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
Emma
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for my brother's birthday and it went down really well so thanks! My cakes also took about 50mins but they turned out great 🙂
pragati
no way I can ever bake this gorgeous thing so I am just going to drool 🙂
Thamasha
Hi! This looks absolutely amazing! I was thinking of making this for my friends birthday but maybe with three chocolate and two meringue layers instead of four and three - any idea how I would adjust the measurements??
hannahhossack
I would try baking the cake in three 15cm/6in tins rather than two 20cm ones, that should work fine.
tish
Made this for my mum had never made any of the components of the recipe be four but turned out a hit was great and love this recipe
hannahhossack
Thanks Tish 🙂 I'm glad you liked it!
Paula
I'm making this today! I'm not attempting the caramel, but using store bought salted to save a little stress. We are really looking forward to this!
hannahhossack
I don't blame you for buying the caramel, it is a bit of hassle to make your own! Hope you enjoyed the cake 🙂
Helen
Considering making this for my parents 50th wedding cake, but adding some spun toffee decorations on the top and just bringing the sauce (for travel purposes). How many people do you think this would serve? There will about 25 people.
hannahhossack
Hi Helen, it serves 12, though could probably stretch to 16 if you have very thin slices; I don't think it would be enough for 25 people though. I like the sound of the spun toffee decorations!
Helen
Thank you so much for reply. Hmmm, now I need to decide whether to make two cakes, one larger cake, or some cupcakes...
hannahhossack
A tough choice!
Maria
Made this yesterday and finished if off today as a birthday cake - lots of different components to make but well worth the effort. Everyone really enjoyed it - excellent instructions. Thank you
Annick
Hi! Today was my first attempt on this delicious cake, it turned out almost perfect! The only problem I had is that my caramel was to runny, therefor it didn't 'stick' as well on the ganache. So the layer of caramel on top op the cake was very thin and you could see through it. Do you have any ideas how I can make it less runny? Thanks!!
hannahhossack
Hi Annick, I'm sorry to hear that, did you use double (heavy) dairy cream for the caramel? It should be fairly runny when hot then get quite thick when it is cold, was it warm when you poured it over the cake? If it is too runny you can stick it in the fridge for a bit until it thickens up. If you are still having problems with it you can add a bit less cream to the caramel which will make it thicker, although I usually use the same ratio of cream to sugar as in this recipe and have never experienced any problems with it. Hope that helps!
Annick
Thanks for your reply! Over here in the Netherlands we don't have double cream so I used a mixture of mascarpone and normal cream, which is what I usually do. I think adding less cream will help, I will give it a try!
hannahhossack
Ah ok, that explains it! Double cream has a fat content of 48% which means that the caramel will become much thicker than if made with a lower fat content cream. Also the combination of heat and sugar may make the mascarpone go runny, although I don't have any experience in using it this way. Try using the highest fat content cream you can find (I read that you can get a whipping cream equivalent, about 35% fat content) and reduce the quantity a little, replacing it with extra butter which will increase the fat content; I would try 180ml whipping cream and 130g butter.
den
thank you for this delicious recipe. i just assembled the cake and waiting for the ganache to cool. A question: how did you get so much filling in between the layers? i had barely enough and my layers are really thin
hannahhossack
Hi Den, I'm honestly not sure what's gone wrong here, the quantities given in the recipe are exactly the same as I used. Without seeing what you did I'm afraid it is impossible to give a solution, did you use 20cm/8in cake tins or were yours larger? I apologise that I can't be of more help!
April
PLEASE HELP...I'm planning on making this for my daughter's 16th birthday, at her request. Double cream is not available here in the states....what can I do? I hear that our "heavy cream" wouldn't work.
April
Well, I just went back and read more of the previous comments. I'll try the Heavy whipping cream. Wish me luck! 🙂
hannahhossack
Hi April, I see no reason why heavy cream wouldn't work, it does have a slightly lower fat content than double cream but I have made caramel with British whipping cream (about the same fat content as heavy cream) successfully before. If you are worried you can swap some of the cream for extra butter to up the fat content, about 180ml of cream and 130g butter. Hope that helps!
