Southern Caramel Cake Recipe (2024)

This Southern Caramel Cake Recipe is a traditional caramel cake made from an heirloom family recipe. It’s delicious topped with homemade caramel icing!

Southern Caramel Cake Recipe (1)

Southern Caramel Cake is one of those desserts that is a true labor of love. So rich and decadent, it’s a cake that surely takes any special occasion to a whole new level and is by far one of my family’s favorite cakes.

We celebrated two birthdays in my family this past weekend – Mama’s and my husband’s. I asked each of them what kind of cake they would like for their birthday and both of them replied, “Caramel Cake!” Any cake that is requested by multiple people in a family the size of mine for their birthday is definitely a cake to make sure you get just right.

It’s a cake to take pride in, even though mine is a far cry from decorator-perfect. Right down to the smudges on the rim of the cake plate. You can surely tell it’s homemade, can’t you?

How to Make Southern Caramel Cake

Ingredients

Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.

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For the caramel cake, you’ll need butter, sugar, eggs, self-rising flour, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and a double recipe of my family’s Southern Caramel Icing.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Make sure your ingredients, especially butter, eggs, and buttermilk, are all at room temperature. This allows them to mix more fully into the cake batter.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Prep. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare three cake pans with butter and flour. Set aside.

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Make the cake batter. Cream together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined after each egg. Add the flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the flour.

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Bake the cake. Divide the cake batter between the three prepared cake pans and bake until the center springs back to a light touch and the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. You may enjoy reading all of my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.

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Cool the layers. Remove the cake layers from the oven. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

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Make your caramel icing. This is when you’ll have time to make your caramel icing. I’ve previously posted the recipe for Southern Caramel Icing that I use.

Make this cake soon for someone you love, to celebrate something special, or just because. You won’t be sorry.

Southern Caramel Cake Recipe

Robyn Stone

4.91 from 50 votes

This Southern Caramel Cake Recipe is a traditional caramel cake made from an heirloom family recipe. It's delicious topped with homemade caramel icing!

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 24

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (226 g) butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups (396 g) sugar
  • 4 large (200 g) eggs, room temperature
  • 3 cups (360 g) self-rising flour
  • 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons (9.4 g) vanilla extract
  • Southern Caramel Icing Recipe, double the recipe

Instructions

  • Prep. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare three cake pans with butter and flour. Set aside.

  • Make the cake batter. Cream together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined after each egg. Add the flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the flour.

  • Bake the cake. Divide the cake batter between the three prepared cake pans and bake until the center springs back to a light touch and the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. You may enjoy reading all of my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.

  • Cool the layers. Remove the cake layers from the oven. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

  • Make the icing. Make double the original recipe for Southern Caramel Icing to have ample icing for this three layer cake.

Notes

The nutritional information is for the cake only without frosting.

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 43mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 292IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Categorized as:All Recipes, Birthday Recipes, Cake, Christmas Recipes, Dessert Recipes, Father’s Day Recipes, Holiday and Occasion Recipes, Recipes, Southern Favorites, Thanksgiving Recipes

Welcome to Add A Pinch

About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Southern Caramel Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is caramel cake made of? ›

Caramel Cake Ingredients

Butter, sugar, and eggs: You'll find these staple cake ingredients in almost every batter. Flour, baking powder, and salt: Ditto these dry ingredients. No need to buy cake flour for this recipe; we prefer the all-purpose you already have on hand.

What is caramel icing made of? ›

How to Make Caramel Buttercream. Cook the sugars, butter, cream, milk, corn syrup, and salt until butter is melted and sugar dissolves, then increase the heat. Once the mixture reaches a full boil, continue cooking for 4 minutes or until the sauce reaches 230F.

What is caramel made of? ›

The main ingredient in caramel is sugar. However, depending on the recipe you use, you may have to incorporate butter, heavy cream, water, or corn syrup as additional ingredients. High-quality, real caramel is always made with three basic ingredients and those are sugar, heavy cream, and butter.

Does Duncan Hines have caramel cake mix? ›

The Duncan Hines Caramel Cake Mix is AWESOME as a base for cakes.

What's the difference between caramel and butterscotch cake? ›

Butterscotch vs Caramel

The difference between butterscotch and caramel is that caramel is made with white granulated sugar and cooked to 340 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas butterscotch is made with brown sugar and cooked to 289 degrees Fahrenheit.

What's in a Robert Redford cake? ›

Whatever you want to call it, this cake involves chocolate and all kinds of other sweet indulgences that may help explain its name (with apologies, perhaps, to the actor Robert Redford). This is a popular, irresistible chocolate cake dessert with loads of chocolate, caramel topping, candy bars, and whipped topping.

Does powdered sugar caramelize? ›

Powdered sugar is composed of granulated sugar that has been blended into a fine powder and cornstarch. If you try to heat it in a pan, the cornstarch will burn rather than caramelizing. The fine powder is best used for turning caramel into a thickened, icing-like sauce.

What does adding butter to caramel do? ›

Some form of dairy — typically butter and/or heavy cream — is usually added to the mixture at either the beginning or the end of cooking. This addition makes the caramel richer, thicker, and lighter in color, lending more viscosity and rounder flavor.

What are the three types of caramel? ›

Classification of caramel
  • Caramel Color I (also known as plain or spirit caramel)
  • Caramel Color II (caustic sulfite caramel)
  • Caramel Color III (ammonia or beer caramel, baker's and confectioner's caramel)
  • Caramel Color IV (known as sulfite-ammonia, soft drink caramel, or acid-proof caramel).
Feb 9, 2012

What's the difference between caramel and caramel? ›

Carmel and caramel are not different spellings of the same word. Caramel is the correct spelling if you're talking about food or colors. Carmel is a misspelling when used in those contexts, but it is a word that can be used as a name for people or places.

Which cake mix is better Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines? ›

The Betty Crocker cake had a great fluffy texture that was perhaps even better than Duncan Hines'. But it was quite bland. I didn't taste much chocolate, and it relied on the frosting to make it taste delicious. This story was originally published on March 10, 2022 and most recently updated on January 5, 2024.

Can I use milk instead of water in Duncan Hines cake mix? ›

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Can you buy caramel to bake with? ›

It's ready-made caramel that you can spoon straight from the can - just right if you're looking for a scrumptious, easy-to-use baking caramel. We're always looking for ways to make baking even easier and more convenient, and we made Carnation® Caramel wonderfully versatile.

Is caramel made from condensed milk? ›

Most of the time, people cook caramel by heating up regular or brown sugar until it turns into a smooth and creamy substance. However, you can also make caramel out of sweetened condensed milk, creating the same great sauce with a unique, extra-sweet kick.

Is caramel made from butter and sugar? ›

Ok you may not have known this but, ~newsflash~ caramel is literally just cooked sugar with a little bit of butter (for stability) and heavy cream (for flavor & mouthfeel) stirred in at the end. The longest (and “hardest”) part of making caramel is just toasting and melting down the sugar at the very beginning.

Is caramel made of burnt sugar? ›

Caramel is, simply, burned sugar. We want to let it melt, darken to an amber color and take on a deep and bittersweet flavor. The best, most flavorful caramel starts with this step. You can caramelize sugar two ways— with the dry method or wet method.

What is caramel used for in baking? ›

The most common ways to use caramel include topping ice cream sundaes, apples, and some pies. It is sometimes made into soft, chewy candies or drizzled over popcorn. Caramel is often made into bars, cookies, cakes, and pies. Caramel pairs well with chocolate, like in millionaire's shortbread, and vanilla flavors.

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