Gluten-Free Chocolate Caramel Cake #Choctoberfest

Four layers of rich chocolate cake are covered in a simple layer of creamy caramel frosting. It might not look like much but your taste buds will say otherwise.

It’s time to to celebrate #Choctoberfest! Allison of The Pintertest Kitchen rounded up over 100 bloggers to participate in this week long event celebrating all things chocolate, so I hope you like chocolate. If not, avert your eyes and come back next week. Or maybe you are like me and enjoy chocolate when it’s mixed with other flavors, such as caramel! I actually made this four-layer cake for my friend’s wedding. Everyone raved over it and even more so when I informed them it was gluten-free. Some people didn’t believe me! I guess that’s what happens when you have been baking for your celiac-friend for over a decade.

This cake makes a tall 4-layer cake. Don’t need to feed a crowd? You can easily halve this recipe to make a regular sized layer cake. But don’t be surprised if people come back asking for more. Speaking of more, if you need a stronger chocolate fix, check out the list of recipes other bloggers shared today at the end of this post. And as always we have a great giveaway thanks to our sponsors so make sure you enter HERE.

Two years ago: Gluten-Free Peanut Butter & Chocolate Turtle Poke Cake

Four years ago: Pesto Chicken Pizza with Mascarpone, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Six years ago: Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal

GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE

Makes one 4 layer cake, serves 24-32

Ingredients:

CAKE

4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup cocoa powder

2 cups hot milk

4 cups gluten-free baking flour

4 cups granulated sugar

4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

FROSTING*

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

Caramel sauce

* If you prefer a thicker costing of frosting than I have pictured, you may want to double the frosting

Directions:

1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Light coat four 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray or butter and lightly flour. Set aside.
2. Place the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Pour the hot milk over the mixture and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, add cooled chocolate mixture, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
4. Distribute cake batter evenly between the four prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on wire rack. If needed, slice off the tops of the cakes to make them level.
6. For the frosting: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and butter to a boil. Continue to boil for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until it resembles a thick pudding. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add cooled caramel and beat for 2 minutes.
8. Once the cake layers are cool, spread over each layer, stack, and cover the outside of the cake with more frosting. Before cutting, drizzle with caramel sauce and serve.

Source: Cake adapted from my Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake and frosting from Cooking with Carlee.

Disclosure: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #Choctoberfest but all opinions are 100% mine.