Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake

This is the best cake EVER! Yes it is a lot of work, but so worth it. My husband calls it the "death by chocolate cake" and requests it a couple times a year. Normally when he really likes someone and wants them to get excited about it as he does EVERY TIME. I also have made the caramel sauce for friends as gifts for Christmas. Add a spoonful to your coffee and your are in heaven.

Simply DELICIOUS the Perfect cake!

the most delicious chocolate cake I have made.

This is a spectacular cake! Last year, it went for $1700 at our church’s annual auction to raise funds for kids to go to camp! I have taken a shortcut sometimes to save time and effort. 13X9 pan, poke holes in the cake, and pour the caramel into the holes. Not as stunning a presentation, but takes about 1/4 the time to assemble😁

I just made this for my friend's birthday. It was not easy, but the end product was WELL WORTH IT. A few items of note: 1) I don't care that it doesn't list water in the recipe ingredients, like many of you do. 2) Make this cake in stages: 3) Make caramel a few days before. It's fiddly, and you'll know if it's "right" after you refrigerate it and you turn the container and it doesn't move. When you are finished making the caramel at the stove, have five containers ready and pour 3/4 cup into each container, so they're "ready to go" when you make each layer of the cake. After doing this you should have almost exactly 1 cup of caramel leftover (to dip granny smith slices into later!!!!). 4) Make the cakes the day before and wrap/refrigerate, so they're easier to cut and level. 5) Take the caramel out of the fridge the night before you assemble, so it's at room temperature when you do work with it. The less you have to do the day of construction, the easier this cake will come together. 6) All the extra scraps you save from leveling it, put into a container with some of the extra caramel (layered through it). You'll have extra frosting leftover as well, so you're saving yourself an extra two slices of cake by doing this! 7) My frosting took over an hour, possibly more, to set at room temperature. don't put in the fridge to set it. While it was setting, I was leveling and cutting each of the cakes. 8) Use a cardboard cake board to set up the cake upon so you can move it as needed. 9) Every time I applied a layer of caramel (leaving 1 cm at edge), and then put another chocolate cake layer on top, I put it in the fridge for 10 minutes to set the caramel a bit more. I did this for every single layer, and amazingly I was still able to shift the layers as needed to make the cake straight. After applying the frosting which I swirled nicely and then applied the sea salt, I put in the fridge to finally set. This cake is well worth the effort. And please tell your guests you really only need to take a SLIVER of the cake to eat, as it's so rich you don't need any more. Good luck!

I make this cake for my husband every year in his birthday! It is hard work, but worth it. Stick to the directions exactly and it will turn out like a dream!

Is coarse salt is the same as kosher salt? Thank you!

Yes, a labor-intensive cake, but ultimately amazing. Only slightly annoyed about lack of mention of water in the ingredients list...not a deal-breaker for me. And the frosting for this has become my go-to chocolate frosting. It's stupendously delicious!

If you have unlimited resources and time, then make this recipe. I was really disappointed with it. I was happy with my Carmel and good thing since I have like a pound of it left over. Save yourself and make a box cake or a much simpler recipe and buy the Carmel in jars... Just like everyone else says here in the comments.

I have not made this cake, nor will I as have noticed errors in the ingredients list. Directions for both cake and caramel call for water. Water is not listed in the ingredients list. Is there someone from Martha Stewart who reads these comments and can correct the problem? Some similar comments are from 2015 and still no correction nor clarification.

There is an error in the directions. The first step says add 1 1/2 cups warm water. It should say 1 1/2 c of buttermilk!

Hello Martha, I have made this cake twice and love it. Easy to follow instructions, plus I watched the show when you make the cake so got some great pointers. Although the cake is expensive what do you expect chocolate, sea salt, and caramel. My caramel turned out great cooked it to the exact time and turned out great, love the flavor of it. And I am making it for a friend for her birthday, she loves the cake and can't wait to have it. Thank you again for the great recipe.

