The title explains it all: chocolate cake with caramel frosting and heath candy pieces, topped with a chocolate ganache. I've made this twice now, and it's awesome! I got my inspiration from this site, but I used this frosting recipe, since we don't like mocha at our house. The caramel frosting is fluffy, and not gritty, unlike other recipes I have tried.
Chocolate Cake:
1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ cups sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 and prepare two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line with wax paper, spray again and dust with flour. Mix dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until incorporated and smooth. Over-mixing or beating at high speeds will put a lot of air into the batter, which you don't really want. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, more or less, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Immediately after taking them out of the oven, remove from the pans and let cool on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, make the caramel frosting.
Caramel Frosting:
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
⅓ cup cream
2+ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cream. Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then add powdered sugar and vanilla. From here on out, it is all about preferences. As it cools, it will thicken. I let mine cool a bit more, and then I added a lot more powdered sugar than that, but I didn't measure. I just added sugar and cream as necessary and whipped it with my beaters until is was nice and fluffy. (Note: this frosting is difficult to ice a cake with because the outside crusts over very quickly, so be sure you work fast as you try to smooth it over your cake.) I almost didn't have enough frosting for the cake, so if you're worried about it, just make a larger batch of it.
Ganache:
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Place chocolate and cream in microwavable bowl and warm in the microwave until chocolate melts and finally incorporates with the cream, so that it is smooth. It only takes 1 1/2 to 3 minutes, depending on your microwave, so watch it very carefully. Let it cool. If it is too thick when it is time to pour it on the cake, you can always put it back in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Don't forget to buy 4-5 toffee bars!
Assembly:
Once you have everything made and cooled, level your cakes and stack them. Place the first one on a cardboard circle the same size as the cake, and set the second one on top of the first, with a little frosting in between. Cover the cake in caramel frosting. Try to get it a little smooth, but most of the frosting will be covered with either toffee bits or ganache, so it's not too big of a deal.
Take two toffee bars and cut each one into four equal pieces, for a total of 8 squares. Push them at a diagonal angle into the cake, making a circle. Don't put them too close together, because you want to have ganache pouring out in between them. Next, use 2 or 3 toffee bars that are finely chopped to cover the sides of the cake. I put some in my palm, and gently press it to the side of the cake, until it is all covered.
Last, pour most of the ganache in the middle of the cake, and use a spoon to carefully pour some between the candy squares so that it drips a little down the sides of the cake. Carefully transfer to your cake platter, and you're done!
