This Real Deal Southern Caramel Cake Recipe is the best caramel cake recipe on the web! If you want a moist yellow cake with the best authentic caramel icing, you must make this recipe. It is the real deal for real. If you love desserts with caramel then you definitely need to check out Homemade Caramel Pie, Caramel Buttercream Frosting, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Salted Caramel Lava Cake.
Southern caramel cake recipes have always been a classic that I could have any day of the week. My family has made it for decades, and it is definitely an old time Southern favorite.
The funny thing about this cake is a lot of people did not become familiar with it until the movie “The Help” mentioned it. After the movie was released in theaters, I saw tons of replicas of this classic cake online but none of these recipes were as authentic as I thought they should be.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cake cooks up a moist yet slightly dense (but still light) yellow butter cake that isn’t too sweet and serves as the perfect vehicle for the caramel icing.
- It truly celebrates the caramel icing is the true star of the party.
- No shortcuts! This classic southern caramel cake uses uses granulated sugar and evaporated milk to create the luscious flavor of a true caramel icing. Don’t opt for a quick brown sugar butterscotch method, which is a caramel frosting substitution and not the same thing!
Ingredients You Will Need
Simple, baking ingredients are all you will need to have to make this southern cake recipe.
- Butter: You’re going to want to use unsalted butter to make the cake.
- Vegetable oil: Any vegetable oil works just make sure it has a neutral flavor.
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness and texture tot he cake.
- Flour: Be sure you use sifted cake flour which gives the cake its light texture.
- Eggs: You be using whole eggs plus egg yolks to add rich flavor and more yellow color to the cake.
- Baking powder and salt: Simple baking ingredients to create the texture of the cake.
- Sour cream: Gives the cake its moistness.
- Vanilla extract: Make sure you use pure extract for the best flavor.
- Evaporated milk: Cooks up with the butter and sugar to make the best caramel icing. Make sure you’re not using condensed milk.
How to Make the Best Caramel Cake Recipe
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fully incorporated and light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and mix in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time until they are well incorporated. Next, add in vanilla extract and mix again.
- Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl.
- With the mixer on slow speed, alternate adding in flour mixture and sour cream ending with flour mixture. Mix just to combine, do not over mix.
- Pour batter into the individual cake pans and bake in the oven until fully baked, about 23-30 minutes.
TOP TIP: You don’t want to over bake the cakes. I suggest checking earlier and watching closely in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking so you can remove them as soon as they are done.
- Remove the cake pans from oven and cool on cooling racks for 10 minutes and then remove them from the pan to continue cooling.
How to Make the Caramel Icing
Here is a look at how the caramel icing begins to come together.
Some people struggle with knowing exactly how the icing should look after about two hours of cooking on a very low heat so hopefully after these tips, you will feel like a pro!
TOP TIP: The one thing you need to remember through out this process, low and slow is the best way to achieve this perfect icing. The color will deepen and it will naturally thicken but it takes time.
- Add the butter, evaporated milk, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat, mix together after it all melts.
- Cook over low to medium heat for about 1 1/2- 2 hours, watching the entire time to make sure it does not burn until thickened and caramel has darkened to a beautiful golden brown.
TOP TIP: Remember to make sure that the caramel turns the color of the photo below before stopping the heat. It should also COMPLETELY coat the back of a spoon to ensure thickness. Be careful to watch, adjusting heat temperature to not let it burn.
- When the correct color is reached, remove the caramel icing from the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
- Cool the icing for about 15-20 minutes to allow it to thicken before icing the cake.
Caramel Icing Tips
Here are a few important tips to keep in mind when making this caramel cake recipe! The icing is the star of the show so you want to be sure to get it right!
- After cooling the icing, if you see that it is too warm and still not completely thick enough, cool it in the refrigerator to allow it to thicken more.
- Want more of a frosting texture? Some people like to take the caramel and whip it in a stand mixer to create more of a frosting rather than an icing. That is totally up to you.
- Give it time to cool. I like to let it cool at least 30 minutes. It will help with frosting the cake without the icing dripping everywhere and the layers sliding too much.
Storage
This cake can stay at room temperature for 3-4 days due to the high sugar content cooked icing. However if you want to refrigerate it, make sure you bring slices to room temperature before serving and eating.
When to Serve
This caramel cake recipe is perfect for the holidays. It is not an easy cake to pull off because as I mentioned before it can take up to 3 hours to complete the recipe.
Make it for special occasions and holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a family reunion.
This cake is made with love and should be shared with those very special people in your life. If you love this cake, you might also become infatuated with some my other holiday desserts like my Ultimate Lemon Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Brown Sugar Pound Cake and Southern Peach Cobbler!