Ok. I made it. Here is what I suggest to save you a lot of time and frustration!I tried making that caramel two times! Both times it was a disaster.I tried cutting in half. Still came out bad. Just go buy either Hershey's or Smucker's caramel sauce in a jar.You will need 3, 14 oz. jars. Put in the refridge to thicken and add salt to taste. It's fine.The cakes came out fine. Moist. They sunk a bit. Caramel and layer did not slide. Put in fridge to set. Do a crumb coat. Then frost. Perfect.

I am in the process of making this cake as I am writing this and although water is just water, when it is used in a recipe it is an ingredient so this recipe needs to be corrected~~I am adding it and hoping for the best. Will come back and rate this later but it will loose stars because of the ingredient mistake~~~

I made this recipe twice. First time I didn't have Dutch Cocoa, but it came out great. I actually made the cake a day ahead and put in fridge. The next day I made the caramel and frosting. The only problem I had was that I had to cook the caramel longer than said,because my candy thermometer never reached the temperature of 238. I kept cooking to a rolling boil for an extra 10 minutes and it still turned out great. Everyone loved the cake! Thank you Martha! I never go wrong with your recipes.

All I can say is SEVEN CUPS OF SUGAR. And that doesn't count the frosting.

I made this recipe last night & I am very disappointed. When making the caramel, the first bubble was BLACK. I turned the heat down to med-high & only cooked for 12 min. instead of the suggested 14.With those 2 exceptions, I followed the recipe exactly. Cake came out ok but the caramel was very burnt. I just tried a piece for "breakfast" & it's terrible. The burnt taste totally ruined the whole cake. This was a very expensive cake to make. Not happy with it at all! Water not listed in ingredient

Just made the chocolate salted caramel cake. It was absolutely delicious...very moist. I was successful on my 3rd attempt to make the caramel sauce from scratch. But this was my first time & I wasn't patient. I was hoping to send a photo....I'll check out Facebook and perhaps send that way. Thanks! ccchorney

I made this cake for Thanksgiving, and it took our family about a week to finish it. I left it out on the counter (covered). It was delicious, and got better every day - although the caramel layers were not as discreet by the last few days. I do recommend making this 2 days in advance and letting it sit out, to give the flavors a chance to fully develop.

Just a note: The cake recipe directions call for 1 1/2 cups of water, but it's not listed in the ingredient list at the top of the page. I didn't notice it in the directions as I was mixing ingredients, and only saw it as I was looking for the next step -- with the cakes already in the oven. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but I sure hope my beautiful cake doesn't have the texture of a brick!

The best ever. Although making the cake is a little complex, it was certainly worthwhile going through. The cake turned out really good, nicely moist, delicious taste. I served it to a group of friends, following watching the opera La Boheme in HD, together with champagne (actually it was cava) and it was a most successful party. Everyone loved it and toasted Martha. I am planning on making it again when my daughters come visit for Christmas, and treat them to something decadently tasty.

Jessica Subedi - you will split each layer which will give you the other 3 layers.

So I am in the process of making it and said to "divide" evenly into the cake pans. 9 inch standard cake pans is what I am using. I used all the batter and it only divided into 3 of the pans. Where do the other 3 come from?!

This cake is delicious and moist. I bake a lot but have never made caramel before. I burned the caramel the first try even though I followed the recipe instructions perfectly. It came out great on the second try because I reduced the heat to medium and the cook time to about 10 minutes instead of 14. I learned it's more important to watch the color and temp. of the carmel than the time. The color of the caramel should never be "dark" as the recipe suggests, but more like light to medium amber.

@Lotus - I'd recommend cooking the caramel longer. The recipe said it would take "about two minutes" for it to reach 238 degrees, but it took mine 12 minutes, and it came out correctly.

Making this was time-consuming but the results were spectacular, and pleasingly close to the example picture. I'd say refrigerating the cakes overnight is essential, since they were fragile straight from the oven, but sturdy and easy to work with the next day. And whatever you do, don't refrigerate the frosting before applying it! It gets clumpy fast.

