This is hands down the best caramel cake I’ve ever had! It consists of super moist vanilla brown sugar cake layers, topped with a luscious and deep flavored caramel frosting that isn’t sickly sweet. This is a Southern style caramel cake recipe – a caramel lovers DREAM cake!
Why You’ll Love This Caramel Cake
My number one problem when it comes to caramel cakes, is that they’re usually way too sweet! What I love about this recipe (and what I think you’ll love!) is that the caramel isn’t overly sweet, and doesn’t compromise on caramel flavor AT ALL!
Caramel Frosting
The caramel frosting used for this recipe is the type used in Southern caramel cake recipes, which involves cooking down a combination of butter, sugar and evaporated milk, until you reach a thick, golden brown caramel sauce. You then add in cream to thin it out so you can use it as a frosting.
The process does take a bit of time (the total time on average is about an hour), but TRUST ME it is so worth it. I tried different types of caramel icing when developing this recipe, and this Southern style was by far the winner! It has a complex caramel flavor without being sickly sweet.
Cake Layers
This recipe uses vanilla brown sugar cake layers as the base. It’s a super moist, rich and buttery yellow cake, similar to my vanilla cake recipe, but with even more buttery flavour. The addition of brown sugar gives the cake a subtle caramel flavour (similar to my coffee cake and spice cake recipe) without it being overpowering – which really allows the frosting to shine!
For this recipe I used sour cream to give the cake layers a super tender crumb! You can substitute the sour cream with plain, unsweetened yoghurt or buttermilk if you can’t easily find it.
How to Make Caramel Cake
Caramel Cake Layers
First is the cake batter. Begin by Preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on and grease or line (with parchment paper) two 8 inch cake pans (I use my homemade cake release). If your oven doesn’t have a fan option, then you will need to increase the baking temperature to 175°C/350°F.
Sift together all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
In a large mixing bowl combine butter, vegetable oil, white sugar and brown sugar. Using an electric mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Next add in sour cream and vanilla and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding in half of your premixed flour mixture to your wet ingredients, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the milk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 28- 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the caramel.
Caramel Cake Frosting
Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add in butter, sugar, evaporated milk and salt. Allow everything to melt together and come to a simmer, stirring continuously. Once simmering, turn the heat down to a low-medium heat.
Allow the caramel to thicken up slowly for about an hour, stirring every few minutes to make sure the caramel isn’t burning. Be sure to check on it more frequently once it starts to thicken up as this is when it is more prone to burning. Once it is thick (see video for visual), and a deep golden brown colour, add in the cream and vanilla. Stir until the caramle is smooth, and then immediately pour it into a heat proof dish.
Allow the caramel to cool for about 25 minutes before frosting the cake. You still want the caramel to be slightly warm and runny when frosting the cake, as it sets up quickly once you come to using it.
Assembly
Once cakes are cooled, level the tops with a serrated knife so that the cake layers are flat.
Place the first cake layer onto your cake stand/serving platter and place a generous amount of the caramel frosting on top and smooth it out with an offset spatula or knife.
Place your next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more caramel frosting. Once the caramel starts to set up, you will notice it become shiny. You can run an offset spatula or knife gently on top of the shiny caramel and this will make everything super smooth! Decorate as you wish and enjoy!
Commonly Asked Questions
How do you store caramel cake?
This caramel cake can be left out at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days. After that it should be refrigerated and will last up to a week.
What do I do if my caramel is too thin?
If your caramel frosing is too thin and not setting up when you come to frosting the cake, it most likely just needs time to cool down further and firm up a bit more. Let it cool for another 20 minutes or so and this should do the trick. If it’s still not setting up when frosting the cake layers, then it means that you need to reduce the caramel over a stove top further.
What is my caramel too thick?
If the caramel is too thick, it’s most likely due to the caramel cooling down a bit too much before using it to frost the cake. Remember you still want the caramel to be slightly warm and runny when it comes to frosting the cake. If it’s too thick, simply heat up the caramel slightly, or you can also mix in a little more cream to thin it out.
Why is my caramel very gummy and chewy once set?
If the caramel is very hard to eat, it means the caramel was overheated when the frosting was being made. Be sure to only cook the caramel until it thickens in consistency (see video for visual demonstration), and take it off the heat once the cream is mixed in.
