Almond Roca Caramel Cake Recipe (video)
The Almond Roca Cake – an epic caramel cake recipe inspired by the famous confectionary! This chocolate, almond and caramel cake will steal your heart (and your taste buds!)! I love the sweet and crunchy Almond Roca candy and wanted to create a cake that captured all the flavors and textures of this treat! This almond roca cake is made with almond caramel cake layers dotted with loads of crunchy almond pieces, frosted with my salted caramel frosting, filled with almond roca candy pieces and topped with chocolate ganache. This almond roca recipe is perfect for your next special occasion!
My Almond Roca Cake Video Tutorial
Watch my YouTube video tutorial for step-by-step instructions for making this stunning Almond Roca Cake! Plus, I’ll teach you how to make those elegant white chocolate garnishes! Want to stay up to date on new recipes? Make sure to subscribe to my website emailing list and my YouTube channel and turn on notifications!
Ingredients for Almond Caramel Cake
I love how all the different flavors, textures and elements of this caramel cake come together! It’s such a fun and delicious cake! Here are the main ingredients you’ll need to make it at home:
- Almond Roca Toffee Candy: this chocolate-covered crunchy toffee candy is great as a filling for the inside! I also garnish the cake with a few pieces. If you can’t find this exact brand, just look for an almond toffee type of hard, crunchy candy.
- Caramel: For the caramel cake recipe, I add a full can of dulce de leche for the ultimate caramel flavor. You’ll also need some for the caramel frosting. Can’t find dulce de leche in your grocery store? You can also use my home-made caramel sauce for this recipe! https://tatyanaseverydayfood.com/caramel-sauce/
- Eggs, Butter, Vanilla & Milk: wet ingredients for the cake batter. Have the eggs, butter and milk at room temperature for best results!
- Sugar, Flour, Baking Powder & Salt: dry ingredients for the cake batter.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: for making the chocolate ganache, for decorating the cake.
- Heavy Cream: for making the ganache.
- Unsalted Butter & Confectioner’s Sugar: for making the caramel buttercream frosting. Soften the butter at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.
- Almonds: for adding into the cake batter. Finely chop the nuts into small bits.
- Chocolate Sauce: I use store-bought sauce for soaking the caramel cake layers. You can also use my chocolate ganache recipe.
How to Make Almond Roca Cake
Every bite of this caramel cake is filled with exciting textures and flavors! I love the combination of caramel frosting, chocolate and almond roca pieces. The cake layers themselves are not too sweet, only sweetened with dulce de leche, making this cake well-balanced. Here’s how to make them:
- Preheat the oven to 350F/177C. Prepare three, 8-inch (20-cm) round cake pans: grease the sides and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Prepare the cake layers first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, dulce de leche and vanilla extract. Using a mixer, mix the ingredients on medium speed until the butter and caramel are well combined. Add the eggs and mix again until smooth. Add the milk last and mix again.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: sifted flour, baking powder, salt and the finely chopped almonds. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the three prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 28 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When cake layers are done, cool them completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, use a long serrated knife to level the tops.
The Best Salted Caramel Buttercream!
For this almond caramel cake recipe, you’ll need to prepare a batch of my ‘Salted Caramel Frosting’ recipe. It’s one of my personal favorites! Check out my separate video recipe for an in-depth tutorial! Here’s how to make this amazing frosting:
- Place the softened, unsalted butter into a mixing bowl. Whisk it on high speed for about 5 minutes, until the butter is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl often to get all the butter mixed well!
- Next, add the dulce de leche (cooked sweetened condensed milk). If you cannot find dulce de leche, use a similar caramel sauce. If necessary, increase the amount of confectioner’s sugar to thicken the frosting.
- Add in the vanilla and salt. Start by adding 1/4 teaspoon salt, then add more if needed. Begin adding the confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of mixing bowl often to get everything incorporated. Make sure to sift confectioner’s sugar before adding to avoid any clumps. After adding all sugar, whisk on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes to get frosting very fluffy.
Assembling the Caramel Cake
Once the caramel cake layers have cool completely, and you have the caramel buttercream ready to go, it’s time to assemble the cake!
