Chocolate Caramel Toffee Cake

Chocolate Caramel Toffee Cake

Cake.

• • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

  • 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey's Special Dark or another Dutched cocoa)

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt

  • 4 large eggs

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1 cup vegetable oil

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Buttercream.

• • 2 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey's Special Dark, or another unsweetened cocoa, but it does not have to be Dutched)

  • 1 tablespoon meringue powder (optional)

  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt

  • 1/4 cup prepared caramel sauce

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 1/2 cup half-n-half

Filling.

• • 1/3 - 1/2 cup prepared caramel sauce

  • 1/2 cup toffee bits

Cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to make sure everything is well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and whisk for about one minute, until combined and mostly free of lumps. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.

Bake the cakes for about 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely.

Buttercream.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, meringue powder and salt, and mix on low to combine. Add the caramel sauce and vanilla. Whip on medium speed, adding the half-n-half as needed to thin out the consistency, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy.

Assembly.

Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Place one cake on a cake board or cake pedestal. Frost with a layer of the buttercream. Sprinkle with half the toffee, then drizzle with half of the caramel sauce. Repeat with the second layer of cake, more buttercream, toffee and caramel, and the last layer of cake. Frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream, then refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill the crumb coat.

Frost the top of the cake with a final layer of buttercream. Fit a piping bag with a medium rose tip (#104) and fill with the buttercream. Lightly score vertical lines around the cake using the tip of a knife to mark even rows. Pipe vertical rows of ruffles, starting at the bottom and ending at the top, all the way around the cake.

Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen