This delicious chocolate cake layer with a dalgona coffee whipped cream, and salted caramel sauce filling is a cake you never knew you needed. Whether or not you are a coffee lover, this Caramel Mocha Latte Cake is about to become your new favorite! The indulgent chocolate cake layers pair beautifully with the strong and fluffy coffee whipped cream, and the salted caramel sauce provided the perfect balance and brings all the flavors together beautifully. It’s a quick and simple cake that is perfect for your next celebration!
Although I am very much a chai person, as you all know, I can never say no to a Caramel Mocha Latte. There is something so warming and cozy about the combination of chocolate, coffee, and caramel; it brings true happiness to my heart. So I thought, why not turn these flavors into a cake?
This Caramel Mocha Latte Cake is the perfect combination of chocolate, coffee, and caramel. The chocolate cake layers are moist and indulgent, the dalgona coffee whipped cream is heavy in coffee yet light and fluffy, and the salted caramel sauce gives the perfect salty-sweet kick to the cake.
What I love most about this cake is how easy it is. It’s one of the most sophisticated and festive layer cake flavors you will taste, yet it barely takes time to put together. Let’s go into the details of each component.
Chocolate Cake Layers
The chocolate cake layers in this cake are rich yet light and delicious. They don’t feel too heavy and provide the perfect chocolate flavor to this layer cake. The best part about this chocolate cake, though, is how easy it is. You only need 10 minutes and a few basic pantry ingredients to make this cake.
One of the main components of this cake is buttermilk, and no, it cannot be substituted with regular milk. Buttermilk reacts with the baking powder and soda in the batter and results in a fluffier and softer cake. However, if you can’t find buttermilk, don’t worry! You can create your own by adding vinegar to regular full-fat milk. The acid in vinegar splits the milk solids and results in buttermilk.
The rest of the process is simple and straightforward -> combine the liquid ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in another -> mix the two together until well combined -> mix in the hot water -> bake.
This chocolate cake recipe also uses coffee, an ingredient you absolutely cannot miss. Here’s why – adding coffee helps bring out the flavor of the chocolate and results in a cake that tastes more chocolatey. The flavor of coffee does not come through in the cake layers.
Dalgona Coffee Whipped Cream
We all remember Dalgona Coffee from Match 2020, right? That time when we all were stuck in lockdowns and had nothing to do, and suddenly the whole world was making whipped coffee. Fun times.
Fun fact: Us South Asians have been drinking coffee this way since childhood! South Asians aren’t generally big on coffee, but the most popular coffee in our households has always been this whipped coffee. So the dalgona coffee was nothing new for us, although we prefer having it hot, and trust me, it results in the best homemade coffee ever!
Because this is the only way I have known coffee since childhood, I wanted to add the dalgona flavor to this cake to represent coffee. The thick, fluffy sugar and coffee mixture shines through in the whipped cream and gives the cake the perfect coffee flavor.
The dalgona coffee whipped cream is super simple to make. First, create the dalgona coffee mixture by whipping together coffee, sugar, and a little milk. This mixture will become light and fluffy after 4-5 minutes of mixing at high speed (I still don’t know how that happens, btw).
Once the dalgona mixture is ready, add it to your already whipped cream and whip until it’s well combined and stable enough to pipe. The dalgona mixture is very thick, so it should not affect the stability of your cream.
You can increase or reduce the amount of coffee added to the dalgona mixture based on your preference and the strength of the coffee you use. I have used the most generic Nescafe Red Mug coffee powder for my recipe.
Salted Caramel Sauce
If you’re thinking of skipping the salted caramel sauce, DON’T! The caramel sauce is what ties all the flavors of this cake together perfectly. Its sweetness and saltiness help balance the sweetness and bitterness of the chocolate and coffee flavors and result in the most delicious layer cake.
Now, if you are scared of making caramel, I am here to help you. Trust me; it’s one of the simplest things to make and tastes absolutely delicious. You can also make the caramel sauce in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 10 days.
PS: the recipe used here is made with the dry caramel technique. You can also make the caramel sauce using the wet caramel technique with the recipe in my Twix Mousse Cake. They both taste almost the same, you can choose the technique based on your preference.
A few tips for making the salted caramel sauce
- Keep the pan on medium heat. It will take some time to melt the sugar, but keeping the heat on medium ensures that it melts evenly and does not burn.
- Keep moving the sugar around in the pan often to ensure that the sugar melts evenly and there are no sugar lumps in the final mixture.
- Use cold butter that has been cut into cubes; this helps the butter incorporate more easily into the sugar.
- Be careful when adding the cream to the sugar, as the mixture will bubble up. There is nothing worse than sugar burns!
- Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes after adding the cream to help thicken the sauce.
- Add 1/2 tsp of salt to the finished caramel to bring out the flavor.
- Let the caramel cool and thicken before using.
Assembling The Cake
When it comes to assembling and decorating this cake, you can go as casual or as fancy as you like. I personally kept the design pretty simple and gave it a look similar to a cup of coffee. However, if you like, you can go all out with the decoration.