Cake was a big hit in spite of the fact that caramel was a runny mess. Not sure what I did wrong. I want to try it again but would love some tips. It looked beautiful and tasted great. Would be fine on ice cream but way too thin for cake. Any suggestions?

This is a really good cake but please, consider adding a dacqouise layer on the bottom. It turns a good cake into a GREAT cake

"dacquoise" even *sigh no edit*

also i cant find the print button :-(

So, I bake a LOT! Martha's recipes are either hit or miss, one miss being the Chocolate Ganache Tart, which has major problems with the crust. This is one of the best three cakes I have ever made! The other two being her Lemon Meringue Cake (quite labor intensive!) and Blum's Coffee Crunch Cake (amaazing..but doesn't keep well). This one is quite rich, sweet and soooo satisfying. I did not have any problems, with sliding cake layers...or anything else. I did not add the salt to the top!

Don't feel bad. The Print feature also had me perplexed. Finally spotted the little Print icon in top right corner of the screen. As you scroll down to Ingredients it appears.

I can't seem to locate a "print" button. I can't believe Martha Stewart doesn't have a print feature. Yes, I know I can copy and print but there is so much content and the layout contributes to having to print so many pages. Am I totally missing it?

made the Caramel first so it could cool thoroughly. just assembled the 6 layers. They keep sliding and listing. I've wrapped the stacked cake in plastic wrap to hold its shape. Hoping that an overnight stay in the fridge will solidify the caramel enough that it will hold its shape when the plastic is off and it's time to frost it. I sampled the cake I shaved off the dome with a little caramel drizzled on top. YUM.

Made cake and caramel ahead of time. Sliced cake and froze layers. Heated caramel slightly to "pourable" but still very thick. Assembled cake and caramel, which "hardened" up on frozen layers = no sliding. Refrigerated. Then made icing, let sit, then frosted. Piped decorative edge, poured some remaining caramel on top, contained by piping. No slips or slides. Put scraps and leftover caramel and frosting in a dish for a preview. Oh my goodness - I predict no leftovers at tonights party!

delicious hma pro review

This cake was so moist, rich, and tasty! By far the most delicious cake I have ever made! The only concern is, the cake is so moist I had trouble cutting it in half and keeping it from sticking to the cooling racks. I made this last week and my mom gave it all away, I was so upset I just remade the recipe but I halfed it it this time! Hopefully it will turn out just as well as the first time! (Smells like it will)!

If your the baker in your family the benefit is you get to pick your own Birthday cake. I couldn't have picked a better cake! I used all parts of the recipe; just added more time for caramel and and frosting to set. I would make this one again and agree that the batter would be good this any frosting; its just the right amount of chocolaty goodness but not too dense like some other chocolate cake batters.

This is the best thing I've ever made!! It was a huge hit for a friend's milestone birthday party. I was so relieved each step turned out well...I made the cake and frosting the night before and put them in the fridge. The only changes I made were to add a teaspoon of instant coffee grounds in 1/8 cup of hot water for the cake, and I decreased the butter in the caramel to 1 1/2 sticks. Otherwise I followed the recipe and was very excited about the taste and look.

I used the batter from this cake, made 4 layer cake with raspberry frosting. The cake taste amazing, the dough is light, moist and chocolaty, not too sweet, goes very well with any kind of frosting. Next time I'll try it with the original caramel frosting. Love it! Thanks!

This took longer than expected and messed up at each stage. That said, it's a keeper! I used sour cream instead of buttermilk and halved the recipe to yield two 8-in. cakes for 4 total layers. My 2nd caramel attempt (14 mins burned the 1st) absorbed into the cake layers--nice and moist but not beautiful separate layers like pic. My only complaint is the buttercream. I hope to find a less rich frosting for the next time!

