Salted caramel chocolate fudge cake

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Dessert
easy
8
1 hour 30 minutes

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Everyone loves a chocolate cake, but this cake has a special twist as it is filled with a salted caramel buttercream filling and topped with a chocolate fudge sauce. Ren shows how this homemade family recipe has been brought bang up to date.

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This is the ‘Big Daddy’ of all cakes; towering far higher than anything I’ve ever made before.

I came across the ‘Bonne Maman Confiture de Caramel’ in the supermarket whilst looking for a caramel sauce or a ‘Dulce du Leche’ sauce and I have to say, I’m addicted! It’s like liquid gold in a jar, soft, glossy and very versatile. If you can’t find it, any caramel sauce in a jar will work fine. Make sure you also use good quality sea salt, too – not table salt!

I didn’t spread the chocolate fudge topping all around the edge of the cake as I thought it looked nicer to see what’s inside and as a home cook; I didn’t want the extra pressure of making it look perfect. I had a little helper in the kitchen, helping me mix and stir and of course, lick the bowl and I have to say, this cake was a real pleasure to bake.

I adapted this recipe from a simple tray-bake recipe handed down to me by my mum; so in many ways, this is an old recipe brought up to date with a few modern twists.

I know at least one person who will be very, very happy this weekend…

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Chocolate sponge

butter, for greasing
125g of caster sugar
100g of soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste or powder
240ml of vegetable oil, or mild, light olive oil
200g of self-raising flour
75g of cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp of natural yoghurt, plain

Salted caramel filling

250g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
500g of icing sugar
3 tbsp of caramel sauce, preferably Bonne Maman Confiture de Caramel
1 pinch of sea salt

Chocolate fudge topping

200g of dark chocolate, good-quality
125ml of double cream
2 tbsp of caramel sauce
sprinkles, or chopped fudge pieces

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Butter two Victoria sponge cake tins and line the bottom of each with greaseproof paper

Using an electric whisk or a stand mixer, beat the caster sugar, soft brown sugar, eggs and vanilla together for about four minutes until creamy. Slowly add the vegetable oil and mix again well

Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and stir together well with a metal spoon. Add a pinch of salt and stir in the plain yoghurt, mix well

Divide the mixture equally into the prepared baking tins and bake for 30 minutes, checking after 25 minutes to see whether a cocktail stick comes out clean. Once cooked, take the sponges out of the oven and leave to cool

To make the filling, beat the butter (at room temperature) until soft and a little fluffy. Carefully add the icing sugar a little at a time and keep mixing until the whole amount is added in. Add the caramel sauce and a pinch of sea salt and mix in well

Once the sponges are completely cool, carefully slice them in half across the middle so that you have four sponges. Put the first layer directly onto a serving plate or cake stand and spread one third of the butter cream over the sponge almost to the edge. Repeat until you have three layers and then place the final sponge on top

To make the chocolate fudge topping, melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once melted, take off the heat and stir in the cream and the caramel. Leave to cool, before spreading the fudge topping over the top layer of the cake. Decorate with fudge pieces

You will have some chocolate fudge sauce left over, so either re-heat and drizzle over the cake to serve, or use as a dipping sauce for some fresh British strawberries

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Ren Behan

Ren Behan is a mum of two and a lawyer turned food writer.

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