Chocolate Caramel Cake is an irresistible dessert! Delight your family and friends with a moist chocolate cake covered with creamy caramel frosting. This one-layer cake is great for birthdays, potlucks, and special occasions.
Chocolate Cake With Caramel Frosting
This caramel chocolate cake recipe is wonderfully chocolatey. Moreover, to make it even better, it is topped with creamy caramel icing.
This chocolate caramel cake recipe is the perfect combination of flavors. The buttery flavor of the caramel icing really enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake.
What Makes This Chocolate and Caramel Cake So Good?
Who doesn’t love chocolate and caramel? This chocolate caramel cake recipe starts as a fudgy, rich, incredibly moist chocolate cake. Then it’s made even more delicious by slathered with salted caramel frosting. Sticky, creamy caramel with a hint of salt is probably one of the most delicious things ever!
Why You Should Try This Caramel and Chocolate Cake Recipe
This is a tried-and-true family chocolate cake recipe, so you just can’t go wrong. It’s a ridiculously fudgy, super moist chocolate cake that’s sinfully decadent! Once you make this moist chocolate cake with creamy caramel frosting, it will surely become your family’s favorite dessert.
This caramel chocolate cake recipe is handy for birthdays, holidays, and the odd middle-of-the-week pick-me-up.
Ingredients List
Here’s what you’ll need for the chocolate cake:
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
- Shortening
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
Here’s what you’ll need for the caramel frosting:
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
How to Make Chocolate Cake With Caramel Frosting
This chocolate and caramel cake could not be simpler to put together. Here’s how to go about it:
To bake the chocolate cake:
- Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the shortening and whole milk.
- Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth.
- Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Beat to combine until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 to 40 minutes.
To make the frosting:
- Stir the brown sugar and salt into the melted butter.
- Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and add the milk.
- Stir the milk into the butter-brown sugar mixture.
- Bring to a full boil again. Set aside and cool.
- Add the powdered sugar to the pan.
- Stir until smooth enough to spread.
- Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
Recipe Tips
- For best results, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before you begin.
- When measuring your flour, be sure not to pack it down in the measuring cup. Packed flour will give you a denser and dryer cake. Fluff up the flour a little in the bag and then spoon it carefully into the measuring cup. Level it off with a straight edge.
- Use parchment paper to line the pan making an overhang on the two long sides so you can easily lift the whole cake out. This makes for a much prettier presentation than serving the cake from the pan. It also ensures no sticking to the pan’s bottom.
- If you want a layer cake or round cakes, you can bake this cake in two 9-inch round cake pans. Baking time may vary so check the cake after 25 minutes of baking time.
Recipe Variations
This salted caramel chocolate cake recipe can be varied. Here are some ideas:
- Add coffee: Replace the 1/3 cup milk with 1/3 cup coffee. You won’t taste the coffee, but the chocolate flavor will deepen even more. This also works with a stout beer like Guinness.
- Add toffee bits: Sprinkle on top to provide a little crunch – it will also make your chocolate cake look prettier.
- Add chocolate chips: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top to add another source of chocolate – after all, you can never overdo chocolate, right?
- Add nuts to the cake or frosting: Pecans or walnuts work really well.
- Add coconut to the cake: Gives you a chocolate coconut cake.
- Add more caramel: After you’ve slathered your chocolate cake with caramel frosting, drizzle on some extra caramel sauce.
- Add more salt: Sprinkly flaky sea salt on top.
How to Serve Your Chocolate and Caramel Cake
A slice of this chocolate cake is perfect to enjoy with your coffee or tea. Here are a couple of other good ideas:
- Serve it as a dessert with vanilla ice cream.
- It tastes really good with slices of tart apples or apple chips.
How to Store Chocolate Cake
This caramel and chocolate cake can be stored at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. Wrap it well, so it doesn’t dry out.
Leftover cake slices can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap each slice in plastic wrap and place the wrapped slices in a freezer bag. Make sure to get as much air as possible out of the bag before closing it. Thaw the cake in the fridge overnight.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Coca Cola Cake
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Earthquake Cake
- Heath Bar Cake
- Hershey Bar Cake
- Hot Fudge Cake
- Mississippi Mud Cake
- Molten Lava Cake
- Texas Sheet Cake
Favorite Chocolate Desserts
Check out more of my easy cake recipes and the best dessert recipes on CopyKat!
The recipe comes from Sue A. Mertens Minick from Hazelwood, MO. She actually found this site on the internet! And yes, she is family 🙂
Chocolate Caramel Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 1 cup whole milk divided use
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Caramel Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Add the shortening and 2/3 cup whole milk to the sifted mixture and beat until smooth.
- Add the eggs, 1/3 cup whole milk, and vanilla and beat until mixed.
- Pour the batter into a 9×13-inch baking dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
Caramel Frosting
- Combine the butter, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the butter has melted. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a hard boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the milk, stirring vigorously.
- Return the saucepan to the heat and bring to a full boil again. Set aside to cool until lukewarm.
- Add the powdered sugar and stir until smooth.
- When the cake has cooled, frost it with the caramel frosting.
Kristie
I made this yesterday and the icing is so yummy!! Very easy to make also!!