I am not a pro but do bake and cook a lot. I think this recipe would be a little easier if the ingredients were broken down by the part of the cake. I was unsure if the cocoa powder or sugar measurements I was using were for the right part of the cake. Also, my first attempt at the caramel was a complete failure with these instructions. I did it to the color stated and even at less time and it still burned. Will try again because I love salted caramel, but not 100% sold yet.

I am making this cake for the 2nd time because it was so good!! This time for the family. The only thing I will do different is not cooking the caramel to dark amber....light to med. I do not understand why someone (Pat) would make a recipe that is so laden with garbage.....were we not aware of the ingredient list *before* the cake was attempted?? Just sayin....

Well, I'm a diabetic who loves to cook so I couldn't eat any of it myself but I made it following the directions exactly and had no problems. I made it for a party at work and everyone there loved it and ate all of it so it was a hit.

I made this cake. It is so laden with unhealthy garbage. It is full of Caffeine, White Flour, Gobs of White Sugar, Extremes of Butter and so much Chocolate it can give you a caffeine and/or sugar high. It took so much time to complete, it was quite costly to make, it is way too sweet. 'way too much chocolate'. No one wanted it after the first bite. It is clogged arteries, a heart attack waiting to happen, and it looked like Black 'Tar' in a Glob. I threw more than 3/4 of it in the garbage.

After my sister had this cake at a party, she suggested I try it knowing I'm a huge Martha fan! I made it for my daughters birthday and we loved it! I do agree you must use a pan at least five inches high so the caramel doesn't boil over. I boiled to 238 degrees however the consistency was like spreading peanut butter, therefore I had no trouble filling layers. The chocolate frosting is definitely for chocoholics! Very rich! I would love to make this again. Thanks Martha!

Trying to replicate this recipe in the UK meant making a fair few substitions - golden syrup in place of corn syrup, low fat natural yoghurt in place of buttermilk - and my measurements were a little shaky but so far it's been pretty damn good! All the constituent parts are ready for assembly, just waiting for the cakes to cool before the fun begins but taste-wise everything's turned out spot on.

Soooo delicious! Took this to a dinner party and everyone raved! The water was perfect/ratio in my cake. However, I stirred my caramel (tsk tsk) and had to throw it out due to granules/crystals. Took three cans of dulce de leche from the store, heated it up with a stick of butter, salt to taste (more than this recipe called for) and it was perfect. I did find this frosting a bit difficult to work with-either too soft or too firm but it worked out and was delicious. Yum!

I tried this recipe caramel first and I didn't cook it for the full 14 but it looked a dark amber color to me. when all was said and done it had a funky burnt taste? I am wondering if that is because I didn't cook it for the full time or something else? Any Suggestions? Do you really not stir it when it is on the high heat? and is it on high high heat or like med high?

WOW!...but as usuall I find the instructions lacking. The cake is great but the carmel piece is a nightmare Runny even after going against the instructions and refrigerating. Made the carmel the day before with the cake layers and found what should have ben a simple frost and layer to be quite and excercise in frustration1 I would definitely use the trader joes the other reviewer mentioned and save your self some grief! Don't make frosting till you have layerd the cake up and refrigerated it

One of my favorite cakes ever! I used the water amounts as shown with perfect results. Liquidy batter is normal for a lot of good chocolate cake recipes. I used three 8" pans & baked a few minutes longer -- no problems. Temp is everything for this recipe, in my 66 degree kitchen using "room temp" butter the frosting was ready immediately and was lovely to work with. I halved the caramel recipe but then ran out so if you cook it to the proper temp/thickness don't halve it.

If you pipe a small ring of frosting around the outer edge of each layer before adding the caramel you won't have caramel running down the sides of it. I do this with all of my "fillings". It also helps cut down on slippage.

This cake is now a staple at our Christmas table - yes, it does call for a lot of butter, and makes extra caramel - which is perfect for cake assembly time, when bits are left over from flattening the tops of the layers. Everyone runs to the kitchen to have 'leftovers'. Truly delicious, and special.

