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Chocolate Salted Caramel Crunch Cake

Every year after Halloween, there’s one candy bar in particular that I’m left with. Can you guess what it is?

Butterfingers! I’ve no idea why. They’re quite delicious. But I always have a bunch of them!

This dilemma got me thinking. What could I use these crispy, crunchy bars for?

A Chocolate Salted Caramel Crunch Cake that’s what!

Chocolate Salted Caramel Crunch Cake - Made with leftover Butterfinger candy!
A close up of the top of a chocolate-frosted cake with crunchy bits on top
chocolate caramel crunch cake | Wife in Progress

This chocolate cake has three layers sandwiched between a delicious salted caramel buttercream and topped with crushed Butterfinger pieces.

chocolate caramel crunch cake | Wife in Progress

Let’s cut ourselves a slice, shall we?

chocolate caramel crunch cake | Wife in Progress

The dense, moist interior is perfectly complemented by the sweet, salty crunchy caramel filling.

A close up of the inside of a chocolate cake, with 3 layers of frosting

The stout and coffee in the batter give this cake a depth of flavor that is sometimes missing in a chocolate cake. To say that this is a decadent treat would be an understatement.

A chocolate cake resting on a rustic wood cutting, with a large slice of cake cut out

A creamy ganache covers the entire cake and adds even more velvety chocolate goodness into the mix.

A side view of a chocolate cake, resting on a wooden cake stand

Are you salivating yet? ;-)

A piece of chocolate cake sitting on a square, light blue plate, next to the cake stand

You won’t be able to eat more than a slice of this cake at one time. It’s certainly heavy!

A person holding a gold fork above a slice of chocolate cake in a light blue plate

I’m not a big milk drinker but my husband insists milk is the perfect accompaniment to a slice of this cake since it helps cut through the richness.

A large slice of chocolate cake, resting on a decorative, light blue plate with a glass of milk nearby
chocolate crunch cake

Definitely a bit messy to assemble but worth it!

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Chocolate Salted Caramel Crunch Cake

A chocolate cake, with a large wedge cut out, resting on a rustic, wood cutting
A sweet and salty and utterly decadent chocolate stout cake.
Jenna Shaughnessy
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Serving Size 12

Ingredients

For the cake

  • ¾ cups Guinness
  • ¼ cup strong black coffee
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoons salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • â…” cups sour cream
  • For the salted caramel buttercream;
  • 1 ½ cups butter room temperature
  • 14 oz can dulce de leche
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 5 fun-size Butterfinger bars

For chocolate ganache

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ lb 1 1/3 cup dark chocolate morsels
  • For top decoration;
  • a handful of crushed Butterfinger or Crunchies if you’re in the UK/Ireland
  • a pinch of sea salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
  • Grease and flour three 9″ cake pans. You can also use 8″ pans for a taller cake.
  • In a large saucepan heat stout, coffee and butter together until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer.
  • Add cocoa powder while whisking continuously to avoid lumps Beat until smooth. Put it in the fridge to cool.
  • Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a different bowl.
  • In a third bowl, mix eggs, vanilla and sour cream with an electric mixer.
  • Once chocolate mixture is cool, add it to the egg and sour cream mixture. Mix them together.
  • Add flour mixture a little bit at a time and beat on low speed until combined.
  • Divide batter equally among the pans.
  • Bake cakes in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
  • Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream

  • Whip butter in a bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy and then add dulce de leche along with a pinch of salt until completely incorporated.
  • Wrap Butterfinger bars in a clean tea towel and crush with a rolling pin or process in a food processor.
  • Fold in crushed honeycomb pieces into buttercream.
  • Fill the cake layers with salted caramel buttercream, then cover the entire cake with remaining buttercream. Chill in the fridge for at least 60 minutes.

Chocolate Ganace

  • Bring heavy cream barely to a boil.
  • Remove from heat and pour over chocolate morsels. DO NOT MIX.
  • Put a lid over it and let it sit for 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, whisk the mixture – starting from the inside and working your way out.
  • Let sit for 15-20 minutes at room temperature until thick enough to spread on the cake.
  • Cover the chilled cake with chocolate ganache and decorate with more honeycomb pieces and salt.

Notes

Adapted from Vikalinka

This cake would make a great holiday dessert and I think it will be my go-to this year! Would you consider making this with leftover Butterfingers?

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12 Comments

  1. Double Cream is not easily available in the United States. Its closest equivalent is heavy cream which will work as it is for a ganache. Double Cream is more common overseas and has almost twice the fat content of our heavy/whipping cream.

    1. Thanks Robert! I didn’t realize there was so much of a difference. I used heavy cream for the ganache and it was perfect.

  2. 1) Can you substute or leave out the beer?
    2) Can you make these into cupcakes?
    3) What would be a good substution for Butterfingers?
    4). What is double cream?
    Thank you…

    1. Hi Hannah,

      You cannot substitute or leave out the beer. As well as adding to the flavor, it acts as a rising agent.
      You can certainly make them into cupcakes but you will need to adjust the baking time. Bake for around 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
      You could use any sort of honeycomb in place of the Butterfingers.
      Double cream is also known as heavy cream if that helps!

  3. Great idea! Thanks for sharing as I always have several of these around and I would rather share them with others in a cake then eat them all myself!

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