Transform your favorite candy into this Turtles Cake! Layers of rich chocolate cake, caramel buttercream, caramel sauce, and chopped pecans.
We’ve been in our new place just over a week now, and it’s finally starting to feel a bit less chaotic and a bit more like home — some rooms, anyhow. I was super nervous about the kitchen aside from the appliances, as it’s basically a 1989 original. It’s in good shape considering its age, but it’s a far cry from the modern kitchens these days. So I baked up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies to test the setup and the oven. I’ve made those cookies so many times that I know exactly how they should turn out.
I actually struggled with them for the past 3 years, as our previous place had a gas oven. I can now say with confidence that I will never use a gas oven again. EVER. I love a gas cooktop (and miss it), but the inconsistency of the gas oven is horrible for baking. This was proven the other day when I baked up the cookies in an electric oven and they turned out better than they have in years.
The kitchen was actually quite pleasant to bake in. I have a separate “pantry” section for all my baking needs, so it doesn’t feel as cramped as I thought it would. The kitchen sink leaves a lot to be desired (small/cramped), but all in all the kitchen is pretty functional.
We still have a bunch of boxes (most empty) in the basement, but the main floor is done and some of the upstairs. I haven’t touched my photography room yet though. I’m kinda procrastinating it because I don’t really know where to start. It’s a huge mess right now and I need to put up some shelving and a table, etc. I have to get that done next week because I’ve only got so many recipes in the backlog! Like this Turtles Layer Cake.
This Turtles Layer Cake is another one of Ryan’s suggestions. I can always count on him to come up with crazy and delicious ideas. Turtles happen to be my favorite chocolate candy, so it really only made sense to make a cake version, naturally, keeping in line with my never-ending desire to turn other desserts into cakes. Because everything is better as a cake!
In true Olivia fashion, I did more to this Turtles Layer Cake than I should have, and I’m not totally happy with how it turned out. I mean, it looks GOOD, but it looked BETTER before I added the frosting rosettes and mini-Turtles on top.
See, caramel doesn’t set as well as ganache. I had these perfect, and I mean PERFECT, alternating drips and a smooth top going. It was a stunner. But I had some leftover buttercream and wanted to incorporate the mini-Turtles into the cake, so I took it a bit further. Big mistake. The weight of it all started pushing the caramel down the sides and the rosettes literally started sliding down the cake. So much so that one actually slid off and I had to redo it (it’s in the back so you wouldn’t see it in the pics).
I was in a mad rush to take these pics so that the rest of the cake wouldn’t end up a complete disaster. As such, I hate the pics too, and literally re-edited them 3 whole times (countless hours). I keep telling myself that no one will notice the imperfections and no one knows what it looked like “before” so who cares. Except now I’ve told you, and you totally know.
So, if you make this cake, I would recommend skipping the rosettes and Turtles on top. Or at least just do one or the other. I think it was actually the Turtles that did me in. Those suckers are dense.
Cake decorating issues aside, this is one seriously delicious cake. If you’re a Turtles fan (and really, who isn’t?), you will love it! Dense chocolate cake with caramel buttercream and caramel sauce between the layers, and chopped up pecans for some crunch. Pure decadence.
Tips for this Turtles Layer Cake:
- Adding rosettes and Turtles will cause the caramel to slide down more. I recommend skipping this step.
- To enhance the chocolate flavor of the cake, you can use strong hot coffee instead of hot water.
- For the ganache, I let mine set overnight (with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface). It will be too thick at this point, so I microwave it for 10 secs and stir it until it’s the right consistency.
- The drip technique works best on a chilled cake so that the drips set quickly.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my tips here.
Turtles Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Caramel:
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1/4 cup water
- 150 ml heavy whipping cream room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 100g, room temperature
Milk Chocolate Ganache:
- 4.5 oz milk chocolate good quality, finely chopped
- 3 oz heavy whipping cream
Caramel Buttercream:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
- 1/2 cup caramel cooled
Assembly:
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 6 Turtles Minis
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6″ round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.
- Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour hot water in slowly as not to cook the eggs if very hot).
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
- Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. A total of 30-35mins.
Caramel:
- Place sugar and water into a medium pot, stir to combine, but to not stir from this point forward. Cook over high heat, washing down the sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in water as needed to prevent crystals.
- Cook until desired color of caramel is reached and immediately remove from heat. Very slowly, whisk in heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up (a lot) and boil. Add butter, return to heat, and bring back to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes whisking constantly.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a container and place in fridge to thicken.*
Milk Chocolate Ganache:
- Place chopped chocolate and cream into a microwave safe bowl. Stir to combine. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir. Microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth and silky. Set aside to cool completely before using.*
Caramel Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.**
- Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
- Add cooled caramel and whip until smooth.***
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving dish. Top with about 2/3 cup buttercream, drizzle with caramel and ganache and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Repeat with remaining layers. Crumb coat the outside and chill cake for 15mins. Frost and smooth the outside, chill for 30mins.
- Using a teaspoon, drip ganache along the edges then fill in the top. Chill for 15mins.
- Repeat with caramel and chill for 30mins.