Here are a few tips to help with assembling the cake –
- Make sure that the cake layers have cooled completely before assembling, or the cream will melt from the heat of the warm cakes.
- Keep the whipped cream refrigerated until ready to use to ensure maximum stiffness and stability during assembly.
- Use a piping bag to spread the cake evenly on each cake layer.
- Pipe a border of whipped cream on the edges of the cake on top of the whipped cream layer to create a space for the salted caramel sauce. This ensures the sauce does not leak out from the sides during assembly and keeps everything in place.
- Use an offset spatula to spread the cream evenly on the outside of the cake.
- Leave extra salted caramel sauce to pour on the cake for decoration.
Ready to whip up this delicious Caramel Mocha Latte Cake? Let’s go!
PS: I always measure ingredients in grams, never in cups. Using a measuring scale is the only way to bake accurately. Cups are very unreliable and can give different measurements, so I would suggest you buy a measuring scale before you start baking! If you can’t get your hands on one, you can use the online tools for converting grams into cups; however, I do not guarantee their accuracy.
Chocolate, Coffee & Caramel Cake | Caramel Mocha Latte Cake
Equipment
- 2 6-inch cake pans
- Electric or stand mixer
- Offset spatula
- Piping bags, optional for decoration
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 125 ml full-fat milk
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 120 gs all-purpose flour
- 100 gs white granulated sugar
- 100 gs packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4th tsp baking soda
- 38 gs cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coffee powder
- 1 egg
- 60 ml neutral oil
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 125 ml boiling water
Dalgona Coffee Whipped Cream
- 80 gs white granulated sugar
- 12 gs coffee powder
- 30-40 ml milk
- 120 ml liquid whipping cream
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 100 gs sugar
- 45 gs unsalted butter
- 60 ml liquid whipping cream/heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare the cake pans by greasing them with butter and flour to make sure that the cake does not stick while baking.
- Prepare the buttermilk by adding vinegar to the milk and let it sit for 10 minutes.125 ml full-fat milk, 1 tbsp vinegar
- Once the buttermilk is ready, add the remaining liquid ingredients – oil, egg, and vanilla essence in the same bowl and whisk until lightly combined.1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 60 ml neutral oil
- In a bowl, combine all your dry ingredients: flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt using a hand whisk.120 gs all-purpose flour, 100 gs white granulated sugar, 100 gs packed brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4th tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is well combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder and coffee powder with hot water until combined. This allows the chocolate and coffee powder to become more pronounced in the cake.38 gs cocoa powder, 1 tsp coffee powder, 125 ml boiling water
- Pour the chocolate water mixture into the batter and keep mixing until the water is well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into your cake pans and bake for 20 mins or until a test toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool before assembling.
Dalgona Coffee Whipped Cream
- Make the dalgona coffee mixture: In a bowl, add the coffee powder, sugar, and milk and whip on high speed using an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.80 gs white granulated sugar, 12 gs coffee powder, 30-40 ml milk
- Meanwhile, whip the whipping cream to medium peaks, then add the dalgona coffee mixture and whip to stiff peaks.120 ml liquid whipping cream
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Heat the sugar in a pan on medium heat. Keep mixing it often to ensure that the sugar melts evenly. Once the sugar has completely melted and reached n amber color, add the butter and whisk until it's well combined with the sugar.100 gs sugar, 45 gs unsalted butter
- Let the sauce cook for a minute, then add the liquid cream while whisking. Be careful as the sauce will bubble at this step. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for another 1-2 minutes, then take it off the heat and add the salt. Let it cool and thicken before serving.60 ml liquid whipping cream/heavy cream, 1/2 tsp salt
Assembly
- Once the cake layers have cooled, place the first layer on a plate, then spread a thick layer of the dalgona coffee whipped cream. Next, pipe a border of the whipped cream on the side to create a space for the caramel sauce. This will ensure that the sauce does not leak out.
- Spoon some caramel sauce in the center of the piped border, then place the second cake layer on top and repeat the process.
- Cover the outside of the cake with the remaining whipped cream, then pour the remaining caramel sauce on top. Finish the cake by piping a high layer of whipping cream. You can decorate it any way you like!
Notes
- Whipping cream: Make sure your whipping cream is cold before you start whipping it to ensure you get a stiff and stable cream. Room-temperature whipping cream does not whip as well as cold one.
- Semi-stiff/ stiff peaks: These terms describe how much whipping is required for the cream. Semi-stiff peaks refer to medium whipped cream, where when you pick your whisk up from the cream, it creates semi-stiff peaks. Stiff peaks refer to fully whipped cream, where when you pick up your whisk from the cream, it creates stiff, stable peaks.
If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy –
- Classic Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Carrot Cake With Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cinnamon Brown Butter Blondies With Salted Caramel Sauce
- S’mores Brownies
If you try this recipe, let me know how you liked it in the comments! And, of course, share it with me on Instagram.
Until next time!