The volume is totally out of whack. I had half of caramel left over and half of frosting. Frosting needs to be appled rigt away, otherwise it hardens. 4sticks of butter for this cake?! 3 cups of sugar for the dough - give me a break....

ToThis recipe is great! I made a half recipe of the caramel and cooked it a bit longer to make it firmer. I baked the cake the day before and kept it the fridge. I sliced it when it was cold. It sliced well. I layered the caramel and cake. It seemed a bit unstable so I used 4 bamboo skewers run through the top of the cake and put it back in the fridge to chill. The caramel firmed up and soaked in. When it was all firm, I took it out of the fridge, pulled out the skewersand iced it.

I have wanted to try this recipe and today was my daughter's birthday. We all enjoyed sampling the cake, caramel and frosting as I was making it. It turned out great! I think I cooked the caramel a little long so it was not as runny in the cake but I think that made assembly easy. Fantastic cake!

This is the best cake I've ever made - it was really incredible. I cheated and used Trader Joe's jarred salted caramel. And to really put it over the top, I also put homemade chocolate buttercream between each layer. So delicious.

This cake is very disappointing. It tastes delicious, but assembly is a nightmare. The chocolate cake bakes incredibly uneven in the oven,and the recipe is so moist and delicate that slicing them in half is messy and crumbly. The caramel recipe makes far more than you can fit between the layers, and the layers really slide around, even in the refrigerator. The flavors of this cake are delicious, but next time I will use my own, better quality recipes for the chocolate cake and caramel.

I made this cake last year for Thanksgiving and again several times over the following year. RAVE reviews every time. I even had someone ask me at work "what bakery did it come from." Looking for a special treat for a birthday buddy? Bake this for them and give them the extra caramel that is left over for their coffee =)

I've made this cake several times, it's absolutely wonderful. I did not use the full 1 1/2 cups water in the cake, but about half the amount. I also substituted the icing since my husband didn't really like the chocolate ganache, instead I used a simple peanut butter icing and it is delish. It literally tastes like a giant peanut butter cup, sooo goood. Also I always get about five times too much caramel so you could probably halve the recipe and still have extra.

Just made this cake last night and took it to work - my colleagues absolutely love it! I halved the recipe and made a 9-inch and a 4-inch cake, both two layers each. The caramel does melt and run over the sides but before I poured the caramel on the cake I poked small holes into it with a skewer, which seemed to help the caramel distribute evenly. Otherwise, definitely an easy cake to make and absolutely delicious!!

This cake is wonderful! Loved by children – and adults! Next time I’ll try to make a smaller version – for Sunday brunch with the girls. The cake is even better after a day in the fridge. Very moist, but it is the the salt that make this cake!

Check out the recipe from BAKED for their Salted caramel chocolate cake...

I think this will be our family's new favorite, since we are divided between Chocolate and Caramel Loving Cake people. I "really need" some verification about the water amounts which were left off the ingredient list. Did most people use the full 1 1/2 cups in the cake batter? Also is the water for the frosting correct, the amount is exactly the same as the cocoa???. 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. Please help, although I think the web site should correct the recipe.

I have made a lot of cakes in my day and this one is truly one of the best that I have made. While there are many steps, they are easy. Just follow the recipe exactly. After reading some of the comments, I decided to insert 3 bamboo skewers into the cake before I frosted it. I had to transport the cake and was nervous that the cake would shift- it certainly stayed in place. Although the recipe says that it makes 12 servings, the cake is so rich that it could easily serve up to 18 people.

I made this cake for a friends birthday, it was a hit! I was even asked to make one for another friends birthday. My only concern is that the caramel seeped out of the cake a bit, which no one else noticed, but I did. I also used 10 inch cake pans, so my cakes were thinner making it a 3 layer cake. Since I had less layers, I have extra caramel, which I intend to use in cupcakes. Instead of making Christmas Cookies this year, I'm going to make cupcakes, I'm sure they will be enjoyed by all...

