This was my first attempt at baking an entire cake from scratch using British weight measures instead of ‘cups’ and I feel a bit bold but unashamed in saying that this Dark Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Cake was a delicious success! An easy recipe from BBC Good Food site, of course with a little whisky thrown in for measure. And can I just say OMG over this Nestle Carnation canned Caramel sauce!!! A can worthy of worship, as we have nothing like this that I’ve seen back in the U.S.
Being an American ‘sheltering-in-place’ at her boyfriend’s bachelor pad flat, sometimes cooking can be a challenge. Only 2 1/2 feet of counter space, no hand mixer, questionably sharp knives, an electric hob, no extra dishes for service or presentation… if you’re a cook you understand my challenges! But over the past few weeks, I would not change a single moment of it, having the opportunity to cook daily for someone else, creating deliciousness for me and my “quarantine buddy”, enlarging our waistlines together as we wait to be able to go back out and enjoy the world.
Click this blue link for a handy article for British to US baking conversions from AllRecipes that I use often.
Dark Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Cake
Ingredients
- 200 g white sugar
- 200 g butter, softened
- 4 lg eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp whisky, something smooth to sip
- 2 tbsp milk
- 200 g self rising flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 can Carnation caramel or make your own!
Frosting
- 100 g chocolate chips
- 100 g butter
- 200 g powder sugar
- 3 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp whisky
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 pinch coarse, sea salt for topper
Instructions
Cake
- Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Butter the base and sides of two round cake pans and line the bases with baking parchment.
- In a large bowl, beat together sugar, softened unsalted butter, until creamy. Then add eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract, whisky & milk. Mix together the self-raising flour, cocoa powder, baking powder & a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter. Then combine the dry mix into the butter sugar mix.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- Melt the chips on medium low heat until melty, then turn off heat and add butter.
- Mix powder sugar and cocoa in a seperate bowl and then add into the melted chocolate mixture. Then add whisky and stir in well. Then finally add milk, you'll notice at this point a nice sheen to the frosting.
Cake Assembly
- Spread caramel between the cake layers.
- Ice the top of the cake with the frosting.
- Dust the top with coarse sea salt.
- Indulge with a side glass of whisky!
