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Salted Caramel Cake with Orange Buttercream

This salted caramel cake is a fluffy, delicious layer cake fit for any celebration! Moist caramel cake layers are frosted with a tart orange buttercream for a unique, bright flavor combination. Dress this cake with greenery and cranberries for the holiday season, or simply enjoy it any time of year!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Author: Abigail Bingham

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup butter room temp
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup light brown sugar
  • 3 eggs room temp
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • ½ cup caramel
  • 1 cup almond milk

For the buttercream:

  • 1 cup butter room temp
  • 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoon fresh orange juice
  • pinch salt to taste

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6in baking pans.
  • Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
  • In a standard mixer, beat together butter and sugars until fluffy.
  • Add in eggs one at a time until fully combined.
  • Add vanilla, syrup and caramel until fully mixed and smooth.
  • Alternate adding dry mixture and milk until both are fully combined into the cake batter.
  • Pour your batter evenly between pans and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Let cake rounds cool fully before assembling.

For the buttercream:

  • In a standard mixer, beat the butter until fluffy (whisk or paddle attachment are both fine).
  • Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully combined.
  • Add in your vanilla, orange juice, heavy cream and salt - taste, then adjust however you'd like if necessary.
  • Chill until needed to frost cakes.

To assemble the cake:

  • Place one cake round on a cake stand (or whatever you'll be serving the cake on).
  • Spread about ¾ cup buttercream onto the cake round.
  • Optional: drizzle some caramel sauce over the buttercream to add more flavor to the filling.
  • Place second cake round on top, then repeat the process.
  • Use the remaining buttercream to frost the outside of the cake. I prefer a naked look when frosting, but you can fully coat the cake if you'd like!
  • Continue to decorate however you'd like, and enjoy!