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This decadent chocolate cake is so luxuriously beautiful and delicious, you will feel like it came from a French patisserie! The classic flavours of chocolate and caramel come together with the satisfying crunch of honeycomb. To die for!
For a new twist on classic cake flavours, try this Spiced Pumpkin and Chocolate Cake!
Flashy layer cakes are the sort of desserts that none of us are going to make very often. But when we do, it is worth putting in the extra effort to make then stand out as truly special.
That’s why I came up with this decadent cake. It brings together two of my favourite flavours – chocolate and caramel – and adds in the satisfying crunch of honeycomb!
This cake works perfectly at all sorts of occasions. I have served it at birthday parties, at Christmas and when friends come over to say hello. A winner every time!
I kept the styling simple because it doesn’t need to be flashy to look gorgeous! And it’s the inside that will really make you catch your breath as the decadent black and brown layers are revealed with every slice!
Honeycomb Crunch Chocolate Cake
I often struggle to know what cake to make. There are so many options, each bringing their own special something.
But for this cake, I knew I wanted to bring together my favourite sweet flavours and textures. That meant I needed chocolate and caramel in a cake that is moist with a bit of crunch.
I started by making a chocolate stout cake, one of my favourite cake recipes. It produces dense chocolate sponge that stands up well to the rich caramel frosting.
The filling for this chocolate cake comes from my childhood, something every Russian child grew up with – caramel buttercream. A pinch of flaky Maldon salt gives it a modern update.
The much desired crunch comes from crushed honeycomb pieces, which are hard caramel bits, folded into caramel buttercream. Then I covered the entire chocolate cake into dark chocolate ganache and sprinkled with more honeycomb and salt flakes.
If honeycomb candy is not available in your supermarkets feel free to use Butterfinger bars. Although not exactly the same they will be a fair substitute.
How to make dulce de leche
Dulce de leche originated in Latin America as a confection made by heating sugar and milk together over several hours. It is an easily spreadable form of caramel and perfect for all sorts of sweet treats.
It is sometimes available ready made, which of course will save you a step. But if not, it is super easy to make your own with a can of sweetened condensed milk.
Take the label off the can of sweetened condensed milk and put it in a pot completely submerged in water. Bring it to a boil and continue cooking for 3-4 hours.
Make sure your can is completely covered in water throughout the duration of cooking or it will explode. Let it cool until it’s ready to use.
When you open it you will discover that your old plain can of sweetened condensed milk got transformed into glamorous and silky dulce de leche!
Salted caramel buttercream
The dulce de leche or caramel serves as the the base flavour for the buttercream icing. You’ll want to use a stand mixer to make this as easy as possible.
In the bowl of the This is an affiliate link.stand mixer, whip butter until it is light and fluffy, then tip in the dulce de leche or whatever caramel you are using. Throw in a pinch of flaky salt and keep mixing until it is all completely combined.
Now crush the honeycomb pieces in a This is an affiliate link.food processor or wrap the honeycomb pieces in a clean tea towel and crush them with a This is an affiliate link.rolling pin. Add the pieces to the salted caramel buttercream and fold them all together.
The buttercream icing can now be added between, on top and around the sides of the cake layers. The honeycomb pieces will add an amazing crunch to this cake!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- If boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk, ensure it is completely covered with water at all times. Cans that are not covered by water may explode.
- Flaky sea salt can be used as a substitute for Maldon salt.
- Use unsalted butter for the buttercream. You will be adding flaky salt, so salted butter is unnecessary.
- Leftover buttercream icing can be kept in the fridge in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container for up to a week. Before reusing, let it come to room temperature and beat it to loosen the icing up again.
- If you can’t find honeycomb pieces, try crushing a Crunchie bar. Although not the same, this will approximate the same effect and flavours.
- Using a This is an affiliate link.cake decorating turntable makes icing and decorating the cake much easier!
