Salted caramel chocolate fudge cake - four layers of moist chocolate fudge cake filled with salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream, topped with whipped chocolate ganache and a liberal dose of salted caramel.
This salted caramel chocolate fudge cake is one of the most popular recipes on my site - and for very good reason! It is a bit of a labour of love to bake, but the results are so, so worth it.
Four layers of dark, moist, intensely chocolatey cake filled with salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream and salted caramel sauce, topped with whipped chocolate ganache and a luscious drizzle of extra caramel.
The photos here do not do it justice - when I came to photograph it, it was the most grey, miserable, dark day imaginable, so even right next to the window in the early afternoon there was no light.
It is a very impressive cake which would be perfect for any celebration or birthday. I've had loads of comments from readers who have baked this salted caramel chocolate fudge cake and loved it!
This cake is truly indulgent (don't think about the amount of sugar involved...). I used a dark, not too sweet cake recipe to balance the sweetness of the caramel a little but it is still very rich so serve in small slices.
The cake is quite labour intensive, but the work can be split over two days; the cakes can be baked and the salted caramel made one day and both be refrigerated overnight, then the following day make the swiss meringue buttercream and ganache and assemble the cake.
In fact I recommend that you don't attempt to do it all in one day, the cakes are best refrigerated before you attempt to halve them as they have quite a soft crumb, and the salted caramel needs to be cool before you add it to the buttercream.
And it is so worth the effort! My fiance declared it one of the best tasting cakes I have ever baked...and I have baked A LOT of cake...
I used whipped ganache as I wanted the lighter texture and colour compared to standard ganache - I didn't think that the caramel drizzle would stand out enough on un-whipped ganache, but it isn't a necessary step and the cake would taste just as good if you don't want to bother whipping it.
I made my own salted caramel, and have given the recipe below; it isn't difficult, but if you don't fancy messing about with molten hot sugar (and I don't blame you), you can certainly use store-bought salted caramel sauce instead.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe:
Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 225 g (scant 2 cups) plain flour
- 350 g (1 + ¾ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
- 85 g (⅔ cup + 1 tsp) cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 2 eggs
- 250 ml (1 cup + 2tsp) buttermilk
- 125 ml (½ cup + 1tsp) vegetable or sunflower oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 ml (1 cup + 2tsp) very hot coffee or boiling water
Salted Caramel
- 300 g (1 ½ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
- 60 ml (¼ cup) water
- 280 ml (1 cup + 3tbsp) double cream
- 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon - 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 200 g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 4 large egg whites
- 250 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoon (or more to taste) salted caramel
Whipped Ganache
- 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate
- 200 ml (¾ cup + 1tbsp + 1tsp) double cream
Instructions
- Bake the cake the day before you want to ice it. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in round tins.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarb of soda together into a large bowl, stir in the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract, pour into the dry ingredients and beat well until smooth and combined. Add the hot coffee, a little at a time, until it is all combined, the mixture will be very liquid, don't panic! Divide the batter between the tins and place in the centre of the oven, check after 35 minutes - a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter. They could take up to an hour to bake though, mine took 55 minutes, just check every 5-10 minutes after the 35 minute mark.
- Once baked, remove to a wire rack, still in their tins, and leave to cool completely. Once cold, wrap the cakes in their tins in clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight, or for at least an hour. It is far easier to slice a cold cake in half neatly.
- Make the salted caramel: Place the sugar and water into a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to the boil and cook, swirling the pan, NOT stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the colour changes to amber. Remove from the heat and pour the cream - be careful as the caramel will bubble ferociously and rise up in the pan. When the bubbling stops, add the butter and whisk till combined, it may not be completely smooth at this point.
- Return the pan to a medium heat and cook at a gentle simmer, whisking the whole time, for a couple of minutes until the caramel is smooth and free of lumps. Whisk in the salt, a little at a time, tasting as you go (CAREFULLY - the caramel is very hot!), until it's at the right level of saltiness for you. Make sure that the salt is actually fully combined, and not just sinking to the bottom, before adding more. Leave the caramel to cool completely, it can be made the day beforehand and stored in the fridge for up to a week.
- To make the salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream, put the egg whites and sugar in an extremely clean heatproof bowl (use the bowl of your stand mixer if you have one). Place over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water) and whisk with a hand whisk (not electric) until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture is warm to the touch, if you rub some of the mixture between your fingers it should be smooth and you shouldn’t be able to feel any graininess, this will take about five minutes. If you want to get technical about it the mix should reach 60°C/140°F on a thermometer.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and attach it to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment or use an electric hand whisk, whisk the egg whites until it forms a thick, glossy, bright white meringue and is completely cool, the bottom of the bowl should feel cool to the touch, this will take about 10 minutes.
