CHOCOLATE CARAMEL NUT CAKE

If you are a fan of chocolate, caramel and nuts, this cake is for you.

She is dark and thick, made fudgy and gooey due to the added chocolate chips into the cake batter. Every slice comes with a fudgy chocolate cake, drizzled in nut and caramel, and every bite an explosion of all these three flavours. A delicious dessert to indulge in and share with family and friends.

I have an unresistant urge to always grab a Snickers bar or maybe a Twix whenever I am out shopping. It’s the crunch of nuts mixed in caramel and coated in chocolate for me. All deliciously intense flavours that blend and explode in your mouth, one-two bites are not enough. The good news is, it is super easy to translate these three flavours in desserts such as tarts, cookies, muffins or even cake, like this one!

To make the chocolate cake only a few ingredients are required with a few key ingredients to make it fudgier just like my chocolate mocha cake. No special equipment is necessary, just a whisk and a mixing bowl. Besides the nutty appearance, I did not, unfortunately, incorporate the nuts into my cake batter. I just don’t like adding nuts into chocolate cake batter unless in a carrot cake, banana bread, cookies, or in streusel. However, if you fancy nuts in chocolate cake then feel free to add one-two handful of peanuts, walnuts, macadamia, or pistachios if you want( scratch that, if you can afford it).

The caramel nutty layer is a normal caramel sauce with added nuts then drizzled over the chocolate cake after it has cooled.

How to make chocolate caramel nut cake

Make the chocolate cake

For a fudgy chocolate cake you will need;

• All purpose flour.
• Alkalized cocoa powder
• Vegetable oil
• Brown sugar
• Eggs
• Milk
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Instant coffee powder
• Vanilla extract
• Chocolate chips( optional )

Start by preheating the oven at 170 C . Butter and flour the baking tin or line with parchment paper then set it aside. This recipe is enough for two sma; ll sized cake pans therefore if you prefer a layer cake you can use two pans for the cake batter.

Bake in a floured buttered pan until baked. A skewer inserted in the middle will not come out completely clean because of the melted chocolate chips in the mixture but it should be mostly clean.

Remove from the oven and set it aside to cool after 10 minutes overturn the cake to remove from the baking tin and place on a cooling rack.

Make the caramel nutty layer.

For the caramel nutty layer, you will need

1. Granulated sugar
2. Roasted peanuts
3. Heavy cream
4. Unsalted butter
5. Salt

In a deep medium-sized pan over medium heat, cook dry sugar slowly while swirling the pan for uniformed caramelization until it turns into a deep brown colour.

Remove from heat and immediately drizzle in warm heavy cream stirring constantly. Return to heat on set on medium and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in room temperature unsalted butter with the chopped peanuts, then set aside to cool just a little. The caramel should be drizzled while still somewhat warm since it will completely solidify after it is fully cooled.

To make it more flavorful, you can make the caramel with different kinds of nuts such as walnuts, macadamia or pecans or stir in milk chocolate for a chocolatey caramel.

What to observe when making Chocolate Caramel nut cake.

1;. To make the chocolate cake more fudgy use chocolate chips, alkalized cocoa powder and brown sugar. The chocolate chips will melt during baking, alkalized cocoa powder intensifies the chocolate flavour while brown sugar bakes into a deep flavourful caramel that improves the chocolate flavour.

2. To make the caramel layer more flavourful try incorporating a variety of nuts such as walnuts, pecans or macadamias or your favourite bar of chocolate for a chocolate caramel.

3. Don’t let the caramel nut layer completely cool otherwise it will thicken and make it hard to drizzle on the chocolate cake.

4. Use warm heavy cream when making the caramel. Cold heavy cream poured into hot sugar will make it seize up and turn solid or clumpy which will make mixing hard and increase the chances of overcooking and burning caramel sauce.

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