You’ll Need:
Cake pans
Offset Spatula
Mixer
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup salted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
- Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp water
- ¼ cup salted butter, cut into Tablespoon pieces
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ tsp Maldon salt, optional
- Egg-Free Cookie Dough: (half for layers, half for decoration)
- 1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 3 egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup salted butter, cubed, at room temperature
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate chips, melted
- Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 cup finely chopped dark chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease and line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment and grease again.
- Beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
- Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients and on low, add some of the flour mixture alternating with the milk. Begin and end with flour.
- Divide in pans and bake 25 mins.
- Cool and then freeze each layer until ready to use.
- You can do this way in advance or just freeze for easier assembly.
Caramel:
- In a heavy-bottomed large pot, combine sugar and water.
- Put heat on medium high and let sugar melt.
- Stir to help sugar along.
- Once dissolved, stop stirring and let it come to a boil.
- Boil until the sugar is dark amber in color and swirl pot now and again to help it cook evenly.
- Once the sugar is amber add the butter and stir to melt it.
- Remove heat and slowly/carefully pour in the cream.
- Keep stirring until smooth.
- Pour in a glass measuring cup or jar to let cool.
- Add salt if using.
- You can make this days in advance and keep in fridge. let come to room temp when assembling the cake.
Egg-Free Cookie Dough:
- Beat butter and sugar.
- Add vanilla.
- On low, add the flour and milk.
- Once smooth, fold in chips.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- In a heatproof bowl, whisk egg whites and sugar.
- Place the bowl over a saucepan of one inch of simmering water.
- Whisk whites 5 mins.
- Move mixture to mixer and beat on high to stiff peaks, about 10 mins.
- Add butter and mix until combined,
- Add melted chocolate and mix smooth.
Assembly
- Take half of the cookie dough and divide it onto 2 cake layers.
- Keep it thick on edges to hold the caramel that is coming!
- Pour caramel on top-eyeball how much you want, probably won't use it all. Save some for another dessert!
- Chill these layers 10 mins to set the caramel.
- Place layers on top of each other and top with third layer.
- Frost cake with frosting.
Ganache:
- Heat cream until hot, pour over chocolate and stir smooth.
- Let it cool 15 minutes or it will melt your frosting.
- Spread over cake.
- Roll the other half of the cookie dough into round balls. Decorate top and sides with cookie dough balls!
- Notes
- **from the Cookies and Cups Cookbook
This recipe is adapted from Cookies and Cups and also seen on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen You can find Shelly’s Cookbook Here!
Sue says
Made this today & boy, it’s definitely a time consuming recipe! Since I chose to make it for my friend’s birthday, the time consuming effort was worth while. This is definitely a special occasion recipe for sure! We’ve yet to taste it, since the party isn’t until this evening, but I’m sure it’ll be delicious!
Hugs & Cookies xoxo says
hope it was fab!
Jaclyn says
Recipe is soooo good.. caramel didn’t work out for me though so I just used butterscotch syrup I had and made my own vanilla buttercream but everything else was delicious thanks for the recipe