Expert Tips and FAQs
- This cake recipe takes planning. Make sure you allow plenty of time to make this cake recipe – it’s going to take at least three hours from start to finish. One thing that may help is to bake the cakes a day in advance so you don’t have to wait for them to cool.
- Is your cake sliding? It’s because the caramel icing recipe is too thin.
- Is your icing too thick? If you let it GET TOO THICK, just add a little bit of milk. Really follow your instincts here.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cool before icing.
This southern caramel cake recipe is the real deal caramel cake. Caramel icing is thinner in texture than a frosting but not as thin as a glaze. It also has more shine and a smoother consistency than caramel frosting.
To help thicken your caramel, you can stick the caramel in the refrigerator after you finish it to allow it to thicken. Wait for it to solidify some, and then add a little milk if you need it to be more spreadable.
Your Cake Creations
I love seeing your Real Deal Caramel Cake Recipe Creations!! Check out some of the amazing photos I have received! After more than five years, I must say this southern cake recipe is still my most popular cake recipe.
More of the Best Cake Recipes You’ll Love
- Hummingbird Cake
- Black Forest Cake Recipe
- Banana Pudding Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Peach Pound Cake
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
Real Deal Southern Caramel Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 2 sticks
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
For Aunt Bev’s Caramel Icing:
- 1 ½ sticks salted butter
- 2 cans evaporated milk 12 ounces each
- 2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, oil and sugar on high until fully incorporated and light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes.
- Turn mixer to medium speed and mix in eggs and egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated.
- Add in vanilla extract and mix.
- Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl.
- With mixer on slow speed, alternate adding in flour mixture and sour cream ending with flour mixture until mixed through.
- Do not over mix.
- Spray three 9 inch round cake pans with baking spray or grease and flour them.
- Pour batter into individual cake pans evenly.
- Bake in preheated oven for 23-30 minutes or until fully baked (but DON’T OVERBAKE THESE CAKES- CHECK THEM EARILER SO THEY DON’T DRY OUT).
- Remove cake pans from oven and cool on cooling racks for 10 minutes.
- Remove cakes from pans and wait until completely cooled to ice.
For the Caramel Icing:
- Add butter, evaporated milk, and sugar to saucepan over medium heat until everything has melted together.
- Leave over medium heat stirring periodically for about 1 1/2- 2 hours (watch the entire time to make sure it does not burn until thickened and caramel has darkened to a beautiful golden brown. Note: if it is taking a while, you can turn up the heat a little more to speed up the thickening process but you MUST WATCH CAREFULLY AND STIR FREQUENTLY.
- Make sure that the caramel turns the color of the photo below before stopping the heat.
- It should also thickly coat the back of a spoon to ensure thickness. See notes below for additional tips for the caramel.
- Be careful to watch, adjusting heat temperature to not let it burn.
- Remove from heat and add in vanilla extract.
- Cool for about 15-20 minutes to allow it to thicken before icing the cake. If you see that it is too warm and still not completely thick enough, cool it in the refrigerator and get it thick!
- P.S. Some people like to take the caramel and whip it in a stand mixer to create more of a frosting texture. That is totally up to you.
Video
Notes
- This cake recipe takes planning. Make sure you allow plenty of time to make caramel cake – it’s going to take at least three hours from start to finish. One thing that may help is to bake the cakes a day in advance so you don’t have to wait for them to cool.
- Is your cake sliding? It’s because the caramel icing recipe is too thin.
- Is your icing too thick? If you let it GET TOO THICK, just add a little bit of milk. Really follow your instincts here.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cool before icing.
Nutrition
This post was published in November 2018. It has been updated with new content.
Check out my Banana Pudding Cheesecake Blondies!
Or my Red Velvet Blackberry Cake!
Or my Classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Emily D. says
This looks awesome and I have all 3 of my layers done & ready for icing… they look delicious! I am about 1.5 hours into making the caramel and it looks the same as it did when I started cooking it. It looks like a big pot of melted butter! Is this right? Am I supposed to be stirring it at all? I can tell its getting thicker but I’m afraid I did something wrong as it does not look like caramel at all & it only has about 30 more minutes to go til the 2 hour mark. Help is greatly appreciated!! Thank you 🙂
Grandbabycakes says
Hey Emily, I am happy to help. Stir it a bit and turn the heat up some to about medium and steadily watch it. It should really start to thicken a bit more and become caramel during this last 30 minutes. Keep me posted or email me at info@jdelkadams.com so I can help you along. You can send me a quick pic if you want.
