Caramel Cake

This delicious Caramel Cake is filled with caramel sauce, and topped with a Salted Caramel Frosting and swirls of more caramel sauce. The cake is moist and fluffy, with the rich taste of gooey caramel in every bite.

What I love about this cake is that this is sort of a caramel poke cake. Because that’s how we fill the cake with caramel: by poking holes in the fluffy vanilla cake, and filling with a decadent caramel sauce.

For the caramel sauce, you can go the homemade route, as I do, or use store-bought caramel sauce. And of course, dulce de leche would be marvelous in this cake as well.

Caramel Cake Recipe

Here you will find detailed instructions alongside pictures, showing you how to make this wonderful cake. And on the bottom of the page you will find the ingredients measurements, just click on Print the Recipe or Jump to the Recipe button up top.

We will make the moist yellow cake base first.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds. Add the granulated and the brown sugar, and beat for another minute.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely before adding the next egg.

Along with the final egg, you can add the vanilla, and mix to combine.

Add the sour cream and mix.

Now we are going to alternate the flour and the buttermilk. Start by adding half of the dry ingredient mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix on low until incorporated.

Add the buttermilk and mix. Finish by adding the remaining flour, mix to combine until the batter is smooth.

Baking the cake

Pour the batter on the bottom of a 8″ or 9″ springform pan, greased and lined with parchment on the bottom and sides of the pan.

You can use a regular 9-inch cake pan.

Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Bake the cake in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cake. If you touch the top of the cake it should bounce back gently, and not feel like it’s gooey underneath.

Let the cake cool down completely.

Filling and assembling

Poke holes in the cake with a dowel, or using the handle of a spoon, or chopsticks.

Place 1/2 cup of room temperature caramel sauce in a piping bag. Snip the end with scissors and pipe caramel in each of the holes you poked all the way to the top.

After a few minutes, the cake will absorb some of the caramel so you can pipe a bit more caramel in the holes to fill them up.

Place the cake in the fridge while you make the frosting.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Let’s make the caramel icing to go on top of the cake.

Beat the butter with a mixer. Add the cream cheese and beat again to combine.

Add the powdered sugar and caramel sauce. Mix on low until the sugar has been incorporated. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds.

If the frosting is too stiff, add a teaspoon of milk to make it thicker. And if the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar until the desired consistency has been achieved.

To decorate

Spread the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake. And then pipe caramel on top.

Use a spatula to swirl the frosting and the caramel together.

Pipe more caramel as desired to make more caramel swirls.

Sprinkle the cake with sea salt. Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

If you make this cake in a 9″ cake pan instead of a springform pan, I recommend removing it from the pan before filling with the caramel and frosting the cake. If possible, use the springform pan to make this cake, it keeps the cake protected in there, and it’s easy to store if you just cover it with plastic wrap.

Why you will love this cake

This delicious Caramel Cake is not hard to make, specially if you get store-bought caramel sauce or use dulce de leche instead.

Each bite of this cake is loaded with rich caramel flavor.

The cake absorbs some of the caramel, which turns into moist and gooey crumbs.

Any caramel lovers that try this cake will absolutely love it!

Variations

Here are some variations for this recipe:

• Use dulce de leche instead of caramel.
• In the cake batter: instead of buttermilk, use milk mixed with vinegar or lemon juice. And instead of sour cream, you can use full-fat yogurt.
• Try this recipe with a chocolate cake base instead.
• Instead of topping the cake with cream cheese frosting, top it with whipped cream, or even whipped topping.

Here are some more recipes to try if you like this cake:

• Creme Brûlée Cake
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
• Caramel Cheesecake
• Cream Cheese Pound Cake
• Dulce de Leche Apple Cake
• Dulce de Leche Mocha Cake

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, thank you for reading!