- Once the meringue is cold, switch the mixer to a low speed and begin to add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, make sure that each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next; the meringue will deflate a little and may begin to look curdled, don’t panic! This is normal, just keep adding the butter gradually and whipping away and it will come back together. If, once all the butter has been added, your mixture is runny, the butter may have been too soft or the meringue still warm, just put the bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes or so then carry on whipping.
- If, even after a decent amount of whipping, it still looks curdled, place about 4 tablespoons worth of the mixture in a small bowl and microwave for 10-15 seconds, it should become runny, pour this back into the bowl of buttercream, down the side of the bowl while whisking, continue to whisk for a few minutes and it should come back together. Once the buttercream is completely smooth and silky and all the butter has been incorporated, whisk in the vanilla extract and salted caramel.
- Remove the cakes from the fridge and carefully, using a long, sharp serrated knife (like a bread knife) slice each one in half so you have four layers. Place one layer on a serving plate or cake stand and spread over just over a quarter of the buttercream, then drizzle over a tablespoon or two of the salted caramel (you can thin it with a little more cream or warm it VERY slightly until it becomes pourable if needed - I'm talking no more than 10 seconds in the microwave, do not let it become warm or it will melt the buttercream). Top with another layer of cake and repeat until you have three layers of buttercream; place the final layer of cake on top - use one of the bottom halves, upside-down, so that you have a flat top.
- Spread the remaining scant quarter of buttercream thinly all over the cake, it does not need to be neat and you will be able to see cake through the buttercream but try to get it fairly smooth and cover the cake evenly; this is your crumb coat - it will stop cake crumbs from getting into your ganache. Place the cake in the fridge for at least fifteen minutes while you make the ganache.
- To make the ganache, chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl. Put the cream in a small pan and heat until just simmering, pour it over the chocolate, making sure that it is all covered; leave to stand for 5-10 minutes then stir until smooth. Leave the ganache until it has cooled to room temperature - it should have thickened but still be spoonable, like pudding (you can pop it in the fridge to speed this up). Whisk with an electric whisk until it has lightened in colour and has the texture of thick whipped cream, do not overwhip or you will end up with chocolate butter...which sounds delicious but is not what we want here! Immediately spread the ganache all over the cake - work fairly quickly as it doesn't take long for it to start to set.
- To finish, drizzle over the remaining salted caramel.
I am sharing this with Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, Foodie Fridays and Fiesta Friday
Nichole
This cake looks incredible!! Do you think it would work to convert to a cupcake form? Would you fill the cupcake with the ganache and then top with the buttercream and drizzle with salted caramel sauce? Or fill with caramel sauce and top with ganache and buttercream?? Or fill with buttercream and top with ganache and caramel??? I have seven friends with birthdays this month and we are having a big combined party. I would love to send them each home with their own amazing salted caramel chocolate fudge cupcake!!!
hannahhossack
Hi Nichole, Yes I think it would work great as a cupcake! I can't give you an exact baking time, but I estimate they would take 20-25 minutes to bake. I would core each cupcake and fill with ganache, top with buttercream and drizzle with salted caramel. Hope you like them!
Nichole
Perfect! I can't wait to try it out!!
Annette
Oh my goodness! I've just finished making this as a surprise for my daughter'a 16th birthday tonight. Ive tried and succeeded at some unfamiliar techniques, and the cake tastes just as good as all of the parts I've made, she'll think she's died and gone to heaven! (I'm on a sugar high from all the bowl licking - just couldn't help myself, particularly the caramel!) Thank you for a great recipe!
hannahhossack
That's fantastic! I'm so glad you liked it 🙂 The caramel is very addictive...last time I made it I ate so much that I felt slightly sick... Thanks Annette, it's always nice to receive feedback when people make my recipes 🙂
Annie Allen
WOW! What a cake! Very rich, but my god, totally amazing! Worth all the effort! A few notes on the process: I did it in a day, which if you have the time, is very doable. Cake took 40 minutes in the oven. Amazingly moist fudge cake – I was extremely impressed with the cake on its own. SALTED CARAMEL – as someone who’s never made caramel before, I got scared and took the sugar off the hob way too soon – be brave, leave it on (I didn’t wait for the amber colour) – however, it made a delicious sauce either way (I’m saving the trial batches for pancakes!). I attempted it 3 times, third time was much better, but I still probably should have left it a bit longer to get a more caramel-y colour. Doesn’t matter though, tastes incredible. SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM – I started with an electric hand whisk, then soon changed to an electric stand mixer – which I hugely recommend, if possible. Following Hannah’s instructions, mine turned out perfectly, and I didn’t even need to save it at all! Very surprised, as I’ve never made this before. Cutting the cakes and putting it all together – much easier than expected (however, I very briefly microwaved the caramel to help it pour better - which I would advise against, because mine mostly collected at the bottom of the plate instead of on the cake!). Overall, totally excellent recipe - very detailed, and if followed properly, will work perfectly! A bit of work obviously, but the results are truly indulgent, choc-tastic, and divine! Thank you Hannah!!!! I'm currently deciding which of your cakes to try next! xxxxxxxx
Question: Hannah, is there a way to upload a photo so I can show my results? (not that it's a patch on yours - taking a photo myself has made me realise just how good your photography is!)
