This decadent chocolate cake is flavored with whiskey, filled with layers of salted caramel buttercream and topped with a silky chocolate ganache.
Happy Halloween everyone! I can't tell you how excited I am to share this cake with you. It's no secret, that baking REALLY scares me. It's an exact science and I struggle with it. What do I do really well with? A good challenge. I had this cake orchestrated in my head for a while. I knew how I wanted it to look, how I wanted it to taste and how I wanted to photograph it. All three of these aspects of this cake were a struggle, but I did it, and I couldn't feel more accomplished.
Whiskey Chocolate Cake
The flavor of this cake is insane and brought to you by two special ingredients, whiskey, and coffee. The coffee intensifies the flavor of the chocolate and the whiskey pairs so well with both, it's unreal. This recipe will make two 8" cakes. I divided each 8" cake in half to make four total layers. You can also just make this cake with two thicker layers if you like or the batter will yield approximately 24 cupcakes.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
This buttercream is silky smooth and tastes divine with the chocolate cake. The recipe for this buttercream is simple. All you need is powdered sugar, butter, cream, and a special addition, salted caramel. I don't like it when frosting on a cake is overpowering and I wanted to make sure all aspects of this cake shined through. For this reason, I purposely made this a NAKED cake. That's right, you heard me, NAKED! It's a technique that leaves minimal frosting on the outside of the cake, thus exposing its layers. It's beautiful, rustic and allows all the beautiful flavors and textures to come through. This recipe allows for enough buttercream to naked frost this 4 layer cake. If you are wanting to fully frost your cake, I would double the recipe.
Salted Caramel Sauce
For my salted caramel sauce, I used a recipe that I love from Sally's Baking Addiction. This recipe is easy, turns out perfect every time and is the perfect addition to the buttercream. If you don't want to make caramel from scratch, you can buy a caramel sauce from the store, heat it up and stir in a teaspoon of salt. Whether you make your caramel from scratch, or you use a store-bought caramel, make sure it is completely cooled before adding it to the frosting.
Chocolate Ganache Drip for Whiskey Chocolate Cake
To really hit it home, I decided to top this cake with a rich chocolate ganache. It sounds super fancy, but in fact, a ganache is very simple to make. You only need two ingredients, chocolate, and heavy cream. Heat up your cream to just before it starts to simmer and then pour it over your chocolate. The heat of the cream will melt your chocolate and as you whisk the ingredients together, a silky ganache will appear.
Assembling a Layer Cake
Making a layer cake can seem like a daunting task. It's not a quick process and takes both time and patience. With a little perseverance and few tips for success, you can do this!
- Use room temperature ingredients when you're making your buttercream so you don't have lumpy frosting.
- Let your cake cool COMPLETELY before assembling to avoid melted frosting and sliding layers.
- Use a cake board or parchment paper to decorate your cake so you can easily transfer to a serving plate.
- Slice the top part of each layer of your cake off to ensure a flat surface and even layers.
- Chill your cake for at least an hour before adding your ganache drip to make sure it drips down the cake easily.
- Warm your ganache slightly if you want long melty drips, or leave it on the cooler side if you want short drips.
Whiskey Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream
This decadent chocolate cake is flavored with whiskey, filled with layers of salted caramel buttercream and topped with a silky chocolate ganache.
- Prep Time: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 245 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Whiskey Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large whole eggs (room temperature)
- ½ cup whiskey
- 1 ½ cup strongly brewed coffee (cooled)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup half and half (room temperature)
- 1 cup salted caramel sauce (cooled)
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup dark chocolate (chopped into small pieces)
Instructions
Whiskey Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350° and spray two 8" cake pans thoroughly with baking spray. Cut two circles the size of the bottom of the cake pans out of parchment paper and add to the cake pans. Spray the parchment paper with more baking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine eggs, whiskey, coffee, oil, and vanilla. Using a hand mixer, on medium speed, beat together the ingredients until everything is combined.
- Lower the speed on the hand mixer to the lowest setting and slowly add in dry ingredients while continuing to mix. Mix until dry ingredients are just combined into the wet ingredients.
- Pour equal amounts of the batter into the two prepared cake pans. Tap the pans on the counter a couple of times to release any excess air bubbles.