More chocolate cake recipes
- Black Forest Cake
- Chocolate Cake Truffles
- Christmas Chocolate Cake with Cranberries
- Black and White Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Compote
Honeycomb Crunch Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Guinness or any other stout
- 1/4 cup / 60ml strong black coffee
- 1 cup / 250g unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup / 90 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups / 280g all purpose flour
- 2 cups / 400g sugar
- 1/2 tbsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cups / 160g creme fraiche or sour cream
For the salted caramel buttercream
- 1.5 cups / 350g butter, softened
- 14 oz / 397g Carnation caramel or dulce de leche
- 1 Pinch of Maldon salt
- 50 2 / 2 oz crushed honeycomb
For chocolate ganache
- 1 cup /225 ml whipping cream/double cream
- 1/2 lb / 225 g dark chocolate, chopped
For decoration
- A handful of honeycomb pieces
- A pinch of Maldon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and butter 3 8″ cake pans and dust them with some flour to prevent the cakes from sticking.
- In a large saucepan heat stout, coffee and butter together until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer. Add cocoa powder while whisking continuously to avoid lumps until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a different bowl. Mix eggs, vanilla and creme fraiche with an electric mixer in bowl number 3.
- Now check on your chocolate mixture and make sure it’s cool enough to continue the process.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg and creme fraiche mixture and blend them together. Add flour mixture a little bit at a time and beat on low speed until combined. Divide batter equally among the pans.
- Bake cakes in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. (I baked mine one at a time.)
- Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack. (Once cooled I usually wrap my cakes in a plastic wrap and chill my cakes in the fridge overnight.)
- Make salted caramel buttercream by whipping butter in a bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy and then adding prepared caramel or dulce de leche with a pinch of flaky salt until completely incorporated.
- Wrap honeycomb pieces in a clean tea towel and crush with a rolling pin or process in a food processor. Fold in crushed honeycomb pieces into salted caramel buttercream.
- (If Carnation caramel is not available in your supermarkets you can make your own by boiling a can of sweet and condensed milk in a pot of water for 3 hours.)
- Fill the cake layers with salted caramel buttercream, then cover the entire cake with a crumb layer and chill in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make a chocolate ganache. Bring heavy cream to a boil and take it off the heat immediately, then add your chopped chocolate into it and stir until melted! Cool it and whip it with an electric mixer until paler in colour and fluffy.
- Cover the chilled cake with chocolate ganache and decorate with more honeycomb pieces and flaky salt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How bad would it have been to have just thrown all the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixed until smooth then put into the oven? I did just that, partly because i didnt have the patients to rwad your recipe from my phone, cakes came out kind ok, probably could’ve do with a little longer because they started to break ul while i transferred from tin to cooling rack… going to salvage what I can as its a irthday cake for my girlfriend, at the minute I’m not hopeful haha but hey its the thought that counts 😉
I agree with everyone so far. The cake it’s self is very good it’s a bits crumbly though. And i’d rather have the recipe done by weight, i made 2 batches of this recipe and one was fine the other fell in the center. Havent tried the frosting yet but i’m a little nervouse to try. You say to put the can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot of water for 3 hours….wouldnt that be dangerous??? Is there an alternate way to make the s.c.m into carmel??
I dont mean to sound like I’m complaining i’m just very curious/conserned about tbe milk part.
Hi Jackie, I understand your concern about the process of making caramel. The method of boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk for hours is pretty ancient. My mother and grandmother did ir and so did I for a while. However, yes, there are concerns now about chemicals leaching from the cans into the milk and it’s probably safer to cook the milk a pan. Basically you have to pour it into a saucepan and cook it while stirring until it turns brown. It’s a lengthy process and the caramel easily burns. There are many recipes online for it. However, ready made caramel is also available in supermarkets from Carnation brand.
To answer your questions about the cake itself, yes I would like to update it with weight measurements at some point. It should not have crumbly texture. This cake is dense as many European cakes are but very moist. There are many reasons why cakes fall in the center. It could be wrong temperature, which causes cakes to rise too quickly and not bake all the way through or too much moisture in the ingredients. It’s impossible to know all the reasons but do make sure you have an internal oven thermometer to check that the temperature is correct. Home ovens are often way off.
vikalinka, thank you for the quick response!! I think I was into much of a hury. The next day the cake was less much less crumbly and tasted even better!!
