Step-by-step method

At a glance

Start by making the light hazelnut sponge, which needs to cool completely before you slice it into layers. Next, make a smooth salted caramel and whip it into a creamy frosting. Finally, spread the filling between the layers, assemble the cake and decorate it however you like – if you'd rather skip the fiddly macarons, that's perfectly fine too.

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Tip: sponge for a baking tray

I never bake any other type of sponge – I just adjust the ratio of eggs (and other ingredients) to the size of the tin. For one baking tray: use a batter made with 4 eggs for a base layer (for slices with gelatine). For one baking tray: use a batter made with 6 eggs for a sponge meant to be sliced and filled.
2/15

Tip: sponge for a cake tin

26 cm round cake tin – batter made with 6 eggs. 30 cm round cake tin – batter made with 8 eggs.
3/15

Tip: flavouring the sponge

The sponge can be flavoured with hazelnuts, coconut, almonds, cocoa or chocolate. Whichever ingredient you mix in with the flour needs to weigh the same as the eggs you're using. I used 50 g of finely ground hazelnuts instead of 50 g of coarse-ground (semi-coarse) flour.

4/15

Weighing (6 eggs, 55 g each)

Weigh your eggs in their shells (using however many eggs you plan to use) – then weigh out the same amount of caster sugar and the same amount of coarse-ground (semi-coarse) flour. Allow 2 tablespoons of hot water per egg.

For this step
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330 gram
Chicken Eggs

330 gram
Granulated Sugar

120 milliliter
Water

280 gram
Medium-Fine Wheat Flour
5/15

Whipped egg yolks and whisked egg whites

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and water. Once the mixture thickens and the sugar has dissolved, whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks and fold them into the yolk mixture alternately with the flour.
6/15

Hazelnuts

Add the hazelnuts, or whichever flavouring you're using.

For this step
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50 gram
Unpeeled Hazelnuts
7/15

Bake

Pour the sponge batter into a greased and flour-dusted baking tin. Bake in an oven preheated to 175 °C (160 °C fan). Baking time depends on the size and height of the sponge, but it's usually somewhere between 30 and 50 minutes.
8/15

The skewer test

Don't open the oven door for the first half hour, or the sponge might sink. After that, you can open the oven and insert a skewer into the centre of the sponge – it should come out clean.
9/15

Cooling and slicing

Let the sponge cool completely. Only then slice it into as many layers as you like, depending on how tall the sponge is.
10/15

Caramelising the sugar

Bring the cream to the boil in one pot. Put the sugar into a second pot. Turn the heat up to nearly full and wait for the sugar to melt. I'd recommend using a stainless steel pot – you could ruin a non-stick one with this trick. The sugar will gradually caramelise nicely.

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100 gram
Whipping Cream 33%

100 gram
Granulated Sugar
11/15

Watch out for hot caramel and colour

Keep an eye on two things: don't burn yourself (hot caramel really does hurt!), and don't let the caramel get too dark – it could scorch and turn bitter.
12/15

Stir in butter and salt

Take the finished caramel off the heat and stir in the butter. I used plain butter and about a teaspoon of salt, but adjust to how salty you like your caramel. Stir until both are fully combined.

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25 gram
Unsalted Butter

5 gram
Salt
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Pour in the cream and stir

Return the pot to the heat and stir over a gentle temperature. Slowly pour in the hot cream. Keep stirring until you get a smooth caramel mixture. Let it cool completely.
14/15

Whip into a frosting

Beat the softened butter together with the cooled caramel. Beat for a good while, around 8 minutes. Add the mascarpone and beat again thoroughly until you have a smooth, silky frosting.

For this step
0/2

150 gram
Unsalted Butter

750 gram
Mascarpone
15/15

Filling and decorating

Spread a generous layer of frosting between the sponge layers. Assemble the cake and cover the top and sides with frosting too. You can sprinkle it with crumbs from the sponge trimmings and decorate however you like.

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Caramel Cake

Name: Caramel Cake with Hazelnuts and Mascarpone
Prep time: 41 min
Cook time: 64 min
Total time: 175 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 430 gram Granulated Sugar; 330 gram Chicken Eggs; 750 gram Mascarpone; 280 gram Medium-Fine Wheat Flour; 120 milliliter Water; 100 gram Whipping Cream 33%; 175 gram Unsalted Butter; 5 gram Salt; 50 gram Unpeeled Hazelnuts

bohynekuchyne

Prep 41 min Cook 1 h 4 min

Plus 1 h of resting (not counted in active time)

9 Ingredients

15 Steps

Hard Difficulty

Ingredients — what you'll need

You only need 9 ingredients

Adjust servings

430 gram
Granulated Sugar
330 gram
Chicken Eggs
750 gram
Mascarpone
280 gram
Medium-Fine Wheat Flour
120 milliliter
Water
100 gram
Whipping Cream 33%
175 gram
Unsalted Butter
5 gram
Salt
50 gram
Unpeeled Hazelnuts

Equipment

What you'll need besides the ingredients.

Cake tin

Kitchen scale

Skewer optional

What's in it?

763 kcal

Calories

53 g

Carbohydrates

90 g

Fats

17 g

Proteins

The nutritional information is an estimate and may vary based on the specific ingredients used.

About this recipe

What makes this beautiful caramel cake a bit of a challenge is really just the macarons on top – but you can decorate it with pretty much anything else you like, from fresh fruit and chopped nuts to caramel threads. What really matters is the delicate, spot-on balance between the caramel and the light, airy hazelnut sponge. I got lucky, and mine turned out great.

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Step-by-step method

At a glance

Tip: sponge for a baking tray

Tip: sponge for a cake tin

Tip: flavouring the sponge

Weighing (6 eggs, 55 g each)

For this step

Whipped egg yolks and whisked egg whites

Hazelnuts

For this step

Bake

The skewer test

Cooling and slicing

Caramelising the sugar

For this step

Watch out for hot caramel and colour

Stir in butter and salt

For this step

Pour in the cream and stir

Whip into a frosting

For this step

Filling and decorating

How it went

Nobody has tried this recipe yet

Caramel Cake

Ingredients — what you'll need

Equipment

What's in it?

About this recipe

Want a recipe like this every Thursday?

Similar recipes

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