To make my Salted Caramel Mocha Cake, begin by making 3lbs of my Ultimate Chocolate Cake. Divide your chocolate cake batter into two 6” round pans lined with parchment paper then bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, make 3lbs of my Vanilla Toffee cake but to make it a little different, we’re going to make it a toffee nut cake so to do this, simple replace half of the toffee in the recipe with hazelnut! Divide your toffee nut cake into two 6” round pans lined with parchment paper then bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove all four cakes from their pans then level and remove the caramelization from the bottoms of each.

Cut each cake into 2 equal layers creating a total of 8 cakes.

NOTE: You will probably only be needing 6 of the 8 layers.

To make coffee simple syrup, start the process the same way you would for normal simple syrup but once it is boiled and done, stir in two tbsp of instant coffee. Whisk it around then let it cool down completely.  Click here if you want the full recipe.

NOTE: Make sure you let it cool down completely before you pour it into Sir Squeeze-A-Lot

Using Sir Squeeze-A-Lot, soak each layer with your coffee simple syrup then let them sit for a couple minutes to fully absorb.

To add extra coffee flavouring to this cake, we’re going to make some coffee buttercream. Take a jar and pour in some instant coffee and a bit of boiling hot water. Close the lid and shake it up until you have a very strong coffee syrup. Pour this syrup into your batch of IMBC until you are satisfied with the taste.

Follow my caramel recipe here but rather than using unsalted butter, use salted butter to give it the salted taste!

Fill one piping bag with your coffee IMBC and another with chocolate SMBC. Lastly, fill the parchment piping bag with salted caramel.

Begin with a layer of chocolate cake then spread on a thin layer of chocolate ganache. Next, pipe on a fence of coffee IMBC then sprinkle in chopped hazelnuts, toffee bits, and sea salt within the fence. Top it off with a drizzle of caramel again within the perimeter of the fence. Lastly, pipe on rings of coffee IMBC and chocolate SMBC to create a bullseye pattern to fill the entire area of the cake. Next, lay down a layer of toffee nut cake and follow the same steps. Repeat until you reach the top of your cake making sure to alternate cake layers between chocolate and toffee nut.

NOTE: You do not have to use all of your cake layers if you find it getting too tall. As reference, I used only 3 of each flavour.

Crumb coat your cake with chocolate SMBC then let it sit in the fridge until firm.

Mix together the remainder of your coffee and chocolate buttercream to create a mocha buttercream.

Ice your entire cake with the mocha buttercream using an offset spatula. Then use a bench scraper to smooth out all the edges and a straight spatula to draw all of the extra buttercream at the top into the centre of the cake. Once you are done, let the cake sit in the fridge until firm.

Pile on some IMBC to the top of your cake to replicate the whipped cream on the actual Salted Caramel Mocha. Because these drinks are served hot, the whipped cream usually doesn’t sit well so don’t worry about making your mound perfect or piping it on. Add some toffee bits and sea salt to the bottom edge of the cake. Next, pipe on some caramel onto your salted mocha macarons as glue and stick them around the bottom of the cake. Sprinkle some coarse raw sugar into the base of your cake stand and lastly, pipe on a caramel drizzle on top of your IMBC then sprinkle on more coarse sugar on top of the drizzle.

Roll out some green fondant then brush a wooden dowel with clear piping gel and wrap it with the fondant. Use your fingers to smooth it and make sure you cut away the excess in a clear seam.

Carefully insert the wooden dowel straw into the top of your cake through the IMBC. Do it slowly so that you are aware of any moving IMBC.