Salted Caramel Cocoa Cake Bites
There are two things I love about this recipe:
1) It can be made all in one pot so there are fewer dishes for all my fellow chocolate-craving, backache-ridden mommas-to-be.
2) If you get tired halfway through and decide to quit, you still have delicious homemade salted caramel to snack on. I won’t lie, I will probably make just the caramel part of this recipe at some point and eat all of it. It’s that good.
I will be the first to admit that there are times when you crave the fudgy, richness of a brownie. I recently posted some caramel brownies that will do just the trick.
However, these are for the times when you want something a bit lighter. These cake bites aren’t too rich or sweet. They are an awesome option when you’re looking for a less decadent, less heavy dessert. The only downside to this is that, if you’re anything like me, you and your household (… or mostly just you) will destroy an entire pan in a matter of days. 🙂
Cocoa + Salted Caramel Cake Bites
Ingredients
For the caramel
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the cake
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup flour
Instructions
Make the caramel
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Wrap a plate in buttered parchment paper.
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Melt the sugar in a heavy saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar becomes thin and no longer clumpy.
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When the sugar is completely liquified, add in the butter and watch for the color to change from golden to light brown. Roughly five minutes. If you begin to smell a nutty flavor, remove it from heat.
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Add in salt and milk, stirring well.
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Reduce heat and simmer for several more minutes until smooth.
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Pour caramel onto parchment paper and freeze.
Make cake batter
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover an 8x8 cake pan in parchment paper and butter it.
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Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan until smooth. [You can reuse the caramel pot.]
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Remove from heat and add in sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
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Let cool before whisking in eggs, one at a time.
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Fold in flour, and pour batter into the prepared pan.
Assemble and bake
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Remove the caramel from the freezer and chop it into squares.
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Arrange caramel on top of cake batter, pressing down lightly.
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Bake in 350°F oven for 30 minutes.