Definitely use a large saucepan when making the caramel. It expands a lot once cream is added! The flavors are absolutely wonderful! My cake did slide all over but I didn't level the cake layers. I am making again for Christmas so hope that will help!

I made this for Thanksgiving which also happened to be my son's 8th b-day. I baked the cake and made the caramel on Tuesday. I think that makes ALL the difference! I assembled the cake on Thanksgiving (left the caramel out most of the afternoon so it could come to room temperature.) I had no problems with the layers sliding. The frosting sets up fast so keep that in mind. The cake is beautiful and delish! Very rich and decadent. I definitely recommend making the cakes and caramel in advance!

I feel like a professional baker now that I've made this cake. O-My...What a wonderful cake this turned out to be. It was made for Thanksgiving and brought it w/me to a friends house, and lets just say, "We're the best of friends now". Although the caramel had the cake slightly sliding, next time, I'll use the caramel directly from the fridge. It'll be easier to spread and keep in place. But this is a devine chocolate cake that is out of this world. A must keep for my recipe box ;)

I made this for Thanksgiving and it is delicious! The textures and perfect sweet-salt ratio made this recipe a keeper. My cake did not have stacking problems like other reviews and I think it's because I refrigerated the cake and caramel overnight and assembled in the morning. Delightful!

My cake looked pretty solid going into the fridge, but I still used skewers to stabilize it. Despite my best efforts, the cake layers slid into a lopsided pile. Thus, I turned my cake into a trifle. It was still delicious, but disappointing. I'd offer the following advice: use dowels to stabilize the cake and wrap it tightly before refrigerating it for an hour. You can also use utensils sprayed with cooking spray to manipulate the caramel.

This cake is delicious!! I didn't add the whole 1 1/2 cups of water it called for because it already seemed too liquid to me. I only added 1/2 cup and it came out delicious! Perfect cake! Its light and moist in texture but very rich chocolate flavor. Perfect cake! Instead of filling with caramel I used Dulce de Leche from La Lechera with a pinch of salt, delicious! and very sticky so layers didn't slide.

Love this cake! The carmel takes longer to cool than implied in the recipe. Once the layers were stacked, I needed to skewer the cake while chilling to set the carmel. Everyone loved this one!

cake is delicious BUT, the cake layers start sliding once you add the caramel. I had to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap before putting in the fridge. Also, this is not a traditional buttercream, it's actually more like a ganache. Pretty thin, and then it hardens quickly when you put it on the cake. I learned that the hard way! Also noticed that the water is missing from both the cake and frosting ingredient lists. Only caught it in the instructions so make sure you read thoroughly!

I'm attempting to make this for my son's Thanksgiving day/8th birthday. I just wondered what kind of coarse salt you used in the recipe? Or did anyone use table salt for the cake mix? I read a review that mentioned their cake was too salty!

This recipe is amazing! It was the perfect amount of rich chocolate, sweet caramel and a hint of saltiness. I would highly recommend reading the recipe thoroughly before starting; it's an all day project but you can make any of the 3 parts in-advance. I think the cake was tastier on day 2 and 3. I had lots of left over caramel & frosting as well, I'm making the cake again for Christmas and this time I'm going to make some cupcakes and use up all the leftover caramel and frosting.

This cake is wonderful, but be careful making the caramel. It expands quite dramatically when returned to the heat after adding the cream. Gas stove and boiling caramel ...not a good thing! However, flavor was worth the clean-up issues.

Delicious and a big hit! Just the right amount of salty to sweet. I made the cake layers three days ahead as well as the caramel. I made the frosting and put the cake together the day of my party. I had trouble with the layers sliding off of each other, but not too terribly bad. I think next time I would make the whole cake three days ahead and refrigerate as it is really good cold! The frosting is more of a ganache and pretty thin. I didn't use all of the caramel or frosting.