Caramel Cake

Camila Hurst

This delicious Caramel Cake is filled with caramel sauce, and topped with a Salted Caramel Frosting and swirls of more caramel sauce. The cake is moist and fluffy, with the rich taste of gooey caramel in every bite.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Resting time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 people

Calories 270 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Cake Batter

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 223 grams
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature (170 grams)
• 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 55 grams
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sour cream 80 grams
• 1/4 cup buttermilk 60 ml

Caramel Sauce

• 1 recipe for Caramel Sauce check notes*

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter softened (56 grams)
• 2 tbsp cream cheese softened (29 grams)
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar 187 grams
• 1 tbsp caramel sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

 

Cake Batter

• Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
• Line a 8” or 9” springform cake pan with parchment paper and spray it with oil. If using a 8″ pan, make sure it’s deep. You can use a regular 9″ cake pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Add the granulated and brown sugar to the bowl, and beat together with the butter for another 2 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Scrape the bowl every so often to ensure everything is getting nicely incorporated together.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding the next egg.
• Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
• Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated.
• Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on low to combine.
• Pour the buttermilk in and mix.
• Add the remaining dry ingredient mixture and mix on low to combine. You can also use the spatula instead of the mixer to fold the batter during this final stage. Avoid over mixing, to prevent the cake from turning out dry.
• Spread the batter on the bottom of the prepared pan.

Baking

• Bake the cake in pre-heated oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. If the top of the cake is browning too much towards the end, and the center is not yet cooked, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
• You will know the cake is done baking when you touch the top of the cake and doesn’t feel soft or jiggly underneath. Insert a toothpick in the cake, and should come out clean, without any gooey batter attached.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down completely.

Caramel sauce

• Make the sauce according to the instructions on this post. Let it cool down completely. You can make it ahead, keep it in the fridge, and then gently re-heat it in the microwave for 5 second intervals until the caramel is back at pouring consistency. Don’t let it get warm, the caramel should be at room temperature when you use it to fill the cake.

To assemble

• When the cake has cooled down, use a dowel, or a chopstick, or even the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula, to poke holes in the cake.
• Place 1/2 cup of cooled caramel sauce in a piping bag. Snip the end of the bag with scissors.
• Pipe the caramel sauce inside each hole you poked. After a few minutes, the cake will absorb some of the caramel so you can pipe a bit more caramel in the holes to fill them up.
• Place the cake in the fridge while you make the caramel cream cheese frosting.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat the butter with a mixer for 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese and beat for another 30 seconds.
• Add the powdered sugar and caramel sauce and mix on low to combine.
• Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for a few seconds until well incorporated. Scrape the bowl and mix again to combine.
• If the frosting is too stiff, add a teaspoon of milk to make it thinner. And if the frosting is too runny, add a bit of powdered sugar to help it become thicker.

To decorate

• Spread the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake.
• Drizzle about 1/4 cup of caramel on top of the frosting. But you don’t have to do it all at once. First make a drizzle of one or two tablespoons of caramel, and use a spatula to swirl the caramel around with the frosting, creating beautiful waves.
• Then you can repeat by drizzling the remaining caramel, and using the spatula again to form waves and swirls.
• Sprinkle the top with sea salt.
• Place the cake in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving, the cake will absorb some of the caramel, creating an incredible gooey texture.
• You can make this cake ahead and serve even a dar after.
• Let the cake sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving so the butter in the cake and the caramel have a chance to soften up.

Storage

• Store the cake in the fridge. Always cover the leftovers with plastic wrap, and place in an air tight container.
• The cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for up to 2 months.
• Let the cake thaw in the fridge or in the counter.
• Always let the cake come to room temperature a bit before serving.

Notes

Caramel sauce: this is the recipe I am using. It makes 1 cup of sauce. You will need about 3/4 cups for this recipe, so might have a bit leftover. Luckily caramel keeps wonderful in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer. You can drizzle over ice cream, or eat with apple slices.

Buttermilk: You can substitute the buttermilk for plain milk mixed with 1/2 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice.

Sour cream: A great substitution for sour cream would be full-fat yogurt.

Brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. I’ve used light brown sugar.

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcal

Keyword cake, caramel

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