Chocolate Caramel Marshmallow Cake
This delicious chocolate cake is a take-off on red velvet cake. But it has a luscious caramel-praline filling and marshmallow frosting. Hershey's chocolate bar shavings are sprinkled over top. This dessert is rich, decadent and divine! Terrific for company or holiday meals like Easter, Mother's Day or Father's Day. Everyone who tastes this cake starts drooling immediately!
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour (Swans Down is good)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk by adding 2-3 tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Crisco shortening
- 2 large eggs
- 2 oz. Baker’s unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. red food color (or more, if desired)
CARAMEL-PRALINE FILLING:
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Finely chopped pecans walnuts also work well
MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 tbsp. Karo light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup water
- 3/4 cup Marshmallow fluff
- 1 Hershey's chocolate bar grated, for garnish, if desired
Instructions
CHOCOLATE CAKE:
- Heat oven to 350°.
- Grease and flour oblong 9x13” baking dish.
- Melt chocolate over low heat in small saucepan.
- Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Combine sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, buttermilk (or soured milk), shortening, eggs, vanilla, red food coloring and melted and cooled chocolate.
- Beat with an electric mixer until well mixed.
- Stir in flour until well mixed.
- Pour cake batter into prepared dish.
- Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Spread Caramel-Praline filling over top of cooled cake.
- Then sprinkle pecans over top of Caramel-Praline Filling.
- Spread Marshmallow Frosting over top of Caramel-Praline Filling.
- Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and curls.
CARAMEL-PRALINE TOPPING:
- Place brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir together to combine ingredients.
- Stir in water.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.
- Boil and stir 1 minute.
- Blend in butter.
- Spread on top of cake quickly to edge.
- Sprinkle pecans over top of caramel-praline filling.
MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
- Combine egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, syrup and water in saucepan on low to medium heat.
- Beat with mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form, scraping pan occasionally.
- This will take about 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Add marshmallow crème and continue beating until of spreading consistency.
- Frost cake with marshmallow frosting.
- Sprinkle chocolate curls and shavings over top.
Notes
NOTE: The cake is actually easier to mix if you toss all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix on low speed of electric mixer. After ingredients are mixed, increase speed to high and mix again until thoroughly mixed.
NOTE: The filling must be spread on top of the cake rather quickly since it will harden rapidly.
NOTE: While I switched to a deeper saucepan to avoid some of the splatter when making the icing, you will not be able to avoid splatters entirely.
NOTE: I could not get the icing ingredients to form stiff peaks (like beating egg whites). But I kept cooking the icing until it had thickened really well before adding marshmallow crème.
NOTE: This icing is supposed to be cooked in about 5-7 minutes. Mine took about 15 minutes. Your cooking conditions may be different. So look at the pictures to see the desired consistency of the icing before removing the pan from heat and adding the marshmallow creme. Your time may be shorter or longer.
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1972.
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