- Crush the Almond Roca toffee candies into small bits that will fit nicely in between the layers.
- To assemble the cake, first pour several tablespoons of store-bought chocolate sauce (can also use chocolate ganache) over each cake layer and allow it to sink into the cake. Frost each layer with a generous amount of frosting and top with a generous amount of crushed Almond Roca candy pieces. Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing the frosting down with a flat spatula.
- Garnish the sides of the cake with any remaining crushed candy pieces and diced almonds. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before garnishing with chocolate ganache, frosting dollops and candy pieces. I used Ateco tip #4FT for the dollops.
Garnishing the Toffee Cake
I garnish this cake with chocolate ganache, crushed Almond Roca pieces and white chocolate lace. The white chocolate garnishes on this cake are so beautiful! Make sure to watch my video recipe to see how I made them! These garnishes can make any cake look extra fancy! For the chocolate ganache, I have a separate video recipe with in-depth recipe instructions you can see HERE.
Making the White Chocolate Lace
I wanted to take this almond cake to another level by adding some beautiful white chocolate lace to the top as a garnish! Make sure to check out my video recipe, in this post above, for a visual guide! Here’s how I make the lace:
- First, cut 6 squares of acetate paper or parchment paper, about 4×4 inches in size.
- Melt the white chocolate melts in the microwave until smooth, then transfer into a disposable pastry bag or ziplock bag. Chocolate melts will set faster than chocolate chips!
- Pipe the chocolate in a crisscross pattern onto the prepared squares. Allow the chocolate to sit for a few minutes, then transfer the squares into tall glasses, shaping the chocolate into a scallop.
- Allow the chocolate to set completely, then gently peel from the acetate and place onto the cake.
More Recipes!
Enjoyed this caramel cake and looking for more recipes? Check out some of my other favorites you’re sure to enjoy!
- Almond Roca Macarons – also inspired by the candy! These caramel macarons are amazing!
- Chocolate Turtle Cake – filled with caramel and nuts and frosted with my salted caramel frosting.
- Coffee Caramel Macaron Cake – GIANT macaron cake with coffee and caramel flavors!
- Coffee Caramel Cake – delicious coffee cake with caramel buttercream and coffee caramel macarons!
- Golden Key Caramel Cake – the best Russian caramel cake with dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, pecans and whipped cream frosting!
Share it on Pinterest!
Supplies & Tools
Need some supplies to make this recipe? You can get them here (Amazon affiliate links):
- I love these aluminum round cake pans for baking. And use these pre-cut parchment paper rounds to save time.
- The classic KitchenAid stand mixer is a must in every kitchen.
- Use this set of jumbo cake decorating tips with these disposable pastry bags for decorating the cake.
- And these off-set spatulas and this bench scrapper are a must for cake decorating.
Almond Roca Caramel Cake Recipe (video)
Ingredients
For Cake Layers:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 14 oz can dulce de leche
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup finely chopped almonds
For Chocolate Ganache:
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp shortening, optional
For Caramel Frosting:
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened at room temp
- 14 oz can dulce de leche
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, adjust to taste
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
Additional Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup chocolate sauce
- 20 almond roca candies, crushed
- 1/3 cup white chocolate melts, for garnish
Instructions
For Almond Caramel Cake Layers:
- Preheat the oven to 350F/177C. Prepare three, 8-inch (20-cm) round cake pans: grease the sides and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Prepare the cake layers first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, dulce de leche and vanilla extract. Using a mixer, mix the ingredients on medium speed until the butter and caramel are well combined. Add the eggs and mix again until smooth. Add the milk last and mix again.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: sifted flour, baking powder, salt and the finely chopped almonds. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the three prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 28 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When cake layers are done, cool them completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, use a long serrated knife to level the tops.
For Caramel Buttercream:
- Place softened, unsalted butter into mixing bowl. Whisk on high speed for about 5 minutes, until butter is light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl often to get all the butter mixed well. Add the dulce de leche (cooked sweetened condensed milk). If you cannot find dulce de leche, use a similar caramel sauce. If necessary, increase the amount of confectioner's sugar to thicken the frosting.
