Old Fashioned Caramel Snack Cake
Don't let the simple look of this cake fool you! Old Fashioned Caramel Snack Cake is rich, tender and soft. Made with a homemade caramel sauce that flavors the cake and topped with burnt sugar icing for an incredibly delicious snack, anytime of the day!
Servings: 12
Calories: 697kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Caramel Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup boiling water
Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup unsalted butter - room temperature (2 sticks)
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup caramel syrup
Caramel Sugar Icing
- 3 ¾ cups confectioners sugar - sifted
- ¾ cup caramel syrup
- ¼ cup unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk or half & half
Instructions
Caramel Syrup
- To a sauce pan, add sugar and water. Dissolve sugar over medium low heat, stirring on and off until melted and color turns "tea" brown. Very carefully, add the boiling water, pouring it down the side of the pan. Syrup will foam up. Continue to cook, stirring until caramel is thinned and develops a golden caramel color. Set aside.
Cake
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Set aside
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add vanilla to milk and stir to blend.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, add butter and beat on low until soft. Continuing to beat with speed increased for 1 to 2 minutes until butter is light and fluffy. Slowly add in sugar and continue to beat for 7 minutes. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well. Pour in ½ cup of caramel syrup and beat. Add in ⅓ of flour mixture then ½ of milk. Mix well, then add ⅓ of flour, remaining milk and mix. Add in last ⅓ of flour and beat until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan on counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until cake is golden brown and sides start to pull away from pan. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Top with Burnt Sugar Icing.
Caramel Sugar Icing
- In a bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, mix together confectioners sugar, caramel syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Scrap down sides of bowl. Add in 2 tablespoons of milk and continue beating until icing is smooth, about the consistency of peanut butter. If too thick add more milk, too thin, add more sugar.
Video
Notes
- Make the Caramel Syrup and let it cool before you make the cake and icing. I've made mine a day ahead and stored it in a mason jar until I was ready to bake my cake.
- Cook the caramel syrup until it is the color of tea - a rich golden brown.
- Do not shortcut the whipping time in the cake-making instructions. The butter must be whipped until light and fluffy, which will give the cake an incredible texture when baked.
- Prep the baking pan with cooking spray and flour, or line it with parchment paper.
- The cake will be cooked completely when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely on a wire rack! If you don't, the icing will melt.
- Store the cake in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap or foil, at room temperature for 3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 697kcal | Carbohydrates: 122g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 321mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 97g | Vitamin A: 741IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 2mg