Today, I’m delighted to share one of my favorite recipes with you. It happens to be the only recipe I have from my paternal grandmother, Janie Crisp. But, she certainly did pick a great one to leave to us. Caramel cake is simply one of the most scrumptious desserts I know. I hope you’ll prepare this for your loved ones as we approach these last few weeks of winter. Enjoy!
Grandmother Crisp’s Caramel Cake
Ingredients:
3 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, sugar and eggs together and beat well. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, and then add vanilla. Beat in a mixer bowl or with a hand mixer until the batter “ribbons.” Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake for about 30 minutes and use a toothpick to check to see if it is done. This cake can also be made in a 9-inch x 13-inch pan, which will need to be baked for about 45 minutes. Cool layers on a cake rack before icing.
Caramel Icing
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
1 (16 oz.) box of light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk (canned)
2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions: Place butter, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan. Heat, stirring until the brown sugar is well dissolved. Add milk and continue stirring until blended. Let bubble (at an easy boil) for approximately 4 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid sticking. Set hot mixture aside to cool for several minutes. Using mixer, add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. You will see it turn lighter and caramelize. When you’ve reached the desired consistency, ice the cake, placing some of the icing between the layers.
My sweet friend Tobi Fairley is featuring my Caramel Cake as one of her favorite things during her 29 Days of Love. I hope you’ll drop by Tobi’s Blog to see what else is on her list.
Have a lovely day!
Kathryn
I enjoyed the cake, however it was a bit dry, so was contemplating adding sourcream, but will sift the flour first and see how that works!! Otherwise Great! Thanks for sharing.
I did this cake and it tasted lovely. However the icing came out almost watery and not tasting a thing like caramel, what could i have done wrong?
I made this cake tonight. I only got as far as baking the cake. It was horrible…..like 3 bricks.
I’ve been baking 35 years and I followed the recipe exactly as printed. Sorry. 
Michelle,\
I am soooooooooo sorry that the cake did not work for you! It is a dense cake, but I just can’t imagine what happened. I wonder if you beat the batter long enough, until it “ribboned”? I will do a bit of research, and maybe I can come up with a solution.
Kathryn
Rebecca,
Did you boil it for the four minutes? You can always add a bit more of the confectioners sugar if it is too thin. And then beat it until it gets hard enough to to the icing.
Kathryn
Loved it and will make it a favorite in my household
Great Bunny!
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Kathryn ~ The cake was devine, made even more delightful by the fact it was your grandmother ‘s recipe. I love the tasteful and elegant offerings of your website. You may, however, want to remove Mr Ocegueda’s comments as he has so rudely posted a distasteful link. I look forward to visiting your site most frequently in the future.
Thanks so much Saralyn, will do!
This is a little far off from the cake recipe but it is very similar to my carmel Iceing recipe but i wonder if your Crisp grandma was from around Memphis, Raleigh Tn. if so you and my husband are cousins to some degree. I beleive the name was Charlie Crisp brother to Eva Crisp who was my husbands grandma. Other names were Warner Crisp and James Crisp etc. Love to hear. I will try the cake recipe, I put my iceing on a chaocolate cake, yummy.
Hi Carol,
Sorry but my grandmother Crisp was from Western North Carolina (Bryson City). I do hope you will try the cake, even if we are not “cousins”! Enjoy and have a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Just wanted to let you know that I decided to try your recipe for Mother’s Day since my mom said she remembers her grandma making caramel cake. It was a hit with the whole family. Even my sister loved it and she was at first disappointed when I told her what I was making. However, she practically licked her plate clean.
Great Allison… my Mother always loved to be at my house when I made the caramel cake and always waited to “lick the icing pan”!
This sounds wonderful, cant wait to make it!