Southern Caramel Layer Cake

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You may recall that this past Sunday was a birthday, and it featured a special Sunday dinner menu. Since we enjoyed his favorite lamb roast for that dinner, I put his other favorite, Southern Fried Chicken, on the menu for his actual birthday. When you serve a Southern chicken classic, you certainly need to serve a classic Southern cake for dessert.  

This is a basic buttermilk cake with a sweet caramel frosting. The cake calls for self-rising flour, which makes the prep a little easier. I must note that if you use White Lily self-rising flour, as I do, you will need to add an additional 6 tablespoons of self-rising flour to the recipe.  

The frosting, oh the frosting…You start out by making a caramel sauce (reserving some for garnish) and then use it as a base for the buttercream. I prefer a nice, fluffy frosting over a spreadable one, so I whip the frosting until it’s light and fluffy. Alternatively, you can simply mix the frosting until smooth, then allow it to set until it becomes spreadable. Either way you make it, it will be very good. A garnish of toasted pecans adds a touch of texture and provides a savory balance to the sweetness of the frosting. So channel your inner y’all and make this cake!

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Southern Caramel Layer Cake

By Nicole

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Cooling Time: 1 hour hr

Total: 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Servings: 16

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A classic Southern buttermilk cake with sinfully sweet caramel frosting!

Equipment

• Stand mixer
• 9-inch round cake pans

Ingredients 

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For the Cake

• ▢ 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 2 cups granulated sugar
• ▢ 4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• ▢ 3 cups self-rising flour, if using White Lily add an additional 6 tablespoons of flour
• ▢ 1 cup whole buttermilk
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Caramel Frosting

• ▢ 2 cups granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ▢ 4 ounces (½ cup) cold, unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 cup hot heavy cream
• ▢ Pinch of Kosher salt
• ▢ ⅓ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 6 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted

Garnish

• ▢ ¾ cup toasted pecans

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Instructions 

For the Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with non-stick baking spray and line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour to the butter mixture in thirds, alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the vanilla. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula.
• Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans, discard parchment paper, and let cool completely on wire racks.

For the Caramel Frosting

• Place the sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the water and corn syrup. Pour the water mixture over the sugar, stirring just until moistened. Cook, without stirring, over medium heat heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, without stirring, until mixture is golden brown. (While caramel cooks, brush any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.) Remove from the heat. Add the cold butter and stir until melted. Slowly add the hot cream (mixture will foam), stirring until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla. (If mixture does not get smooth, cook over low heat, stirring until smooth.) Set aside and let mixture cool until slightly warm, at least 1 hour. Reserve 1/3 cup of caramel to drizzle over the assembled cake.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the caramel and softened butter until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.
• Spread the frosting between layers and top and sides of the cake layers. Drizzle with the reserved caramel sauce. Garnish with toasted pecans. Enjoy!

Notes

The cake calls for self-rising flour, which makes the prep a little easier.  If you use White-Lily self-rising flour, you will need to add an additional 6 Tablespoons of self-rising flour to the recipe.  

Nutrition

Calories: 823kcal, Carbohydrates: 116g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 40g, Saturated Fat: 23g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 136mg, Sodium: 88mg, Potassium: 103mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 98g, Vitamin A: 1191IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 50mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @thegalleygourmet or tag #thegalleygourmet!