We Can't Stop Drooling Over This Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake (Get the Recipe Here!)

Four words: Salted. Caramel. Chocolate. Cake. Need we say more? Even better, the recipe comes from Top Chef favorite Fabio Viviani, whose latest cookbook—Fabio's 30-Minute Italian—is all about making delicious, stress-free meals. In keeping with the theme, this recipe takes just 30 minutes of hands-on time and bakes for an hour in the oven.

The chocolatey cake is spiced up with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum, then glazed with a super-rich caramel sauce. It'll serve about a dozen of your friends—unless you want to hoard it all for yourself.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

Serves 10-12

30 minutes prep time

1 hour cooking time

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE:

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, extracted from pod
• 2 teaspoons rum
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

FOR THE CARAMEL:

• Splash of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round baking pans. Set aside.

2. In a large stand mixer, combine the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and flour. Once combined, add buttermilk, heavy cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and rum; mix until smooth. Stir together the hot water and espresso powder. Pour slowly into the cake batter and stir until completely incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until baked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool down completely.

4. While cakes are cooking, combine the vanilla extract, fleur de sel, butter, ½ cup of heavy cream and sugar in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Cook until caramel in color, then add the final 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Stir for 20 seconds and let cool before glazing cake.

Credit: From Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian by Fabio Viviani; published by St. Martin’s Press. Copyright ©2017 by Fabio Viviani. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission. Page 208-209.