I love cake, especially when it’s easy to cook and cheap to make.
Last weeks caramel Bake Off episode inspired me to find out if I could make my very own caramel cake. Not just any caramel cake I’d like to add, but a big celebration type cake that would normally cost over £10 in the shops.
This one will knock your socks off.
It cost me under £6 to make and was so easy that I knocked it up in an hour.
Now I made it Halloween style, but you can jazz it up with mini eggs for Easter or some piped icing for a birthday cake.
Essential Kit
I was kindly gifted my beautiful VonShef mixer by DOMU, and I love it. It can mix, knead and whisk but it’s really quiet. Mine is the black one but you can get a range of colours and sizes. It saved me so much time. You can use an electric hand mixer but watch for splash backs as all the mixtures start off runny.
I also used 3x cake tins and some baking paper.
I have a quick video here on how to make this but the full details are below. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
300g self-raising flour 10p
Pinch of salt 1p
300g caster sugar 30p
250g unsalted butter £1.40
4 eggs 31p
4 tbsp milk 5p
1 tsp vanilla extract 4p
Filling:
225g unsalted butter £1.26
450g muscovado sugar £1.35
175ml double cream 40p
300g icing sugar 30p
tsp salt 3p
100g dark chocolate 30p
Total: £5.85
Method:
Sponge:
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of your large free-standing electric mixer.
Cut the butter into pieces and add.
Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla together then add.
Beat it all on a low speed until everything is fully combined and very smooth.
Divide the mixture evenly among the 3 tins and spread level.
Bake for about 20 minutes until the sponges are springy or look light golden brown.
Set the tins on a wire rack and run a round-bladed knife around the insides to loosen them, then cool for 2 minutes before turning out. Leave to cool completely.
To make the caramel filling:
Put 175g of butter into a medium-sized pan with the muscovado sugar and cream.
Heat gently until the butter has melted, then bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour this into your electric mixer and gradually beat in the icing sugar.
Keep beating until the mixture is barely warm and gooey.
Slowly beat in the rest of the butter followed by the salt. Taste and add a little more salt, if needed.
Gently melt the chocolate.
Half the chocolate mixer. Keep one lot aside and pour the other into the caramel mixture and stir gently.
Related Posts:
- 19 Cheap Food Shopping Hacks That Could Save You Hundreds
- How to Afford Maternity Leave in the UK
- How to Stop Spending Money Right Now
To assemble the cake:
Set one sponge layer on a plate and spread over one-third of the caramel mixture.
Spread a second sponge layer with the chocolate-caramel mixture and set on the first layer.
Place the third sponge layer on top.
Leave the filled cake to set in the fridge. This is important if you’d prefer NOT to have a landslide on your hands.
When set, cover the top and then the sides of the assembled cake with the remaining caramel mixture. It should be soft enough to spread but not runny.
Grab a teaspoon and drip the remaining chocolate in circles over the cake or in whatever pattern you prefer.
Don’t worry if it looks a bit wonky.
‘Feather’ by drawing a cocktail stick or fork through the chocolate and caramel icing.
Leave to set.
The cake can be kept, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. It’s lovely warmed up after day 2 with cream or ice cream.
So what do you think? Have you tried this? Let me know in the comments below.
***Disclosure: I was given my amazing DOMU stand mixture to make this Caramel Cake. I can truly say that it is well worth the money and not only saved me time but mixed everything to perfection. All thoughts are my own. Please refer to our Disclosure Statement for further information. ***
