Caramel cake with white chocolate frosting would make anyone’s day. It also makes a perfect birthday cake.
A few truths I hold to be self-evident: a daily dose chocolate promotes happiness; say “please” and “thank you;” you are never to old for a birthday cake. The third tenant is particularly when the cake happens to be Caramel Cake with White Chocolate Frosting.
I baked this Caramel Cake with White Chocolate Frosting for my sweet mother-in-law’s birthday. Out of respect, I won’t list her age, but trust me—she’s timeless and looks great. (No, she did not pay me to write that.) White chocolate is one of her favorite flavors, and thus Caramel Cake with White Chocolate Frosting came to be.
If the idea of making caramel intimidates you, fear not. Making caramel cake does not actually involve making caramel. You don’t even need to fuss with unwrapping and melting store-bought caramels. Instead, we use deep dark brown sugar and butter in the cake batter, the two building blocks of caramel. When baked together, the flavors fuse to create a warm, wonderful caramel taste.
Topping our fluffy caramel cake layers, we have a halo of immaculate white chocolate frosting. Friends, I ate so much of this frosting with a spoon, I had nearly run out when the time came to frost the cake. Be wary. Know thy self. Or just make extra.
For the best white chocolate frosting, be sure that you use real, good quality white chocolate. Many cheap imposters call themselves white chocolate, but the ingredient list will reveal the truth. Look for cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla. Do you see corn syrup, soy lecithen, and palm kernel oil instead? Put that bar down—it’s a white chocolate imposter. This special cake is worth springing for Ghirardelli. Another word to the wise: use a chocolate bar versus chocolate chips.
Since stopping at once slice of this tender, tantalizing cake is virtually impossible, I snuck some whole wheat flour into the batter, so feel free to serve yourself an extra slice. That extra helping is for the fiber, naturally.
Whether you bake Caramel Cake with White Chocolate Frosting for a special occasion or just because it’s Tuesday night and you can, you’ll love the combination of flavors in this light, fluffy cake.
Need more stealthy healthy dessert ideas? Try Erin’s healthy peanut butter cookie recipe and Rachel’s black bean brownies recipe too.
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Caramel Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar packed
- 7 tablespoons Butter at room temperature
- 2 large Egg at room temperature
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 cup Milk at room temperature
- 8 ounces 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
- 4 ounces White Baking Chocolate melted and cooled (do not use white chocolate chips)
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 3 sifted cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Place rack in the center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2, 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, then line the bottoms with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper with cooking spray and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
- Prepare the cake: In a large mixing bowl, beat the dark brown sugar and butter at medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until well incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisking well. Add one-third of the flour mixture to sugar mixture, then 1/2 cup milk, then the next third of the flour mixture, remaining milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture. Beat gently after each addition until well combined.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and sharply tap pans once on counter to remove any air pockets. Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, rotating the pans’ position once halfway through. Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then gently remove the cakes from pans. Remove wax paper. Allow cakes to cool completely on wire rack.
- Prepare the frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed. Beat in melted white chocolate and vanilla. On low speed, slowly beat in the powdered sugar, until combined. Frost and assemble cake.