Classic Southern Caramel Cake

There’s a reason why my Real Deal Caramel Cake is sought after by everybody on the web. It’s legit the best, hands down! It’s been the number one caramel cake recipe online for over 10 years, and here’s why! It’s got a moist buttery yellow cake base made from scratch that’s coated in the ultimate caramel icing from my Mississippi bred Aunt Beverly who handed it down to me. The icing is cooked slowly over the stove until it reaches the perfect sticky silky texture. This is about as authentic of a recipe as you will find, plus I have a video to help you along with step by step images. They don’t call it the real deal for nothin!

Folks from the South know that an old fashioned caramel cake is a delicacy. It’s a classic that deserves time, love and true skill. It ain’t to be played around with. That’s why Southern folks know that everybody can’t make this recipe. I couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you that’s been in my family for as long as I can remember. The funny thing about caramel cake is a lot of people did not become familiar with it until the movie “The Help” mentioned it. After the movie was released in theaters, I saw tons of replicas of this classic cake online but none of these recipes were as authentic as I thought they should be. Let me show you why they call this one the “real deal”.

Cuisine Inspiration: Southern Classic Done the Right Way!Primary Cooking Method: Baking and SimmeringDietary Info: Contains Dairy and Gluten boosKey Flavor: Buttery, Moist, Vanilla Vibes with Sweet, Gooey, Rich, Caramel VibesSkill Level: Intermediate to Advanced (this ain’t for the faint of heart!)

• Moist Cake: If you make this right and don’t overbake, you will have a super tender, slightly dense but light yellow butter cake that is the perfect foundation for that insanely addictive caramel.
• Caramel Cake Icing: Listen, this icing is the thing that keeps folks coming back asking you how you made it! It takes patience and commitment. While it’s a simple recipe with simple ingredients, you gotta be all in on making it just right.
• No shortcuts! My southern caramel cake recipe is all from scratch with no shortcuts. We play no games here. If you see one of those recipes online that tell you brown sugar goes in caramel, run don’t walk! That ain’t it boos! This is how you make caramel cake like the Southern old schoolers do.

Ingredients You Will Need To Make Southern Caramel Cake From Scatch

For the Moist Caramel Cake Batter

• Butter: This is gonna give our cake that buttery, tender crumb. And it needs to be room temperature boos. Grab unsalted so you can control the salt content here.
• Vegetable oil: Truth be told, butter cakes can sometimes dry out if you let them overbake slightly so I give y’all some insurance by adding just a little neutral flavored oil in to keep it moist.
• Granulated sugar: Creamed with that butter, sugar gives structure and texture as well as the perfect amount of sweetness.
• Flour: Cake flour is the move here so our cake doesn’t develop too much gluten and get tough. We lighten the texture by sifting it too!
• Eggs: I know this cake has a lot of eggs but they are necessary. They bind the cake together and give structure while also adding rich flavor and color too! Egg yolks have more moisture than egg whites so we add a couple in.
• Baking powder and salt: These give our cake some lift so it rises and is fluffy while also providing a bit of flavor. Don’t ever forget to sprinkle a pinch of salt in any dessert you make.
• Sour cream: This is gonna give this cake so much moisture and a bit of tangy flavor.
• Vanilla extract: Grab the very best you can find since the quality will dictate how much of that wonderful aromatic vanilla vibe you get in your finished product.

For the Caramel Cake Icing

• Butter: We use salted here. This is the base of our caramel and nothing adds better richness than real butter.
• Evaporated Milk: This is gonna give that creaminess and smooth silky texture once that caramel thickens.
• Granulated Sugar: If it ain’t sticky and sweet, it ain’t caramel. Gotta add that sugar boos!
• Vanilla extract: Yep, that vanilla has to show up again to enhance that final flavor with some slight aromatic notes.

How to Make Caramel Cake
Step 1: Mix Up the Cake Batter

1. Cream the butter, oil, and sugar on high until good and mixed up. We are looking for nice, light and fluffy vibes so let the mixer go for about 5-6 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to medium speed and mix in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time until they are well incorporated. Next, toss in the vanilla extract and mix again.
3. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl then slow the mixer to slow speed. Alternate adding in the dry ingredients with the sour cream then finally end with the rest of the dry ingredients.

At the end of mixing, the batter should be silky and super smooth.

Step 2: Time to Bake!

1. Evenly pour batter into the greased up parchment lined cake pans and bake in the oven until fully baked, about 23-30 minutes.
2. Remove the cake pans from the oven and cool on cooling racks for 10 minutes and then remove them from the pan to continue cooling.