This caramel layer cake with vanilla bean german buttercream is made with homemade caramel sauce baked right in the cake! The cake layers are moist, on the denser side, and have sweet notes of caramel, while the german buttercream is light and creamy. German buttercream is my all time favorite buttercream, because it is the perfect balance of sweet and buttery. It's made with a pastry cream base with butter and a little bit of mascarpone beat into it. It is not as stiff as other buttercreams, like American or Swiss meringue, but it stiffens up to the perfect consistency once you decorate the cake and place it in the fridge. Read below for all of my tips on how to make homemade caramel sauce, the perfect cake layers, and german buttercream!
Ingredients you'll need to make this caramel cake:
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need a little more than 2 ½ cups of flour for the cake.
- Granulated Sugar: You only need about 1 cup of sugar for the cake, as the caramel sauce will also sweeten it.
- Baking Powder: You'll need 2 ½ tsp of baking powder to give each cake layer the perfect amount of rise.
- Unsalted Butter: This recipe uses the reverse creaming method (butter is added to the dry ingredients, which inhibits gluten development), so you'll want your butter to be room temperature, but on the cooler side.
- Vanilla Paste or Extract: I finally got my hands on some Heilala vanilla paste, which has a much more prominent vanilla flavor and leaves those beautiful specks throughout the buttercream! If you do not have vanilla paste, vanilla extract will work just fine.
- Homemade Caramel Sauce: For my recipe you'll need granulated sugar, salt, cream of tartar, water, unsalted butter, heavy cream, and vanilla.
- Whole Milk: Always use whole milk for the best flavor in baked goods.
- Plain Whole Milk Yogurt: Similar to milk, yogurt provides the best flavor when it is full fat.
- Eggs: You'll need three whole eggs for the cake, and 4 egg yolks for the pastry cream used in the german buttercream.
- Cornstarch: Used to help thicken up the pastry cream.
- Mascarpone: I add about ¼ cup of mascarpone to the buttercream to whiten the color, but this is optional.
How to make homemade caramel sauce in 3 easy steps:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and water.
- Heat over medium high heat, swirling (not stirring) often to encourage even cooking. When it comes to a boil reduce heat to medium.
- When the color turns an even medium amber color remove from heat and add the butter one tbsp at a time, whisking to combine. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla. Allow to cool for a few minutes before pouring into a bowl to cool completely.
Other cake recipes you'll love:
- Neapolitan Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Burnt Sugar German Buttercream
- Piña Colada Cake with Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Funfetti Cake with German Mascarpone Buttercream
- Fourth of July Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Healthy Carrot Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
A few tips to make this caramel layer cake with vanilla bean german buttercream:
- To break up the elements, make the caramel sauce and pastry cream a day or two before you need them. You could also make the cake layers beforehand and freeze them until you're ready to assemble the cake.
- For the pastry cream, it can be difficult to tell when milk is simmering, so a good rule of thumb is to simply bring it to about 195-200 degrees F.
- To ensure completely flat cake layers use cake strips on the outside of your pans. I like the ones by Wilton! Cake strips ensure that the cake bakes evenly, rather than the outside of the cake baking faster than the center, which makes the cake rise more in the center. If you bake cakes often, these are a very good investment! You can also make DIY ones by wrapping wet paper towels with aluminum foil and wrapping them around the cake pans.
Happy baking! x
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Caramel Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean German Buttercream
- Yield: 1 3-layer 6 inch cake 1x
Description
This caramel layer cake with vanilla bean german buttercream is made with homemade caramel sauce baked right in the cake! The cake layers are moist, on the denser side, and have sweet notes of caramel, while the german buttercream is light and creamy.
Ingredients
For the Caramel Sauce:
- 200g granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 30g water (2 tbsp)
- 84g unsalted butter (room temp; 6 tbsp)
- 113g heavy cream (lukewarm)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Cake:
- 324g all-purpose flour
- 223g granulated sugar
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 152g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 210g caramel sauce
- 100g whole milk
- 100g plain whole milk yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 3 eggs (room temp)
For the German Buttercream:
- 4 egg yolks
- 200g granulated sugar
- 24g cornstarch
- 340g whole milk
- 396g unsalted butter (3 ½ sticks; room temp)
- 56g mascarpone (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
For the Caramel Sauce:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and water. Heat over medium high heat, swirling (not stirring) often to encourage even cooking. When it comes to a boil reduce heat to medium.
- When the color turns an even medium amber color remove from heat and add the butter one tbsp at a time, whisking to combine. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla. Allow to cool for a few minutes before pouring into a bowl to cool completely.
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line 3 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl combine the caramel sauce, yogurt, milk, and vanilla.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- Add half of the wet ingredients to the dry, then scrape down the bowl. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Lastly, beat in the eggs until fully combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 32-38 minutes.
For the German Buttercream:
- Start with the pastry cream – heat the milk in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer or about 200 degrees F.
- Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together for 2-3 minutes until light in color.
- Once the milk is simmering, slowly pour half into the egg-sugar mixture, whisking at the same time to temper the eggs.
- Pour everything back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly. After a couple minutes, a layer of bubbles will form over the top and it will begin to thicken.
- Once the bubbles disappear, continue whisking for one more minute, then remove from heat.
- Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly up against the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill overnight.
- Make the buttercream by beating the pastry cream for about 10 minutes on low speed until it warms up to about 70 degrees.
- Add the butter, a few cubes at a time, and beat on medium speed. If it looks curdled at all, continue beating on low speed until smooth.
- Add the mascarpone, vanilla paste, and salt, and beat until fully incorporated.
For Assembly:
- Secure the first cake layer on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting on the bottom. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to measure out the frosting for each layer. I used a 3 tbsp cookie scoop and put 3 scoops of frosting on each layer. Place the second cake layer on top, and add another 3, 3 tbsp of buttercream on top, then place the last cake layer on top.
- If your cake layers were frozen overnight (which I highly recommend doing), then there is no need for a crumb coat. For this smooth buttercream look with a ridge, add an even layer of buttercream around the sides and smooth over with a straight edged frosting scraper. Leave a ridge around the top of the cake to hold in the caramel sauce.
- Pour the remaining caramel sauce on top of the cake and add flakey sea salt, if desired.
- Keep the cake at room temperature until ready to serve.
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