This past Tuesday was my birthday (we won’t talk about how old that makes me…let’s just say I’m old enough to remember the first time stirrup pants were in style). I genuinely love my birthday. I always take the day off of work and do whatever I want. This year my plans were pretty low key, but they did include a spectacular cake.
The past few years for my birthday, I’ve made my own cake…partly because I’m picky and partly because I just love doing it. Two years ago it was this Chocolate Cake With Earl Grey Buttercream and Salted Caramel, and last year it was Aroshaliny’s Persian Love Cake. This year, I went back to chocolate and caramel with this Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake.
The BEST Chocolate Cake…Seriously, the Best
My favorite chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten is, hands down, Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. Ina knows her stuff, and that cake is no exception. I rarely make any other chocolate cake these days.
When I make it I like to use Dutch cocoa powder to give it a darker, fudgier flavor. If you like the flavor of Oreos, you’ll love this cake made with Dutch cocoa. If you don’t have it though, don’t worry — it’s just as delicious with natural cocoa powder. Want to learn about the difference between Dutch and natural cocoa powder? Check out Joy the Baker’s blog post here.)
This is the same chocolate cake I topped with Earl Grey buttercream two years ago. This year I needed caramel, caramel, and more caramel.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
This super rich, super creamy caramel frosting is adapted from one from Benjamina Ebuehi’s cookbook, The New Way To Cake. Her recipe includes a homemade tahini salted caramel, which is insanely good (and why I sprinkled sesame seeds on top of my cake).
For the recipe below, I simplified it a bit using jarred caramel sauce, though you can certainly make your own if you want to. Here’s a similar tahini caramel if you want to try that. Or, for a super simple homemade caramel, try making your own dulce de leche out of sweetened condensed milk! You’ll need a cup of caramel sauce for the frosting, plus a little more for decoration. If the caramel sauce you use isn’t salted, you’ll want to add some salt to the frosting (see instructions in the recipe).
A Cake Fit For a Celebration
And that’s that! This cake may look simple, but it’s rich, moist, and chocolatey and packs a salty caramel punch. It’s perfect for a birthday or any other celebration. Even if you’re just celebrating the fact that it’s Friday. We could all use more things to celebrate, right?
Stay Up-to-Date With the Latest Recipes
Join my email list to get notified about new blog posts and receive occasional newsletters (if I ever get around to writing them:)). As a bonus, you’ll also get my FREE Chocolate Cookies & Bars eBook!
Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 c flour
- 2 c granulated sugar
- 3/4 c cocoa powder, preferably dutch process cocoa
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c buttermilk
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 c hot coffee
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 c butter, softened
- 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 c cream cheese, softened
- 1 c caramel sauce, jarred or homemade and cooled completely
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt, optional*
- extra caramel sauce for decoration, if desired
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, then butter and flour them.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachments, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing on low speed.
- Add the coffee and stir to combine, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Once all is well-combined, divide batter evenly into your prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean, with just a few moist crumbs. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Note: this cake is very moist & tender – be careful when removing from pans. For best results, place a plate on top of the pan, then flip over so the cake comes out onto the plate. Then carefully transfer cake to wire rack.
- Allow to come to room temperature before frosting.If you aren't frosting the cake right away, wrap layers tightly in plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 days or freeze for up to a month.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and powdered sugar at medium speed until smooth and light.
- Add the cream cheese and continue beating at medium speed until well combined, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl once or twice.
- Add the caramel sauce, beating until combined. Scrape the bowl, then beat again at medium speed until light and fluffy.
- To frost the cake, spread about a third of the frosting onto the first layer, smoothing until evenly spread. If desired, swirl more caramel sauce into the frosting before adding the second cake layer.Use remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake as desired. Use additional caramel sauce to decorate the top of the cake.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!Cover and chill any leftover cake for up to 3 days.