff dreams are made of! This cake is perfect for celebrations or whenever you need a special treat.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

Calories 360 kcal

Ingredients

  

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For the Cake

• ▢ 4 ounces unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate , chopped
• ▢ 2 cups flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter , softened
• ▢ 2 ½ cups brown sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 eggs , at room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups boiling water

For the Ganache

• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1 ½ cups bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Frosting

• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons water
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy cream
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

 

For the Cake

• Preheat oven to 350℉
• Butter three 8-inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust the pan with a little cocoa powder. Shake out the excess.
• Melt the chocolate. Set aside.
• Whisk the dry ingredients together.
• In a large bowl, cream butter. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to incorporate.
• Stir in melted chocolate. Add half the dry ingredients and combine. Add the buttermilk and the rest of the dry ingredients and combine. Add the boiling water on low speed until just incorporated.
• Pour batter into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Ganache

• Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream until just barely boiling and remove from heat and pour over the chips. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then whisk and stir to completely melt the chocolate into the cream. Whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool – the ganache will thicken as it cools. Tip: I stick the bowl in the fridge for a bit to speed up the process.

For the Frosting

• Briefly stir together granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (make sure sugar is melted). Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture turns dark amber in color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
• Remove from heat and very slowly – mixture may froth up initially – add in cream and vanilla, stirring with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Stir in the salt. Set aside until cool, about 25 minutes.
• Then, cream the butter in a large bowl, beat on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add the caramel and powdered sugar, and mix until completely incorporated.
• To assemble, spread the bottom cake layer with a thick layer of ganache, top with another layer, add ganache, and top with the third layer, then frost the top and sides with the salted caramel frosting.

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 4gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 424mgPotassium: 206mgFiber: 2gSugar: 54gVitamin A: 445IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 1mg

Disclaimer: Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is an estimate (I'm not a nutritionist and can't guarantee accuracy!). Even when not specified, be sure to check that all the ingredients you use are gluten free if you need them to be by reading labels on all packaging and/or confirming with the manufacturer.

Did you make this recipe?Let me know in the comments how it went!