Gorgeously lofty, with three layers of dark chocolate cake, smothered with rich fudgy frosting, creamy caramel, and crispy salted pecans.
Ingredients
for the cake:
1large egg
⅔c.vegetable oil
1c.buttermilk
2c.flour
1.75c.sugar
½c.good quality cocoa
1tsp.salt
1T.baking soda
1c.hot coffee
for the frosting:
½c.milk
1c.sugar
6T.unsalted butter
2c.good quality semisweet chocolate chipsI like Guittard!
¾c.caramelI used my favorite caramel from a jar, by Tastefully Simple.
1.5c.toasted and salted pecansI like the ones from Trader Joe’s.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease three 9″ round cake pans. Cover each bottom with a disk of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine egg, oil, and buttermilk. In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry until well mixed. Slowly add the hot coffee. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cakes rest in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To make the frosting, mix milk and sugar in a saucepan. Add butter. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips to the pan. Using a wire whisk, mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick or grainy, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of hot coffee.
To assemble the cake, place one cooled cake layer, top side down, on a cake plate. Spread with one-third of the frosting, pushing it out gently from the edges to make a petal effect. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans, drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel. Add next cake layer, again top side down. Repeat with the same measurements of frosting, pecans, and caramel. Add final cake layer, top side up, and frost with petal effect and finish with remaining pecans and caramel.
Notes
adapted from the Famous Turtle Cake found at Cafe Latté in St. Paul, MN
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.