Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting...with Devil's Food Cake

Yes, the cake is typically first in a recipe title, but really, this salted caramel buttercream is the star of the show.

Let me tell you about something astounding, momentous, and incredible that happened last week. My baby, our kiddo, turned 16.
It's still sinking in. (Ohmygosh...just found this post of his 10th birthday!)


He has his driver's licence and today drove to school for the first time. This is such an fun age...so exciting. Between this and his flight lessons, my prayer life had grown considerably.

I read Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist years ago. I don't remember quotes from movies or books, but this one has stuck with me...

"This is my new prayer, my mother-prayer: Dear God, please please please, and thank you thank you thank you." 

Yep. That's running through my brain in a loop.

Let's talk cake. Kiddo requested Devil's Food Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting. Who am I to say no???


He chose the cake from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I made it straight from the book....no tinkering. The recipe online is just a bit different.

Here is the cake recipe. The one in the cookbook calls for natural cocoa and replaces the 2 teaspoons baking powder with 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking soda. I followed the book recipe. The cake is mild in chocolate flavor with a beautiful crumb...we liked it quite a bit.


The frosting. Oh my word. The FROSTING.

I'm so happy that the birthday boy chose salted caramel. His mama raised him right. ;)


For the salted caramel buttercream, I used Sprinkle Bakes' recipe. Heather has some incredible Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes on her blog, and in her book, so I used the frosting for the cake.

You start by making caramel. Don't be scared. If I can do it, you can do it. Then, you make frosting using that caramel. For the cake, I doubled this recipe. I also added in about a cup more powdered sugar. I always make notes in my cookbooks after making a recipe and by this one, I wrote, "exquisite."

Eat a salad for lunch on the day you make this because you'll be doing quite a bit of taste-testing of that frosting before it goes on the cake. Trust me.


A little trick I learned from My Cake School, is to pipe an edge of thicker frosting around the outer ring of each cake layer before filling with frosting between the layers. It keeps the frosting from oozing out when adding another layer. I just scooped some frosting into a separate bowl and added a bit more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it up. (Here's a better visual of what I mean, in case you're having trouble understanding my incoherent ramblings.)



Don't wait for a special birthday...you need this cake in your life!

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