- Bake cakes in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and allow to completely cool.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add in the butter and mix together with a hand mixer until the sugar has dissolved completely. Add in half and half and continue to mix until incorporated.
- With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the salted caramel sauce. Once all of the caramel has been added, turn the mixer speed up to medium and beat for 30-60 seconds until all the caramel has been incorporated into the buttercream
Chocolate Ganache
- Add heavy cream into a saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until the cream starts to create small bubbles on the surface.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour hot cream over the top. Whisk together the chocolate and cream until all of the chocolate is melted and incorporated together with the cream.
Cake Assembly
- Once the cakes have completely cooled, remove the parchment paper and using a serrated knife, slice off the top of the round parts of the top of the cakes to make a flat surface. Next, carefully slice each cake in half through the middle to make four equal layers.
- Place your first layer of cake on a piece of parchment paper or cake board. Add about ½ cup of the buttercream to the cake and using an offset spatula, smooth out the frosting in a thin layer over the top of the cake. Add on your next layer of cake and repeat with another layer of buttercream. Repeat until you finish with the last layer of cake.
- Using the remaining buttercream, spread a thin layer over the top and all sides of the cake until the entire cake is covered. Place the cake in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to chill.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and place prepared ganache in a squeeze bottle. Moving slowly around the edge of the cake, gently squeeze out the ganache to create drips on the sides of the cake. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining ganache, using the offset spatula to spread the ganache around if necessary.
Nutrition
- Calories: 622
Keywords: buttercream, cake, caramel, chocolate, vegetarian, whiskey
Did you make this recipe?
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I hope you guys enjoyed this recipe, I know I sure did. Remember to challenge yourself, you never know what delicious creations you will come up with!
Anthony says
It asks for 1½ cups of Strongly Brewed Coffee (cooled). What coffee brand & flavor did you use?
Amanda says
Whatever type of coffee you drink should be fine. Make a stronger brew by increasing the amount of coffee grounds and keeping the water the same. I usually buy local coffee and we get medium or dark roast which will provide a rich flavor that compliments the chocolate and whiskey.
Anthony says
I was just curious as to what whiskey you used
Amanda says
I typically use a bourbon whiskey. The flavor goes well with chocolate and it's a little bit sweeter. I use a local bourbon whiskey here in Utah from Sugarhouse distillery that is really good in baking.
Anthony says
Awesome! Thank you for the information. I will be making this cake really soon.
Amanda says
Of course! I can't wait to hear how everything turned out!
Christina says
My husband has requested this for his birthday this year. How do you feel about substituting whiskey for the coffee? Also, what whiskey did you use?
Amanda says
Yep, that works. Milk is also another option.
Bee Bee says
I’m making this cake for someone who doesn’t love coffee—is the flavor of coffee very strong? Can you recommend a substitute?
Amanda says
The flavor of the coffee really doesn't come through, it's more to enhance the chocolate flavor. However, if you prefer to not use coffee, you can substitute it for milk instead.
Denise says
Sounds delicious. I do not have any whiskey. Can you make it without whiskey? If so, what can be substituted for the liquid aspect of this?
Amanda says
Absolutely! Just replace the whiskey with milk and you should be good to go!
Jordan says
Taste wise this recipe knocked it out the park. I’m not a dessert/cake lover but this may be my new favorite!
The only problem was presentation. I followed the directions exactly and the cake batter did not rise as your pictured layers. Do you have any recommendations for a better result?
Amanda | Saporito Kitchen says
Hi Jordan, I'm so glad you liked the flavors on this cake! I'm sorry you had trouble with the cake not rising. Baking is a crazy science so it's hard to pinpoint exactly what caused the issue. However, sometimes a cake not rising can be due to old baking powder or sometimes the oven's temperature can be off. Make sure also to not overmix or let the batter stand too long before baking or that can affect the cakes rise as well.
Mary says
The cake stand is beautiful!! Where did you get it from? Thanks for the information.
Amanda says
Thank you so much! The wooden platter I actually got from a second hand store and the glass cake stand was a wedding present from Crate and Barrel I believe!
Kelly Lentz says
I just found my wedding cake!! Sounds amazing, can't wait to make it!!
Amanda | Saporito Kitchen says
Yah! That makes me so happy to hear 🙂