A delicious cake that’s best served warm with a scoop of ice cream, you will love this messy and delicious Chocolate Caramel Cake recipe.
My youngest daughter loves to help in the kitchen. If I so much as look like I’m getting ready to bake something, she wants in on the action. While I love that she wants to help and learn, it does make things a bit more complex. And messy. A lot more messy.
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE
But I don’t want messes in the kitchen to stop us from enjoying time together or from her learning to cook and bake by my side. Luckily my friends at Bounty have that covered. There is nothing messier or more memorable than baking with kids. Bounty absorbs the messes quickly so you can focus on making memories… and cake! Thank you to Bounty for sponsoring this post.
My oldest daughter has never been super motivated to cook or bake. Sure, she’ll magically show up when there is frosting or a spoon to lick, but it’s just not high on her list. My youngest daughter is a complete opposite. She eagerly takes on any kitchen task she can, and it’s fun to teach her and watch her learn.
This girl loves a cake, especially a chocolate cake. Her mom loves a cake that doesn’t require a lot of decorating or fussiness, so a 13×9” pan is often my go to when baking cakes with my girls. But this isn’t just any old cake, this is an ooey, gooey, messy and delicious chocolate caramel cake. That you serve warm. With ice cream. It’s dreamy.
This cake has a few more steps than a standard cake, and is a little (or depending on our helper, a lot) more messy, but trust me, it’s totally worth it. To keep things easy it starts with a cake mix that is doctored up. Half the cake batter goes into the pan to bake while you whip up a wonderfully sticky caramel for the center of the cake.
After baking for 20 minutes, you’ll pull the cake out of the oven, top it with caramel and chocolate chips, then cover that caramel with the remaining cake batter. Back into the oven it goes for another 20 minutes or so.
After your cake comes out of the oven, you’ll top it with a incredibly easy pourable chocolate frosting. This frosting is so easy that it’s a great one for the kids to make “all by myself” as my daughter always says. It gets poured right over the top of the cake, it really can’t be easier. And wait until you taste it!
Don’t worry if you make a mess like we do. Bounty is a more absorbent paper towel, which means the roll lasts longer and you don’t need to use as much to tackle the splats, spills, and messy fingerprints that come with baking. Clean up is quick and easy, giving you more time to make memories. Or dream about cake.
Now I’ll be honest, this isn’t the prettiest cake around, but, as they say, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I highly suggest serving this cake warm, so that you can truly appreciate that caramel center.
My daughter is always so proud to share what she’s made with the rest of the family. She couldn’t wait for everyone to taste our cake.
With Bounty, clean up is a breeze, even with thick chocolate frosting and sticky caramel. Make sure to head to Bounty to get coupons & offers to save money on the Quicker Picker Upper. Then get into the kitchen and whip up this cake!
Chocolate Caramel Cake Recipe
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 standard size chocolate cake mix (and ingredients called for on the box)
- 1 extra egg (in addition to what’s called for on the box)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup butter
- 14 ounces individually wrapped caramels (unwrapped)
Pourable Frosting
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 standard sized can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Lightly grease a 13x9 inch pan.
- Make cake mix according to package directions, adding in an extra egg and ½ cup sour cream to the ingredients.
- Pour 1/2 of the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
- While cake is baking, in a heavy saucepan over low to medium heat melt caramels, heavy cream and butter. Stir well until melted and combined.
- Remove cake from oven after 20 minutes of baking and pour caramel sauce over top of baked cake. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips over caramel. Pour remaining cake batter over top and return to oven to continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes more.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for approximately five minutes.
- Combine remaining chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute. Remove and stir until well combined. If chocolate chips are not completely melted return to microwave for 15 seconds, remove and stir. Repeat until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour over the top of the cake. Allow to sit for approximately five minutes.
Notes
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Pin To Save This Chocolate Caramel Cake Recipe
Want MORE caramel? Sure you do! I’ve got you covered. Chocolate Caramel Magic Cookie Bars should do the trick!
Or maybe some Caramel Pretzel Blondies!
You’ve got to check out Barefeet In The Kitchen’s Chewy Caramel Turtle Bark Recipe.
You don’t want to miss Crazy For Crust’s Salted Caramel Pecan Chocolate Pie.
Enjoy!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Bounty. All opinions however are mine and mine alone.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
This cake was sooo good! Similar in taste to a molten chocolate cake. I added chopped pecans on top of the chocolate chips and then some to the frosting too. Tasted just like a turtle cake! Topped it with vanilla ice cream. We will definitely be making this again!
This cake is delicious! I added chopped pecans and coconut to the batter. Thank you for the recipe! Probably shouldn’t have added coconut as the recipe is already really sweet. But still delicious.
Love this cake! Super chocolatey, but that’s what you want, right? So good warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Love the recipe! Can you make this in an 8” cake pans for a 3 layer cake??
Hi Lesa, I’ve only this as written.
I want to make this ahead of time. Does it need to be stored in the refrigerator?
If you are making it a day ahead, no, but if you are making it further in advance, I’d keep it in the fridge.
Can you use a homemade caramel sauce instead of individual caramels? If so, do you have a quick caramel sauce recipe? I am anxious to try these bars and the cake.
Cathy, it will have a thinner consistency as the individual caramels are thicker, but I do have a homemade caramel sauce you can use: https://www.lovefromtheoven.com/easy-homemade-caramel-sauce/
This cake looks INCREDIBLE! Thanks so much for sharing my turtle bark too.