I love birthdays.
There’s no better excuse to make and devour a cake…especially chocolate cake.
It was my mom’s birthday. She was 26 (again). 😉
Since it coincided with my first trip to Trader Joes and it was only natural for me to use TJ’s goodies for the cake.
And thanks to Lauren, I went out of my comfort zone and made her excellent Salted Caramel Frosting.
The cake was so moist and the frostings were exquisite. Oh My Goodness.
Make this for your mom’s next birthday and she’ll feel 26! 😉
Salted Caramel & Chocolate Cake
frosting slightly adapted from Keep It Sweet
Ingredients
- Trader Joe’s Chocolate Cake Box Mix
- long strand of floss
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 8 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 Trader Joe’s Salted Caramel
- Trader Joe’s Chocolate Frosting Box Mix
- Chocolate sprinkles
How-To
- Mix and bake the chocolate cake as per the box’s instructions in two 9″ pans.
- When the cake comes out of the oven and has cooled completely, take them out of the pans.
- Gently lay the floss directly halfway up the side of the first layer (so that when you pull the floss through it cuts the cake layer in half). After you’ve outlined the entire circumference of the cake, pull the two ends of the floss together until it has made it through the entire cake, cutting it perfectly in half. Repeat with the other cake layer.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salted caramel until light and fluffy. You may have to scrape the sides and mix some more.
- Place a small bit of the icing on a pretty plate so that the bottom layer won’t slide.
- Lay one cake layer (out of the now 4 layers) on the cake plate.
- Visually divide the salted caramel frosting in fourths.
- Spread 1/4 of the frosting on top of the first cake layer.
- Repeat with the other layers, spreading the last 1/4 of the frosting on the top of the cake.
- Place the cake in the freezer for about 1 hour for the cake and frosting to stiffen.
- Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate frosting according to the package’s instructions.
- Spread the chocolate frosting on the sides of the cake, and top the cake with sprinkles.
- Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve.
Your cake looks amazing! How did the TJ’s chocolate cake mix turn out? I’ve never tried it!
It was super easy and amazingly moist! I wish I had the recipe for the mix! 😉
Yum! This looks great!
salted caramel + chocolate = perfection! this cake looks simply wonderful!
Confession: sometimes I eat TJ’s Fleur De Sel Caramel Sauce on a spoon for breakfast.
I’ve never heard of cutting cake with floss before but it’s genius! I’m definitely doing it next time I make a layer cake.
I love that. I do believe you’ve giving me a great idea for breakfast tomorrow…don’t know how thrilled the husband will be, but it sure will be good!!! 😉
YUM!!! You’ve combined two of my favorite flavors into my favorite dessert:cake! Nice job on the finish as well.
Yum… This looks delicious!!!! Salted Caramel and Chocolate, a pair made in heaven…… I want a slice of this now. I too love Birthdays, they are one of the best reason to bake a cake I feel….
I think I love you! I am kind of weird when it comes to cake. I make a lot of them, and prefer to make the cake itself from a box mix, but make the frosting from scratch. To me that makes the best cake! But I don’t see that done a lot in the blogosphere so it did my heart good to see I’m not totally alone. I love layer cakes, they’re so impressive, and yours is especially so! Great job! I love the sound of salted caramel buttercream on a chocolate cake. Whoa, Nelly.
This looks amazing. I’m always torn on how I want my cake to icing ratio to turn out, and depending on if it is overly rich I add more or less. Did you think there was enough salted caramel filling or would you double that part if you made it again?
I thought it was a perfect filling to cake ratio. Since the filling is so strong, it was a nice balance to the light chocolate cake and the strong frosting. It was probably one of my most favorite cakes I’ve made in a long time. 🙂
Is the caramel icing supposed to have confectioners sugar?
Yes! Thank you so much for catching that error Gina! 🙂