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Salted Caramel Chocolate Espresso Cake

5 from 1 vote
6-inch fudgy chocolate espresso cake with whipped espresso buttercream frosting, filled and topped with silky salted caramel sauce. See recipe notes for instructions on making this in cupcake form.
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Prep Time:1 hour
Cook Time:30 minutes
Servings: 6 slices or 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1 cup all purpose flour or cake flour
  • ½ cup granulated or cane sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar packed
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • pinch of fine salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ⅓ cup salted butter melted
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • ⅓ cup Greek yogurt or sour cream room temperature
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup freshly brewed, hot espresso

For the caramel sauce

  • 1 + ½ cups granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup water
  • 2 tbsp salted butter room temperature
  • 1 and 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • flaky sea salt

For the espresso buttercream

  • 1 cup salted butter room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp espresso powder
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp espresso cooled completely

Instructions

To make the caramel

  • Add sugar to a small pot over medium heat. Cover with the water, no need to stir. Bring to a boil. Do NOT stir. Once boiling watch it closely until it turns a deep amber color. Once mixture is a deep amber color, add the butter, heavy cream and milk. Whisk constantly.
  • Caramel sauce will seize up and harden, but just keep whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and sea salt. Pour caramel into a heat safe glass jar. Let cool and thicken before using. If making ahead of time, no need to store in the fridge.

To make the cake

  • Preheat oven to 350℉. See notes if making cupcakes. Grease and flour 2 (6-inch) cake pans. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients except the espresso. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until mostly combined. Pour in the espresso and continue whisking until combined.
  • Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let cakes cool mostly in the pan before removing from the pans to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, use a large knife to cut the cakes in half.

To make the frosting

  • Add the butter and vanilla to a medium size mixing bowl and beat until the butter is fluffy and lighter in color. Beat in the espresso powder until combined. Add half the powdered sugar and espresso and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat in the remaining powdered sugar and espresso.

Assembling the cake

  • Place one layer of cake on a cake plate. Add some espresso buttercream and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Pour some caramel in the center, leave about an inch around the edges so the caramel doesn't run down the sides. It's ok if it does a little, it will get covered with frosting. * you are not using all of the caramel, I had about half left*
  • Repeat with 2 more layers, making sure your cake is straight and not tilting with each layer. Place remaining cake layer on top. Frost the sides of the cake. I start by adding frosting about a half inch above the bottom of the cake to avoid getting frosting all over the cake plate. Work your way around and up the cake adding frosting and smoothing it out with an offset spatula.
  • Frost the top of the cake. Pour caramel sauce in the center of the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. You may need to give it a little push around the edges depending on how thick your caramel sauce is. Use a large knife to cut the cake. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

If making cupcakes, follow the caramel directions, cake batter directions and buttercream directions exactly the same. When your cake batter is ready, fill a 12-cup muffin tin lined with cupcake liners 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, use a teaspoon or a piping tip to make a hole into the center of your cupcakes. Fill each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of the caramel sauce. Use an ice-cream scoop or piping bag with a round tip to frost the cupcakes. Use a small spoon or offset spatula to make a small "well" in the frosting. Fill the well with more caramel sauce and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.