Moist Caramel Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Caramel Cake
- 2 cups (250 g) flour - plain, all purpose
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2½ tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup (55 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) soft light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract/essence
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream - room temperature
- ½ cup (120 g) milk - full fat, room temperature
Caramel Frosting
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temp
- 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 cups (510 g) evaporated milk - 1 and 1/2 12 ounce (340g) cans
- ¼ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ⅓ cup (80 g) cream - room temp, any cream (whipping, heavy cream, etc.) will work
- 1½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
Instructions
Caramel Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 1 if you don't have a fan function) and grease or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
- In a large bowl combine butter, vegetable oil, white sugar and brown sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Next add in sour cream and vanilla and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the milk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 28- 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the caramel.
Caramel Frosting
- Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add in butter, sugar, evaporated milk and salt. Allow everything to melt together and come to a simmer, stirring continuously. Once simmering, turn the heat down to a low-medium heat.
- Allow the caramel to thicken up slowly for about an hour, stirring every few minutes to make sure the caramel isn't burning. Be sure to check on it more frequently once it starts to thicken up as this is when it is more prone to burning. Once it is thick (see video for visual), and a deep golden brown colour, add in the cream and vanilla. Stir until the caramle is smooth, and then immediately pour it into a heat proof dish.
- Allow the caramel to cool for about 25 minutes before frosting the cake. You still want the caramel to be slightly warm and runny when frosting the cake, as it sets up quickly once you come to using it (see note 4 if caramel is too thick).
Assembly
- Once cakes are cooled, level the tops with a serrated knife so that the cake layers are flat.
- Place the first cake layer onto your cake stand/serving platter and place a generous amount of the caramel frosting on top and smooth it out with an offset spatula or knife.
- Place your next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more caramel frosting (see note 5 if caramel is too thin and not setting up). Once the caramel starts to set up, you will notice it become shiny. You can run an offset spatula or knife gently on top of the shiny caramel and this will make everything super smooth! Decorate as you wish and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
113 Comments
I forgot to add the oil to the recipe!! Not sure how it tastes as it’s for daughter’s birthday tomorrow!! Do you think it’s going to affect the taste??
Hi Sharon! Oil does provide additional moisture to the cake so the cake may not be as moist, but hopefully it doesn’t make too much of a difference as the caramel frosting should help add extra moisture 🙂
Hi just wondering if this recipe is suitable for cupcakes? and if the frosting can be piped on top?
Love your recipes
Hi Sheila! 🙂 Yes you can totally use the cake recipe for cupcakes, although I’m not sure if the frosting will be great for piping. You could use the frosting as a filling in the cupcake, and then fold some of the caramel into a regular buttercream (like this recipe of mine), for a more stable and pipeable frosting 🙂
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes 😀
Tried the cake! It wasn’t too sweet but I thought the caramel was too milky although I was scared I’d burn it so I probably didn’t let it brown enough towards the end. I did love the cake recipe on its own though and would make that again. So yummy and nostalgic! Thank you!
Hi Fatima! Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 yes so with the caramel it needs to be a deep brown colour and very thick towards the end before you add the cream, that will give it a wonderful caramel flavour 🙂 nonetheless glad you still enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback!
How can I make it eggless?
Hi Prachi! Unfortunately I haven’t tried this recipe without eggs myself so can’t recommend any substitutes at this point sorry! You could use my eggless vanilla cake recipe and substitute some of the white sugar with brown sugar, and then make the caramel frosting and continue with the recipe as normal 🙂
How do I know how much of each ingredient I should be using. I can’t find an detail recipe
Hi Judy! The recipe card with the full list of ingredients and written instructions are at the bottom of the blog post 🙂 you can also get there quickly by clicking the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the blog post. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hello! I want to make this cake today for my husband’s birthday. I only have 9in pans. How do I adjust the oven temp and back time for this?
Hi Autumn! My apologies for the delay in reply. For 9 inch pans you would simply reduce the cooking time (I would check the cakes about 7 minutes earlier than the stated cooking time). Oven temp will stay the same. Hope that helps for next time 🙂
Sounds dillicious
Thanks so much Elsie! 🙂
Would cake flour work for this caramel cake as plain flour is not readily available here by us? Thank you.
Hi Yvonne! 🙂 Cake flour should work fine – but you would want to replace both the all purpose flour and cornstarch with cake flour 🙂 hope you enjoy the recipe!
My name is Kelebogile i like baking so much and I don’t know how to bake
Hello Kelebogile! So glad to hear you love baking 🙂 to learn more I would recommend checking out some of my baking tip videos on YouTube to get started, they’ll help with some key baking tips to help with your baking journey 🙂 here is a link to one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRy1KuFMdOo
All the best!
Will this caramel cake work using cake flour as all purpose flour is not readily available by us? Thank you.
Hi Yvonne! Yes cake flour should work fine, but you would want to replace both the flour and cornstarch in this recipe with cake flour. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