INSTRUCTIONS:
Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8 inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottoms of the cake pan with parchment circles. Spray again.
- In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix in sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Whisk until combined.
- Heat the water in a saucepan until hot and steaming. Pour a little bit at a time into the batter. Go slow to not cook the eggs. It should be a runny batter.
- Divide the batter evenly in the three pans. Bake for 20-24 minutes. The cakes are done baking when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let the cakes sit in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely before decorating.
Salted Caramel:
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the sugar. Let the sugar sit until it starts to melt, then use a metal whisk to mix the sugar. Mix until all the sugar crystals are completely melted. Let it sit for less than 30 seconds until the caramel turns amber in color. Take off the heat.
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Add in half of the room temperature butter at a time and mix. Adding the butter will cause it to bubble and steam a lot. Then, add half of the heavy cream at a time and mix. Add in the vanilla and salt.
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Pour the caramel into a glass measuring cup and let it cool completely before using.
Peanut Butter Frosting:
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Set the butter on the counter for 30 minutes for it get slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar while you wait.
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Using a mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Add in the peanut butter. Beat until smooth on high. Scrape the bowl several times to make sure all the butter is combined.
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Add in the powdered sugar. Mix until combined, it will be thick. Add in the vanilla and heavy cream. Beat until creamy. Set aside.
Salted Caramel Frosting:
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Set the butter on the counter for 30 minutes for it get slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar while you wait.
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Using a mixer, beat the butter on high for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl. Add in the salt and caramel. Mix on high for 2 minutes until combined and smooth. Set aside.
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Cut the snickers into small pieces. They should be small to be easy to cut the cake.
Chocolate Drip:
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Pour chocolate chips into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat until hot and steaming. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips. Let it sit for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir until melted and smooth. If any chocolate chunks remain, heat in the microwave in 15 second intervals.
Assembly:
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Place a small bit of frosting on the board you are decorating on to keep the cake in place. Level off the cakes so they are perfectly flat. Place the first cake layer bottom side down.
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Spread half of the peanut butter frosting on the the cake. Pipe a double layer of caramel frosting on the edges of the cake. Use half of the snickers and compact them in the middle of the cake. Repeat with the second layer.
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Place last layer of cake bottom side up, so the flattest surface is on top of your cake. Smooth the edges of your cake and fill the holes with frosting. Apply a super light layer of frosting over the entire cake. It should be very light and you can see the cake through it. Freeze the cake for 15 minutes to lock the crumbs into place.
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Frost the rest of the cake in the remaining frosting. Use the cake scrapper for the semi-naked look. Bits of the cake will poke through. The cake has a light layer of frosting. Freeze for 10 minutes for the chocolate drip.
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Make the chocolate drip. Pour the chocolate over the cake. Use an off set spatula to push the chocolate over the edge of the cake for it to drip down. Smooth the chocolate on top of the cake. Freeze for 10 minutes to set the chocolate.
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Heat the caramel in the microwave for 10-15 seconds for it to be pourable. Place half ¼ of the caramel in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag. Drip the caramel down the sides of the cake on top of the chocolate. Pour the rest of the caramel on top of the cake. Optional: Top with extra Snickers.
NOTES:
Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the cake.
High altitude baking- add an extra 2 tablespoon of flour to the cake batter.
Make caramel one day ahead of assembly.
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