Chocolate Chip Cake with Bourbon Caramel
Fluffy chocolate chip cake filled with bourbon salted caramel sauce and frosted with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream!
What’s better than chocolate chip cake and vanilla buttercream? Chocolate chip cake with vanilla buttercream and bourbon salted caramel, duh! This is actually a super old post, back from my nursing days. I made this cake for a friends birthday at work and the photos did not do it justice so updated the recipe and the photos for ya.
How to make the best chocolate chip cake
If you don’t already know, I always use my favorite vanilla 6 inch cake as a base for three layer 6 inch cake recipes. It is my absolute favorite cake recipe and for this guy, I just added some chopped up chocolate to it!
What kind of chocolate to use for chocolate chip cake
I named it chocolate chip cake but I technically used a chopped up chocolate bar. I tested it with both kinds and you can use either chopped chocolate or chocolate chips but I do recommend mini chocolate chips because they’re easier to slice through.
Personally, I prefer milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate but if you don’t want it as sweet you can also do dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate.
How to make bourbon salted caramel sauce
I have a whole post on How to make homemade salted caramel sauce because homemade caramel >>> store bought caramel! Usually, I’m all for taking the easy way out and buying a store bought jam or lemon curd or whatever but I just can’t get down with the store bought caramel. I’ve yet to taste one I like but I could eat homemade caramel by the spoonful.
To make it bourbon salted, I just add 1-2 Tbsp of bourbon to it and 1/2 -1 tsp of salt. You can start with less and add more if you prefer. When you add the bourbon to it, it does thin it out a little bit so I bring it back on the stove and as soon as it comes to a boil again, remove it. If you boil it too long it’ll get thicker and chewier and eventually turn into caramel candies.
What kind of buttercream to use
Well, honestly, you can use any kind of buttercream you want for this chocolate chip cake! If you have my book frosted, where I teach you how to make all the different types of buttercream, you’ll know that most of them are interchangeable. Usually the substitution is about1:1 if they use the same amount of butter.
For instance, in this recipe I use one batch of Swiss meringue buttercream that uses 1 cup of butter. This can be substituted for one batch of French buttercream that uses 1 cup of butter. So you can use whatever buttercream is your favorite.
I find them all to be fairly similar but Swiss meringue buttercream is the easiest and most reliable for me, although I think French buttercream tastes the best lol.
How to assemble a cake with buttercream and caramel sauce
The best way for me to explain this to you is by pictures so I took some process shots of how I put it together. Basically you want to pipe a border of buttercream onto the cake layer and then fill in the border with caramel sauce. Try to be as neat with the border as you can, if there are any gaps, the caramel will find it’s way through and seep out.
If your buttercream is too soft and you feel like it won’t stay just refrigerate it (before or after piping) for 10-20ish minutes. To make it even easier, you can also refrigerate the caramel sauce for 15-30 minutes to make it less runny. You can also refrigerate the cake for 15ish minutes between every layer.
Then definitely refrigerate the cake for at least an hour after putting it together and before frosting the outside.
This part is optional but to make it really clean and neat looking, refrigerate it again for about 20-30 minutes after you’ve frosted it and before pouring the caramel sauce on it. Refrigerate it one more time for 20-30 minutes before slicing into the cake.
Can I make this cake ahead of time
YES! It can be a lot to do in one day so if you want to make parts of this cake ahead of time, you can.
Make the cake the day before, allow it to cool on the counter just until it’s slightly warm and then wrap it in plastic wrap. Leave it on the counter overnight.
Make the caramel up to two weeks ahead of time. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature/spreadable consistency before using.
Make the Swiss meringue buttercream the day before and leave it, fully covered, on the counter overnight. You can also make the buttercream way ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days or the freezer for a few weeks. Just make sure to leave it on the counter overnight so it comes back to a spreadable consistency. You may also need to give a good mix before frosting the cake.
How to store finished caramel chocolate chip cake
The finished cake can stay at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerated for up to a week.
The cake can stay uncovered only if it’s uncut. If the cake is sliced into, cover it with a cake dome or cover the sliced edges with plastic wrap. Store any cut slices in an airtight container.
To freeze, refrigerate the cake for a little so it’s not too soft. Slice the whole cake and then you can either wrap each slice individually in plastic wrap or place the slices together in an airtight container. Place the wrapped slices or the container in a freezer bag and squeeze out all the excess air. Freeze for 2-3 months.
Thanks so much for reading todays post, if you have any questions comment down below and if you make this chocolate chip cake, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on Instagram. As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