I looked up the caned carmel and yeah, tons of people do it so I tried it lol and it worked like magic. It is a long prosses so i think the next time i make this I will buy the carmel but it was exciteing to try.
Had a few first time things with this recipe. Makeing honey combo was fun and my husband loved it, I have to yell at him to keep him away. I think my mother in law will really like this cake(its for her birthday).
I completly take back my first comment lol
This is a very fun and intersting bake!!!
Thank you for the recipe I think i’ll be making this again.
You are very welcome, Jackie! Cake baking could be so stressful but so rewarding in the end. There is just nothing better than a homemade cake that tastes amazing!
Baked this cake twice in one week. Thank you.
Can I freeze leftover buttercream icing?
Greetings from South Africa
I am so glad you loved the cake, Carla. Yes, I believe you can freeze the buttercream. When you want to use it again, just let it thaw in the fridge, then whip with an electric mixer to bring back the fluffy, spreadable texture.
Can you use this recipe for fondant icing, will it hold up?
Hi Annie, this recipe is not suitable to use as a fondant. It’s a spreadable icing recipe.
I have the cake waiting in the fridge for tonight and it looks delicious! However I was wondering if it should be serveres directly from the fridge or if it should set for a while before serving it?
Great question, Michelle. Take the cake out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving for best flavour and texture. Enjoy!
Wow, amazing cake! Compliments from everyone at the table. Looked stunning, tastes great. You wouldn’t know there was stout in there – for anyone who says they don’t like the taste of it! The cake is moist but not heavy, behaves very well. The contrast between butter icing and ganache is just perfect making each component even better when tasted all in one mouthful. As someone else said it’s really useful reading the questions others had raised.. My buttercream was initially fine but on standing did start to separate but you cannot tell when it is sandwiched between the cakes. Having read that it would be fine I didn’t worry but might have ended up making another batch had I not been reassured. I used 54% chocolate for the ganache which was just right and not too sweet 70% would have been a bit too bitter and didn’t crush the honeycome too small as it does soften a bit on standing. Thank you for responding so quickly to my query. This will be my go-to cake for celebrations. I was also amazed that I was able to make, chill and apply buttercream and ganache to the cake (with the aid of several trips to the freezer) and decorate it in less than 3 hours having baked the sponges the day before. Thank you for sharing this gem.
What an amazing review, Sarah! Thank you for sharing with you. I am absolutely thrilled you and your guests enjoyed it.
Hi can you tell me what % chocolate you use for the ganache? I have dark chocolate in 50% cocoa solids, 70%, 85%?
Thanks
Hi Sarah, both 50% and 70% will work. I find 85% is a bit too intense for ganache and it won’t be as fluffy when whipped.
Thank you! Another question now ….. The crushed honeycomb which gets added to the buttercream, how finely did you crush? Is it as course as the crumble on top or much finer. I don’t want the crunch inside to be overwhelming. Are we talking the same side as Maldon Salt flakes or finer? Many thanks x
I crush the honeycomb quite finely. The coarser crumb on top is for decorative purposes. However, the honeycomb also softens once it gets in contact with the buttercream, so you won’t get a large chunk breaking your tooth if you know what I mean. 😉
Hi, could you please confirm whether I should be using 2/3 of a cup of creme fraiche or 2-3 cups? Sorry for confusion but don’t want to mess up.
Thanks
Hi Joanne, that is two thirds of a cup.
A friend of mine pinned this recipe so I made it for her birthday. It was a HUGE hit at the party. Thank you for the recipe and also thank you for all the comments which helped me avoid problems others hadsolved.
I am so happy the recipe worked well for you and the party guests, Rachel! Thank you for sharing it with me!
Julia, I’ve tried several of your recipes and enjoyed them all, but this honey comb crunch chocolate cake is above and beyond! It’s Moist and rich, has a depth of flavour not found in other chocolate cakes that puts it in a league of its own. This is easily my go to cake for special occasions. I made this cake for a dessert auction and it sold for over $600, well done Julia all the credit goes to you!!!
Wow!! I am thrilled to hear that! $600 for a cake? You are a star baker, Erica!