Beverly
I made it for a family dinner and it was the star of the show. The buttercream was tricky (I think I should have let it cooled longer)but it worked out just fine. I will definitely go for round 2 sometime soon! Thanks for sharig this very detailed recipe.
hannahhossack
Thanks Beverly! So glad you enjoyed it! The buttercream can be a little tricky but it is very forgiving 🙂
AlehaA
Am making this cake for my husbands birthday and so far the cakes look beautiful but the caramel sauce is a bit of a hassle. I have made it three times and still no luck. My water and sugar isn't turning amber and is getting super thick to the point of becoming almost like a crystallized version. How long does it normally take? and when you say not stirring but swirling the pan do you mean taking the pan by the handles and lifting it up to make a swirling motion of the liquid? I want to try one more time before moving on to the buttercream, but don't know how long I should go at it! Thanks!!
hannahhossack
Hi! Caramel does take a bit of practice to get the hang of, and it can take a while for it to caramelise, you just need to be patient with it and watch it closely. It will sometimes become thick before it re-melts, this is just the water evaporating, it will melt again and turn into caramel. This video is quite useful and shows the technique for brushing down the sugar crystals and swirling the pan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4P8xwS3IAg I hope that helps and it works out for you! 🙂
Adi Bean
Oh moy goodness this cake is divine. I just finished making it for the third time tonight. Thank you so much for a great party go to cake. My family and I love it!
Ernesta
Made this cake last year for my birthday. It was the best cake I ever made. Making again this year just in 2 weeks. For my 30th celebration
hannahhossack
Oh fantastic! So glad you like the cake, and Happy Birthday for two weeks time!
Kelli
This cake looks absolutely amazing! My church group always expects me to bake something yummy for us. I'm going to make this cake but make the cake gluten free as one has celiac disease. Wish me luck!! Italian buttercream and salted caramel are my favorite!! Thanks for the recipe!!
hannahhossack
Thanks Kelli 🙂 Good luck making it gluten free!
Michelle
I'd love to do this recipe but I only have a 10 inch round tin and a 6 inch round tin. Is there any way I could make it work? I don't mind baking twice (if using the 10 inch tin or using the 6 inch).
Just wondering if there is an easy way to revise the measurements a little to make it work?
hannahhossack
That's a tricky one, there's no easy way to revise the measurements and it is best not to leave half of the batter sitting around while you bake the other half as the raising agents begin to work as soon as you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. You could divide the recipe in half and make it in two goes... If you use the 10 inch tin you can make a fairly thin two layer cake. If your 6 inch tin is deep-ish you can use that one and make a tall four layer cake. Really I would advise investing in a few more cake tins though, they don't need to be expensive ones so long as you grease and line them well.
Michelle
Could I substitute Kosher Salt for Sea Salt Flakes for the Salted Caramel?
hannahhossack
Hi Michelle, we don't really have kosher salt in the UK so I've never used it before. You can use most kinds of salt for the caramel so long as they will dissolve, but the amount you will need to use will vary depending on the grain size. My advice is to add the salt a little at a time, tasting as you go until the caramel tastes right to you.
Natalie
This cake is divine and as much as my husband and I would like to eat half each, it's not really a good idea lol. Do you think this could be sliced up and frozen?
hannahhossack
Haha! It is a little bit large for two people! Yes you can slice it up and freeze it, make sure that it is well wrapped so that it doesn't become dry; then when you want to eat some, just let it thaw at room temperature.
Tatiana
Tell me please, what percent of double creame need for cake and ganache?
hannahhossack
Hi Tatiana, I'm not sure I understand your question, do you mean what fat percentage should the cream be? If that is the case then the cream I use has a fat percentage of 48%
Courtney
Although it took me forever to make, your directions made everything perfectly and the cake turned out awesome! Great recipe!
hannahhossack
Haha! It certainly isn't the quickest cake to make...but it is worth the effort! So glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the great feedback 🙂