ingredients:
for the cake:
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 c. vegetable oil
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 2 c. flour
- 1-3/4 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. good quality cocoa
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 T. baking soda
- 1 c. hot coffee
for the frosting:
- 1/2 c. milk
- 1 c. sugar
- 6 T. unsalted butter
- 2 c. good quality semisweet chocolate chips (I like Guittard!)
- 3/4 c. caramel (I used my favorite caramel from a jar, by Tastefully Simple.)
- 1-1/2 c. toasted and salted pecans (I like the ones from Trader Joe’s.)
directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease three 9″ round cake pans. Cover each bottom with a disk of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine egg, oil, and buttermilk. In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry until well mixed. Slowly add the hot coffee. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 3o minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cakes rest in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To make frosting, mix milk and sugar in saucepan. Add butter. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips to pan. Using wire whisk, mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick or grainy, add 1 to 2 teaspoons hot coffee.
To assemble the cake, place one cooled cake layer, top side down, on a cake plate. Spread with one-third of the frosting, pushing it out gently from edges to make a petal effect. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans, drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel. Add next cake layer, again top side down. Repeat with the same measurements of frosting, pecans, and caramel. Add final cake layer, top side up, and frost with petal effect and finish with remaining pecans and caramel.
