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
Kathryn, I love caramel cake and cannot wait to try this recipe! I need to go buy your book! I know it is wonderful! You are a very talented lady! Thanks for sharing!
“Delectable!!” franki
Hi Kathryn — Thanks for sharing this recipe. I love caramel cake. My late mom made delicious caramel cakes, but I don’t have her recipe. I can’t wait to try your grandmother’s version. It looks divine.
Thank you for sharing your family recipe. My husband was ranting about a caramel cake that his grandmother used to get from a family friend. When I saw your recipe I had to try to make it. I was just wondering what temperature do you cook the cake at? Thanks again!
This looks divine! I absolutely love caramel cakes and I’ve yet to find a recipe that I love! From the looks of this one, it might be it! Thanks for sharing!!
Hope you enjoy!!
Amy – Excellent question! This was inadvertently left out. You should cook at 350 degrees.
I hope you and your husband enjoy!
I made this caramel cake for Easter and EVERYONE at the party (even people who don’t eat dessert) said it was the best cake they’d ever tasted. Thanks for the hit!! I will be making it all the time.
So happy they enjoyed it!! It’s truly one of my favorites.
The caramel icing recipe is almost identical to the one that my Grandma always makes. She doesn’t add the salt into hers. It is a recipe that our family treasures. Instead of a white cake my grandma makes a chocolate cake to go with the caramel. YUM!
Amanda,
Yes, all of the old recipes that our grandmothers made are very yummy! The idea of chocolate cake with the caramel icing sounds divine. I will have to try that.
Thanks,
Kathryn
My grandmother made a cake similar to this every year for my mother’s birthday. She’d put banana slices between the layers & on top under the caramel icing.
Wanda,
Yumm!! The Banana slices sound great. Isn’t it interesting how these food traditions make wonderful family memories!
Kathy
I made this cake today for my Dad’s birthday. We have not eaten it yet but the taste of the icing is fantastic! This is only my 2nd attempt at a homemade cake so I am a beginner and found the recipe to be easy to follow. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Getting ready to make this cake for my mothers birthday. Can’t wait to try it! Can’t wait for her to try it…she loves caramel cake! I was wondering approximately how long the butter,sugar,and milk need to cool before adding the powdered sugar?
This is a great recipe! The icing needed just a bit more confectioners sugar for me, and for some reason the cake had more of a cookie type of texture than a spongy texture, but that could be my oven. I ADORE caramel, so you helped feed my fetish. Thank you!
Danielle,
Glad you are making “the cake”! Just keep on making homemade cakes and before you know it, you will be a pro! That icing is addictive, I love just eating it with a spoon!
Kathryn
Desiree,
I just cool it for a minute or two before I add the powdered sugar. Let me know how it turns out!
Kathryn
Katie,
I do love feeding other people’s fetishes! Perhaps because I have so many of my own!
Kathryn
I have never tried making a caramel cake, not to mention a cake from scratch. The icing turnd out great, however, the cake seems to be very heavy. I didn’t make in layers. I made it on a 13×9 glass pan. It is moist, just almost tastes like a pancake. Is this how its ssuppose to taste.
Kim,
The cake is very moist, but should not really taste like a pancake. I always bake this cake in three layers, so perhaps it just did not bake long enough. Did you test it for doneness? I have made it in a 9X13 metal pan, but I would not think that would make that much difference. I will try it again in a metal 9X13 and check the results and let you know. Sorry it didn’t turn out perfectly!!
Kathy
I had to come back and tell you how this cake turned out. Well I should say cakes because I had to make three of them! Here is the story- I made the first one for my Dad’s birthday. It was FANTASTIC! Everyone loved it. A little too much because my Dad made sure to show me how there was not even a crumb left. So like the good daughter I am I came home and made another for the next day. I then made it again for some friends later in the week and they loved it too! I am making for a cookout this coming weekend and I can’t wait to walk in with it and “show off”! Again, thank you so much for this recipe!
Danielle,
I am thrilled that you have made this your “show off cake of choice”! I could have warned you that family and friends become addicted to this cake and then you are constantly on “caramel cake call”!
Continue to enjoy,
Kathryn
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Monica,
I usually use unsalted, but only because I love unsalted butter and always keep it!
Kathy
I’m making a cake with fondant, so I am using buttercream frosting. Would this cake be good with that? Usually when I have caramel cake, the frosting is also caramel, and in some cases it is clearly the frosting that makes the cake so great; so, I’m looking for a caramel cake that is good with any kind of frosting!
Backy,
I think it would be great! Let me know if you do try it on the caramel cake.
Kathryn
Do you use real butter or margarine in this recipe?
