Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

I am so in love with this Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel. This cake is AMAZING!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

This my tale about not having self control dealing with salted caramel with magical voodoo like powers.

This cake y’all. I had to call mayday on it. It’s so freaking good that I couldn’t stop eating it. Each time that I opened up my fridge, I saw it…. sitting there with all of it’s drippy ooey-gooey lusciousness… just staring at me. I love homemade salted caramel.

How does caramel stare at you in your face? It just does. Ok? And each time it stared at me, it hypnotized me to the point where I found myself mindlessly reaching my finger in and scraping what caramel I could up… and somehow (magic or something…) it landed straight into my mouth. I have no idea how. Darned hypnotizing salted caramel & all it’s shenanigans.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

And the rest of the cake below that gorgeous layer of homemade salted caramel? It’s just as amazing as the caramel if not more so (if that’s even possible…).

The cake itself contains buttermilk & cooled coffee – and both of them pair oh-so-right with the generous amount of cocoa in the cake. It ends up being such a moist & fudgy cake that it may just end up being your new go-to chocolate cake recipe. It’s sooooooo chocolately!!!

The frosting on it is a delicious Salted Caramel Frosting. It’s absolutely perfect – very light with just the right amount of sweet. It pairs perfectly with everything else going on in this amazing dessert.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

All this caramel swiping (not to mention cake eating… oh yum) that I was doing each time I opened the fridge got so bad, you see – that I had to do something about it. My fingers were randomly winding up sticky and things were sticking to them.  And don’t even get me started on all the caramel fingerprints that were ending up all over things. I obviously had a problem. 😉

So, I texted my friend Amie a picture of the cake and offered it up. I tried to part with all of it. After all, my hips surely didn’t need an entire cake. But I just couldn’t part with all of it. It was just too hard. That caramel voodoo, I tell you – it’s powerful stuff.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

I should have given away all of it. But I didn’t. I gave away only half of what was left – which was 4 pieces. (Yes, I’m aware that I have a problem. We’ve already discussed this)

You know what I’m eating for breakfast today? The rest of that cake. Don’t judge me. If it was in your fridge, that caramel voodoo would’ve gotten to you too and you’d be doing the same. Don’t even try to act like you wouldn’t. 😉

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel

If you don’t want to make homemade salted caramel (I promise you it isn’t hard though!) you can sub in your favorite store-bought salted caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups flour
  • heaping 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk full fat is best
  • 1 cup strong brewed coffee or expresso cooled
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 5 cups confectioners sugar sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or more to taste

Make the salted caramel sauce (or use your favorite store-bought version):

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons salted butter room temperature cut up into 6 pieces
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour 2 9-inch round cake pans.
  • Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, & salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil & vanilla. Add it slowly to the dry mixture while stirring. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes. The batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove layers from pans & transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Make frosting:

  • Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the brown sugar along with 4 Tablespoons of heavy cream. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved. Add the salt. Allow to bubble for 2 minutes, whisking every 30 seconds or so. Remove from heat, pour into a heat-proof mixing bowl, and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
  • With a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat in 4 cups confectioners' sugar and the rest of the heavy cream along with the vanilla. Slowly add 1/2 cup more confectioners' sugar until you reach the desired consistency & sweetness.

Make the salted caramel or use a jar of your favorite store-bought version.

  • Heat granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Sugar will form clumps & eventually melt into a thick amber colored liquid. Be careful to not burn it.
  • Once sugar is completely melted, add the butter immediately. Stir with a whisk until the butter is completely melted.
  • Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream while stirring. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool before using.

Assemble the cake:

  • Frost the bottom layer of cake on the top with the amount of frosting you desire. Top with the remaining layer of cake. Thinly frost the entire cake & set in the fridge for 30 minutes (a crumb coating).
  • Spread the remaining frosting all over the cake evenly.
  • Top with cooled salted caramel sauce to taste - or serve it on the size & drizzle each piece with it. I like a lot of caramel, so I used nearly all of it on this cake. If you don't want as much, feel free not to use as much. The caramel will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge & is amazing on ice cream & apples.

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Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake. Fudgy chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting & topped with a blanket of homemade salted caramel