Chocolate Caramel Toffee Cake You’ll Love
Moist chocolate cake layers with salted caramel filling, silky buttercream, and a glossy caramel drip. A bakery‑style showstopper that’s surprisingly doable for home bakers.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 32 mins
- Total Time: 2 hrs
- Yield: 12–14
Ingredients
– 2 cups all‑purpose flour
– 1¾ cups granulated sugar
– ¾ cup Dutch‑process cocoa powder
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1½ tsp baking soda
– 1 tsp fine salt
– 2 large eggs, room temp
– 1 cup buttermilk
– ½ cup neutral oil
– 1 cup hot coffee
– 2 tsp vanilla extract
– 1½ cups soft caramels or thick caramel sauce
– ¾ cup heavy cream
– 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
– 3 cups powdered sugar
– Flaky sea salt
– Optional: toffee bits, mini pretzels
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350°F; line 8‑inch pans.
2. Whisk dry ingredients. Whisk wet; add hot coffee.
3. Combine wet into dry; divide batter; bake 28–32 min.
4. Cool, de‑pan, and chill layers.
5. Warm caramels with cream; salt to taste; cool to spreadable.
6. Beat butter; add sugar; blend in a little caramel.
7. Stack with buttercream dam and caramel filling; crumb‑coat; chill.
8. Frost smooth; pour controlled caramel drip; garnish as desired.
Notes
Chill the frosted cake before dripping caramel. Test one drip first to gauge flow. Bring to cool room temp before slicing.