hannahhossack
Thanks Annie! So glad it worked out for you 🙂 caramel just takes a bit of practice to get perfect and can be a bit nerve-wracking to make! The buttercream is definitely best attempted with a stand mixer although it is doable without (I don't have one), it's just a bit of a pain having to stand there whisking for ages...I don't think you can upload a photo in the comments, you can share one on my Facebook page though 🙂 thanks again for the lovely feedback! xxxx
Janine
I'm making this for my sons 21st but I'm concerned about the plain flour quantity. You say 225g (scant 2 cups) of plain flour yet (1+3/4 cups) of cater sugar is 350g, there is a 125g difference. What is the true grams of flour please. Fingers crossed mine turns out anywhere near as delicious as yours!
hannahhossack
Hi Janine, the recipe is correct - it is 225g flour and 350g sugar. Sugar is denser than flour so if measured by volume the same volume of sugar will weigh more than the flour. Hope that makes sense! Hannah
Janine
Yay thanks so much for getting back to me 🙂 just turned the oven on and lined the pans. Fingers crossed I can do your cake justice.
hannahhossack
No problem 🙂 hope it turned out well for you
Sonali
Awesome cake and looks delicious. If you want to order Chocolate fudge cake online, I will recommend Monginis online cake shop, because they have a vast varieties of cakes offering online delivery.
Kaitlin.
Since I've never made a Swiss meringue butter cream before, I decided it would be best to do a trial run with it. So happy I did. The meringue itself turned out perfectly, but as soon as it came to adding the butter, it went down hill. I think I got a little to excited, and whipped it on a higher speed, but it over whipped and turned into this gross cottage cheese curdled type texture. I tried both suggestions on saving it, neither worked. On what speed did you have the mixer on when you added the butter? I was using a kitchen aid mixer, and had it on about 6-7, I think that was a little too high. Overall I'm really excited to have this all turn out, I hope.
hannahhossack
You need to have the mixer on a low speed when you add the butter, curdling is normal - it's just part of the process, you are creating an emulsion and it can take a long time! You just need to keep whipping it and it will come back together (eventually), may I ask how long you whipped it for? And was your butter soft or was it still a bit firm? Here's a link to a handy tutorial with some step by step photos https://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
I hope you manage to master it! 🙂
Kaitlin
Yeah I didn't do that. I think I had it going for all of five minutes on high. I'm not going to do that today though. As it the article you just gave me so nicely wrote I "broke it, and it gave me the finger". Fingers crossed it works second time around, I need to finish this cake tonight. 🙂
hannahhossack
Five minutes isn't very long to whip it for, I've had to whip it for half an hour before to get it to come together! Hope it works out for you today!
Kaitlin
I fallowed the directions in that link. Let it mix on low for a little over an hour, it still got all weird and curdled, so I microwaved about a cup, poured it back in, and it came together. This is probably the most delicious fluffy, salty, caramely goodness I've ever made! I'm 100% going to be making this again!
hannahhossack
I'm glad it worked out for you 🙂 SMB is so much better than standard buttercream! It can just be a bit awkward to make...
natalie
I cant get my buttercream to be thick. It seems too runny. once I put another cake on, it all oozed out the sides.
hannahhossack
Swiss meringue buttercream should be quite thick...perhaps try refrigerating it for half an hour or so?
Sinea Pies (Ducks 'n a Row)
This gorgeous cake is featured today in my roundup "10 Cakes That Could Win A Beauty Contest" You have created a real work of art!
hannahhossack
Thank you! And thank you for featuring it 🙂
Kellie
Double cream in the uk is similar to heavy whipping cream? Also castor sugar is regular white sugar correct?
hannahhossack
Yes, double cream is heavy whipping cream, caster sugar is superfine white sugar
Ginger
I'm making this cake for the first time. Does it need to be refrigerated after its made? I've read all reviews , is there any other tip I need? Thanks Ginger
hannahhossack
No, it doesn't need to be refrigerated unless you live somewhere very warm! If this is your first time making swiss meringue buttercream I recommend having a look at this guide first so you can get a feel for how it should look: http://whisk-kid.com/2010/08/how-to-make-swiss-meringue-buttercream.html
Sheena
Can I cook this in 4 pans rather than cutting the layers in half?
hannahhossack
Yes that should be fine, but bear in mind that they will cook much quicker.