My Great Grandmother used to make this cake and I never got the recipe, when I saw this on Pinterest it brought back so many memories! The only difference is the icing in the middle my Grandmother used to make was a white icing that was of a stiffer consistency, I wish I had the recipe for that!
Leticia,
Wish I knew what that would be?! I will check around and see if I come up with anything.
Kathryn
It’s is funny, my Grandma always made this cake for Chistmas. It was everybody’s favorite. However, we called it Nut Cake because she pressed finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) to cover. Now that I am the grandma, and found Pinterest, I found out that everybody’s eating “nut cake”! I can’t wait to try your recipe because ours requires a lot of standing at the stove stirring that Carmel till it reaches soft ball stage. However always worth it. Thank you so much for this. From a transplanted Bama girl.
Debra,
Don’t some foods just simply bring back “precious memories”! Glad you enjoyed!
Kathryn
I was so excited to find this recipe on Pinterest. I tried it last month for my mom’s birthday and everyone raved about it. I just finished making my second one for my husband’s birthday party tomorrow–he and my daughters are hinting around that I should make it for Thanksgiving too and put some sugared pecans on top of the frosting. I am thrilled to have this “old fashioned” recipe to teach my 3 teenage daughters how to make for their families when they grow up. I never comment on recipes even when I love the results….but there is something so special about this cake. It makes me feel the way I do about my great great Aunt’s Christmas fudge recipe….warm, nostalgic memories. Thank you for sharing your great grandma’s recipe!
Marci,
You are most welcome! It has been my pleasure to share the recipes and everything in my book, The Collected Tabletop. I am so passionate about these subjects and so happy to share!
Kathryn
I would love to make this cake but I’m not sure how much a stick of butter is….in Canada it comes as a pound. It sounds like it is a hit with everyone who has tried it!
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your question on the caramel cake. A stick of butter is 1/4 of a pound, or 8 tablespoons, or 4 ounces. Hope that is helpful! It is a hit and hopefully it will be a hit for you.
Enjoy,
Kathryn
Kathryn,
I was just wondering if you put your cake in the fridge or leave it at room temperature? So many cakes stay moister and the icing has a better texture when chilled, but I am unsure if that will be the case for this cake. Thanks for the delicious looking recipe!
Kacy
Kacy,
I usually don’t put the cake in the fridge, however, I am sure that would be fine. It is a VERY moist cake and just doesn’t seem to need it and quiet frankly, it never lasts long enough to need refrigeration! I would just recommend that you experiment and see what works best for you.
Kathryn
Kathryn, What would be the bake time if I used a bundt pan?? I’m making this for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to try it! It sounds wonderful!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Angie
Angie,
I must say that I have never done this cake in a bundt pan! I always do it in three layers. I would start with the time in the recipe and test it with a toothpick for doneness. My feeling is that it will take longer in a bundt pan than it would in a 9X13 or in layers. Let me know the outcome and I will make a note of it for future use. Hopefully it will turn out to be delicious and be the star of your Thanksgiving meal. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Angie!
Kathy
The cake had a really good taste but was dry. I would suggest sifting the flour.
Ralondia,
Sorry you cake was dry, I just have never had one that seemed dry. I always sift all flower, even if the recipe doesn’t call for the flour to be sifted. I also always sift confectioners sugar too.
Maybe if you reduced the temp or the time, just making sure it was done. It is such a wonderful cake and I really want it to work for you!
Kathryn
This cake was delicious. My 16 yr daughter and 12 yr old son made it together for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing. I think this has topped our favorite cake list.
Tiphanie,
I am thrilled to hear that it was a hit! It is just so yummy and always a hit.
Kathryn
This is the best cake I’ve ever tasted. I made one for Thanksgiving and another one a week later for my co-workers. Everyone loved it!!
Thank you.
Delmarchie,
Great! I am so pleased that your family and co-workers loved it! This cake never fails me.
Kathryn
Hey love the caramel recipe . I’m from England and we don’t get butter sticks we get a tub which containd 250 gram so how many grams do I use?
Sumaiya,
One stick of butter equals 4 ounces. 1 ounce equals 28.34 grams, so a 4 ounce stick of butter equals about 113.36 grams. Hope this information is helpful! Enjoy! It is certainly a delicious cake.
Kathryn
Kathryn,
I have been looking for a recipe that mimics my grandmother’s. She never wrote anything down and no one in the family ever learned how to make her icing. So when she passed it went with her. Does this icing have kind of a crunchy/crisp outside layers over a softer layer?
It is somewhat soft, I probably wouldn’t describe as crunchy, but very delicious! Hope you will enjoy.