- Add the vanilla and salt. Start by adding 1/4 teaspoon salt, then add more if needed. Begin adding the confectioner's sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of mixing bowl often to get everything incorporated. Make sure to sift confectioner's sugar before adding to avoid any clumps. After adding all sugar, whisk on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes to get frosting very fluffy.
Assembling the Cake:
- To assemble the cake, first pour several tablespoons of store-bought chocolate sauce (can also use chocolate ganache) over each cake layer and allow it to sink into the cake. Frost each layer with a generous amount of frosting and top with a generous amount of crushed almond roca candy pieces. Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing the frosting down with a flat spatula.
- Garnish the sides of the cake with any remaining crushed candy pieces and diced almonds. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before garnishing with chocolate ganache, frosting dollops and candy pieces. I used Ateco tip #4FT for the dollops.
For Chocolate Ganache:
- Prepare the chocolate ganache: combine the chocolate, cream and a touch of shortening in a large measuring cup. Heat the mixture in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then pour over the top of the cake, nudging the chocolate down the sides of the cake using a flat spatula.
For White Chocolate Lace:
- For White Chocolate Garnish: cut 6 squares of acetate paper or parchment paper. Melt the chocolate melts in the microwave until smooth, then transfer into a disposable pastry bag or ziplock bag. Pipe the chocolate in criss-cross pattern onto the prepared squares. Allow the chocolate to sit for a few minutes, then transfer the squares into tall glasses, shaping the chocolate into a scallop. Allow the chocolate to set completely, then gently peel from the acetate and place onto the cake.
It look sooooo delicious! You’re soooo creative! I have got to make this!!
Hi Tatyana, I am going to make this cake but I have to make my own version of almond roca candy because we can’t get it here. One question, can I leave out the almonds in the cake batter? I think with the homemade almond roca there will be enough crunchy parts in the cake or is it essential for the cake?
Hi Karin! The almonds in the cake can be left out, the cake will taste great even without them. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Can I make this in 9 inch pans? And if so how many?
Yes, 9-inch pans would work just fine for this recipe! I would use 2 pans if you want the same height on the layers
Thanks for the receipt! I’m very excited to try this out for my baby’s first birthday! I’m thinking of using the layer cake recipe and cover it with fondant. I wonder what can I use instead of chopped almond or can I leave it out?
Hi! I’m sure it will be a hit! You can leave the almond pieces out all together
i would like to make this recipe but i don’t have almond roca candies in the netherlands what should i replace?thanks
Hi! You can use other types of candy. Any type of crunchy toffee, with or without nuts, will work great! Enjoy!
Hello, I want to bake this cake in 3 cake pans of 15 cm, is the quantity right or should I halve?
and next my oven has heat under heat and under and scrub at the same time, will I use under heat for this cake or under and top heat at the same time thanks in advance
Hi! I used 8-inch or 20-cm pans. For 15-cm pans, I recommend cutting the recipe in half, otherwise you’ll have too much batter. I also recommend using the bottom heat only. The top heat is usually for broiling and it will make your cake layers very dark. Enjoy!
HELLO, a question about that delicious cake, I only have 1 baking cake of 20 cm, the height of pan 9 cm, can I make that cake batter in a pan cake, that I later myself cut the cake into 3 layers with a knife and with frostig in between? thank you very much
Hi! It’s such a tasty cake, you’ll love! That size of pan would be too small for the recipe. I recommend preparing just half of the batter at a time, otherwise the cake will flow over the sides while it’s baking. Just keep the other half of the batter at room temperature and bake later.
Hi tatyana i had asked you before i can’t find roca but still i made my own , so delicious i cant wait to make this cake but i want to make that white chocolate for topping that every square of paper or chocolate how many at how many cm is I want to make exactly as you hahaha, thanks
Hi! That’s awesome! I hope you enjoy the cake! The squares I used to make the white chocolate lace are about 8cm by 8cm in size.
Made this cake for a dessert auction – was a huge hit! Very showy! A bit time consuming to make, but WOW! And tasted so yummy!!
Hi Kim! That’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad it was a hit! It’s one of my favorites!