Rosie
Hi,
This recipe sounds amazing and I'm going to make it as a thank you cake! I was just wondering if I made the whole cake the night before and left it refridgerated if it would be okay? Or do you recommend doing the butter cream and ganche fresh?
Thanks 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you! That would be fine 🙂 it will keep well for a few days at room temperature if it's not too warm; or if you do choose to put it in the fridge just let it come up to room temperature before you serve it or the buttercream will be hard .
Rosie
I made the cake and it turned out amazing! Thank you for this recipe!! 🙂
hannahhossack
Fantastic! I'm so glad you liked it 🙂
Dan
Hi Hannah,
Just wanted to say thanks for this. I made this (minus the salt) for my birthday shout at work. It met with universal acclaim!
Cheers!
Dan
hannahhossack
Fantastic! So happy you liked it and thank you for the great feedback!
Kieran
Hi Hannah,
My wife demanded this cake for her birthday so I had to give it a go! I was worried about the caramel and the buttercream, both went smoothly, it was the ganache gave me dreadful trouble; no matter what I did it refused to whip and ended up more like a thick chocolate sauce that would have run off the cake. I ended up having to use icing sugar to thicken it, which worked but was more like fudge frosting than ganache, which wasn't what I wanted (I would have used Betty Crockers frosting if that was what I was after...).
My question is: does the type of chocolate matter (I used 74% cocoa plain chocolate) for the ganache? It's the only thing I can think of as I followed the recipe closely, as far as I know...
hannahhossack
Hmmm, you've got me utterly stumped by that one I'm afraid...the type of chocolate shouldn't affect the ganache at all, and I've never had an issue with it whipping, and even if it didn't whip it should have thickened as it cooled...May I ask what kind of cream you used? And did you allow the ganache to cool before you whipped it?
Debra
Hi Kieran,
I am in Arizona in the US. I have been a cake decorator for over 20 years. I have had this happen twice when making ganache, both times during our summer monsoon season when it was VERY humid. To avoid this, I make my ganache in the morning and not on days when humidity is high. I don't know if this is why your ganache did not work, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to mention it. Good luck in the future.
Debra
Sally
Thank you for this incredible recipe. The detail in the method made it incredible easy. The cake was delicious, light and fudgy and perfectly balanced with the buttercream and ganache. I have always been a bit suspicious about Swiss meringue buttercream but you made it sound so forgiving. The taste is sublime, particularly with the salted caramel. This will be on my favourites list for quite a while.
hannahhossack
Thank you so much for your fantastic review and kind words Sally 🙂 I am really pleased that you liked it, it is always nice when someone makes one of my recipes and gives such great feedback!
Amelia Fairfax
I made this cake this weekend. Excellent recipe with clear, easy to follow, instructions. Turned out really well, and looks very impressive. My family loved it. Thank you.
hannahhossack
Thanks Amelia 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Orla Caulfield
How much salted caramel do you need to put into the SMBC?
hannahhossack
6 tbsp, the amount is listed in the ingredients.
Marita
Hello!
Would you change the bake time and or temp if using a 9 inch pan?
I only have 1 pan that is 9 inch so I would have to do this in 2 batches. Would the batter be okay if it sat while the other half baked?
Thanks!
hannahhossack
Hi Marita, don't change the temperature, but the cakes will probably bake a little quicker since they will be thinner, check after 25 minutes and just keep an eye on them. I haven't tried leaving the batter to sit, though generally it isn't a good idea to leave it as the raising agent begins working as soon as you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. If I were you I would either divide the recipe in half and just make half of the cake mix at a time or invest in another pan! Hope that helps, Hannah
Kathy
Do you prefer that your items are not pinned to Pinterest? I pinned this to my cake board and they removed it for copyright issues of the same thing on another board. I do not want to upset anyone but I notice that you do have a pin button on the side of your blog so I was wondering what went wrong. I will stop pinning your items if you do not want that to happen.
Thanks,
Kathy
hannahhossack
Hi Kathy, I am so sorry, Pinterest has removed all of my pins of the cake as well, I certainly didn't report it, I love people pinning my stuff! I've contacted them and am just waiting to hear back... Hannah
Sera
Oh hey great to know that when we try to save the recipe on our pinterest page through a web link that still gives you all the credit that you apply through the copyright act to have it removed, but hey that's great there's plenty of people out there still willing to let us pin recipes the way we like while still crediting the creators for it and providing them with free advertising so I guess I'll only be using those recipes now since you clearly don't want anyone to know about yours.
By the way if that's the way you really feel about it take down your website to start with and stop screwing people around.
I will be going through and deleting anything that has to do with you and your recipes that I have ever shared anywhere
hannahhossack
Hi Sera, I didn't report the pin, I have had all of my own pins of the cake removed by Pinterest as well and I am fuming.