We are so excited to add this Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake recipe to our collection of favorites! I am a huge fan of all things coffee–actually too much for my own good.
Have you ever tried to pipe buttercream scrollwork after drinking two cups of coffee? Not so easy! (But I love the challenge, haha)
This Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake lives up to it’s name, with all of the star ingredients deliciously represented!
The caramel, vanilla, and espresso flavors are unmistakable without being overpowering. Perfection!
You will love the delightful caramel flavor of these moist cake layers (thanks to the brown sugar in the recipe) along with a hint of espresso.
The additional glaze of caramel between the layers as well as the Vanilla Latte Buttercream makes for a cake that is just out of this world!
After baking the three layers of Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake (your kitchen will smell divine), I glazed our cake layers with caramel sauce as I assembled and filled the cake.
Although our cake already has a lovely caramel flavor on it’s own, the caramel sauce gives a delicious boost!
After glazing the first Caramel Vanilla Latte cake layer with caramel sauce, I followed with a lush layer of Vanilla Latte Buttercream frosting. Ohhh so good!
I repeated this step for the second cake layer also. You can see in the above photo that I piped a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake (using a piping bag with the tip snipped away).
I was playing it safe, although my caramel glaze was applied thinly enough that I probably could have skipped the dam.
After adding our third layer, I frosted the cake in a delicious coat of Vanilla Latte Buttercream! I used a french tip (Ateco 863) to add piping around the top edge of the cake.
You’ll notice that these piped “stars” on top are a bit lighter in color than our Vanilla Latte Buttercream. When whipping up the buttercream, I reserved about 1/2 cup before adding the coffee to the recipe.
I used this reserved buttercream for my stars. This gives us a little contrast but is a completely optional step!
Next, I drizzled the top with more caramel sauce. You can use a spoon for this, or use a piping bag with the tip snipped away if you’d like a little more control.
Finally, I applied a simple buttercream bead border using a medium sized round tip 12 and added a light dusting of cinnamon. Yum!!
Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake Recipe
This Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake recipe has the perfect balance of caramel, vanilla, and espresso!
Ingredients
- 1 small jar Caramel Sauce (*This isn't used until assembly of cake)
- 1 1/2 sticks (169g) unsalted butter, softened slightly
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (108g) brown sugar (firmly pack the brown sugar into the cup)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature ( if cold, the eggs can be placed in a bowl with warm water for a few minutes)
- 2 3/4 cups (312g) cake flour **(if you do not have cake flour see substitution below)
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (12g) baking powder
- 1 cup (242g) milk
- 1 Tablespoon (4g) instant espresso powder (or instant coffee granules) dissolved in 1 Tablespoon hot water
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (53g) vegetable oil
Vanilla Latte Buttercream
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 6 cups (690g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons ( 4g ) instant espresso powder (or coffee granules) dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (80g) heavy cream, more if needed to reach desired spreading consistency
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt to cut sweetness (optional) popcorn salt will dissolve more easily because of its fine grain
- Cinnamon (optional) Add a sprinkle of cinnamon over the top of cake if desired.
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans. Place a circle of parchment paper or wax paper in the bottom of each pan.
- In a medium bowl, add the milk, coffee, vanilla, and vegetable oil. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream the softened butter. Slowly add the sugar and beat at medium speed for 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time,mixing after each until the yellow streaks are blended in.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with dry ingredients (3 additions of dry and 2 of wet). Do not over mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Check at 20 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
- The recipe makes 6 1/2 cups of batter
- Works well for cupcakes, the cupcakes will have a very slight dome
For the Vanilla Latte Buttercream
{*A quick note. I piped a few stars of vanilla buttercream around the top of my finished cake for a bit of a color contrast. If you would like to do the same, do not add the espresso to the frosting recipe until the second round of mixing, which is the last few minutes of mixing on low speed.}
- In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar along with the cream, vanilla, salt and espresso.
- Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes (longer if using a hand mixer) adding more liquid if needed to reach desired spreading consistency.
- Reduce speed of mixer to low and mix 3 minutes or more until the buttercream is creamy and smooth.
To Assemble the Cake
- Place the first cake layer onto your pedestal or cake base. Pipe a dam of buttercream around the layer. Spread a thin layer of caramel. Follow with the Vanilla Latte Buttercream filling. Add another cake layer & repeat.
- Frost the cake as desired with Vanilla Latte Buttercream. Drizzle caramel around edges and top. (I used a piping bag with the end snipped away for the caramel drizzle.)
- If you wish, you can apply Vanilla Buttercream stars around the top edge. (I did so with an Ateco 863)
Notes
***If you do not have cake flour, you can make your own. Substitution for cake flour: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of the all purpose flour (plain) and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, remove 5 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons flour and replace with 5 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons teaspoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend.
We hope that you give this fabulous homemade Caramel Vanilla Latte cake recipe a try! Even if you aren’t a huge fan of coffee, the hint of espresso is perfectly complemented by the caramel and vanilla. I can’t say enough about this cake!
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Hi Melissa, I made this today. I used only two 8” pans but the layers were only 1” in height. The icing was very sweet. I added more cream as well but it was still way too sweet. So I will have to make another cake.
Hi Hazel, I’m sorry that you had trouble with this recipe, it is one of our favorites. If only making two layers, they should definitely have baked up taller than 1 inch each. Since the cakes didn’t rise, I would double check that your baking powder isn’t out of date.
If I were to make this recipe for cupcakes should I use the conventional method instead?
Hi Jessica, This recipe is written in the conventional method and works well for cupcakes. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3’s full, they do not rise with a high dome – they will be gently rounded. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Hi Melissa, the icing tasted way too sweet but after the cake has been in the fridge it was delicious. I wasted my time making another cake. Lucky neighbors got a share. Thank you!
Hi there. I am longing to try this cake for my daughters birthday in a couple of days because she loves anything caramel but I can’t seem to find the recipe for the caramel sauce that you use. Can you please advise on that.
Thanks,
Jenny
Hi Jenny, We did not make caramel sauce. We used a small jar of Smuckers caramel sauce It is usually found on or near the ice cream isle. It is the first item listed on the ingredient list. You could use homemade sauce but we just wanted to use this shortcut. I hope your daughter will enjoy the cake.
Is the batter supposed to be pretty runny?
Hi Amanda, I don’t remember the batter being extra runny, but so many cakes, I can’t be sure.
Hi! mine was a bit more runny than I am accustomed to, however, it turned out great. No problem. <3
Hi Fariza, Yes, you can use all brown sugar in the recipe. The cake will still have the same sweetness but using all brown sugar will change the texture and flavor a bit. Since brown sugar contains molasses, I would use light brown sugar to have less of a flavor change. Let us know how you like the recipe using this change.