Andrea says
Hi
My caramel looks a little gloopy and this worried me so I took off the heat after 1 1/2 hours. The color is okay but I don’t think it looks like your picture and it’s not a far brown. At the beginning should it be on a higher heat to get the coloring? Or does that color change at the end? And why the gloopy texture at the end?
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
Hi Andrea, sorry about your caramel. It sometimes to cook longer. Did it coat the back of a spoon? If you can send me a photo I can troubleshoot a bit better. You can email me at info@jdelkadams.com.
Andrea says
Hi I did not take a photo of it and should have done that. I think it turned out good in the end and I will make it before Christmas and send a pic of the caramel batch. Thanks for responding and sharing your awesome family recipe. The one thing I learned in baking is time and precise measurement it’s very important not to rush any recipe and to be happy when you bake. It comes out a lot better.
Emily D. says
Thanks so much! It did turn into caramel after turning the heat up a bit. I was so afraid to make it too hot because I’m known for burning things, especially when baking! But it turned out so good! This is my first time making a cake from scratch… you might just turn me into a baker!
Grandbabycakes says
Hooray! A big hooray to you for having the courage to make a cake from scratch! You should send me a picture. I can’t wait to see your creation. And I am glad it turned out so well for you!
Heather M says
I’m glad I read this comment string, I made the cakes last night wrapped them up and am making the icing later today… I like knowing exactly what to expect! I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂 It looks SO good!
jennifer jordan says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rhonda Jones says
Recipe calls for 6 eggs and 1 egg yolk, I don’t see where the egg yolk was used and does it mean 6 egg whites? I’m anxious to try this and want to get everything right. I could like my screen just looking at it. . .lol
Grandbabycakes says
Hi Rhonda, all of the eggs, including the egg yolk, are adding in at the same time. You will have one egg white left over that you will not use for a total of 7 eggs total. Omitting one egg white helps to create a very moist cake! Let me know if you have any other questions at all. I am super happy to help!
Angella says
The recipe above calls for 6 large eggs and 2 egg yolks, but in your reply to an earlier post you said there would be a total of 7 eggs with one of the eggs on using the yolk. Can you clarify for me as I will attempting to bake this cake tomorrow Thanks for sharing your recipe….
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
Hi Angella, the cake requires 6 eggs and 2 egg yolks. I hope it turns out well for you!
Niko says
I am so upset I’ve spent my last on these ingredients, paid attention to everything I was doing, and this icing came out a nasty gritty mess. I’ll have to show up to my first company potluck empty handed.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
Hi Niko, I’m sorry you struggled with this recipe. Did you watch the video? The caramel is super easy to make and should come out smooth. This recipe gets a lot of wonderful reviews so I apologize that you had some issues with it. Maybe try it again and send me an email and we can figure out where you went wrong.
JJ says
Two hours is a LONG time to have to watch icing cook. Is there any other way to make it? Being a busy baker, I just don’t have that kind of time.
Grandbabycakes says
Actually this is one of those icings that is totally worth it. You could short cut it but it won’t be the same unfortunately. I only make this cake when it is a very special occasion, usually for holidays.
Will Bland says
Oh, this looks SOOOO dangerous.
Grandbabycakes says
It’s definitely dangerous in the best way.
Writer Within says
I can not wait to try this! I love caramel and to have it made with cake is even more enticing!! Thanks for your post!
Grandbabycakes says
Thanks so much! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Kelly Riley says
I will and thank you so much!
Grandbabycakes says
No problem Kelly. I hope everything got to the right consistency for ya!
Kelly Riley says
im making this now and im one hour into the icing process. Will it thicken up when it cools after the two hours?
Grandbabycakes says
Hi Kelly, it will thicken up closer to the end of the two hours. It is really magical! You can test it by seeing if it thickly coats the back of a spoon. I can’t wait for you to try that first spoon test of the caramel. Write back and let me know how it turns out!
Karnita says
I think this is so beautiful, looks divine Glad I found your site.
Grandbabycakes says
Thanks so much Karnita! I am glad you found me too!
Jean | Delightful Repast says
Jocelyn, that looks gorgeous! I just made, and posted, the Virginia Willis recipe. Had such fun making the caramel, but it was an entirely different method than this. I’m going to enjoy trying your Aunt Bev’s method too.
Grandbabycakes says
Thanks so much Jean! The Virginia Willis recipe seems really interesting. I must check it out on your blog and see what the method involves. Let me know what you think of Aunt Bev’s method. Every time I serve it, people say it is the best caramel they have ever tasted.