- If desired, top with rosettes and mini Turtles.****
Notes
** Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won’t stiffen.
*** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
**** Adding rosettes and Turtles will cause the caramel to slide down more. I recommend skipping this step.
Megan says
I made this for my parents’ birthday party and it was the best cake I, or anyone at the party, has ever tasted. I received numerous complements and people were stunned that I made it from scratch. Thank you for the recipe, I will definitely be making this one again. 🙂
Olivia says
That is such a huge compliment, thank you Megan! So happy to hear that everyone liked it 🙂
Natalie says
I made this cake for my Grammy’s birthday today! I love the recipe and so did everyone else at the party! Thanks so much (:
Olivia says
So glad everyone liked it!
Maria del Mar says
Good morning:
I would love to make recipe for turtle layer cake but I am from Spain I do not control the ingredients in cups, that is when you put 1 and a half cups of something for example flour, how many grams does it correspond? so the whole recipe. I control grams and I do not know how to convert it. I would appreciate it as I can calculate it. Thank you very much.
Olivia says
Hi Maria! At the bottom of the list of ingredients you can switch to Metric to get the grams 🙂
Lidiya says
Yum! I want to make this cake for Easter. I was thinking instead of using homemade Carmel sauce I would buy Carmel squares and melt them with heavy whipping cream. Would this work better? Also can I soak the layers with a simple syrup or would that be a bit much?
Olivia says
Hi Lidiya! This comment is likely too late, but yes, you can make caramel with the squares instead. I wouldnt soak the layers as this chocolate cake is already pretty moist!
Stephanie says
How is the caramel sauce supposed to look. Mine looks white
Olivia says
Hi Stephanie! It sounds like you didn’t cook the sugar for long enough. It should be a nice caramel color before you add in the cream and butter.
Sarah says
Thanks for posting this recipe. This was my first triple layer cake. I made it for my adult daughter’s birthday. We will taste it tonight. I appreciate your thorough details! It was fun to try some new baking techniques. Making caramel, ganache and the buttercream. I look forward to sharing the cake with the family tonight.
Sarah
Sarah says
It was delicious and enjoyed by all!
Olivia says
So glad to hear that!!
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! I hope you all loved this cake as much as I do. Glad you were able to try out some new techniques!
Amy says
Do you think you could make this cake the day before?
Olivia says
Hi Amy! Yes, that should work fine. Just be sure to refrigerate it overnight and bring it to room temperature before serving.
Leah says
This cake looks delicious! I’m hoping to make a version of this for my son’s first birthday. I’m hoping to make it two layers 16″ square. I have a cake topper to put on it, but was wondering 1) will this work as a two-layer 16″ square cake? 2) How much should I increase the recipe? 2x or 3x? 3) how long would you bake it? and 4) will a topper stick you think? Also, because it is for kids, I’m skipping the nuts… This will be my most ambitious cake yet, and I’m a little nervous! 🙂 Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Leah, Happy Birthday to your son! I’m actually not sure what the actual conversions would be, I used three 6″ cake rounds. 16″ is quite a size increase. You can check this site out for help with conversions. Let me know how it turns out!
Kyriaki says
Hello. I want to ask you something. Here in Greece we do not have a heavy whipping cream. We have cream with maximum 35% fat. Do you think that cream will work for this recipe? Finally, I want to make the cake in a 10″ pan. If double the ingredients in the recipe will be ok? Thank you.
Olivia says
Hi Kyriaki! The cream you have should work just fine. I think the one I have is the same %. Do you want to make the cake in one 10″ pan or three of them?
TJ says
Hey Olivia, What’s the depth of the 6″ pans? I have two 9″ they are 9*2 pans. will the cake batter the enough? and will it work cause i’m going to cut the cakes into 4 halves and frost them. Will it work?
Trying this tomorrow.
Olivia says
Hi TJ! Sorry for the delayed reply. All of my cake pans are 2″ deep. I think the layers will be a bit thinner in the 9″ pans. This recipe as is works for three 6″ and two 8″ pans (all 2″ high). If you plan to cut the layers to have 4, I worry they will be too thin. You could always try to 1.5x the recipe, just be sure to not fill the pans more than half full. The batter is thin but rises a LOT. Let me know how it turns out
Lauren says
Ever since I’ve started following your blog, I’ve been designated the new “birthday cake maker” in our family. It’s my birthday next so making this for me lol >.<
I'm so excited to eat this up! Thanks as always for sharing your amazing creativity and recipes xx biggest hugs from Ontario!
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! Thanks so much for your sweet comment! I am sure you will LOVE this cake, it’s so flavourful and delicious. Especially if you love Turtles 🙂 Let me know how you like it and Happy early Birthday!
Elizabeth Caudill says
I am going to baking 2 of these cakes for different birthday celebrations. The first I am baking tonight, wish me luck! The other will be baked the next week. I hope it will look as pretty as yours. I am taking your advice an not doing the rosettes on top as I want to impress the guests. Thank you for such a beautiful cake recipe.
Olivia says
Thank you Elizabeth! Good luck and let me know how you like it 🙂
Elizabeth says
Hi Olivia,
Just wanted to let you know the cake turned out lovely. There was a tense moment when my husband went to put the cake in the fridge to chill after putting on the ganache. Deep gouges in the top as he hit the rack. I was able to patch it and disguise the area. Emailed you a picture.
Thanks for the lovely recipe!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Olivia says
Yay! I’m so glad to hear it. I hope you guys like it 🙂 Checking my email now!
Elizabeth says
Good Morning Olivia,
I was thinking about your comment on my rosettes and yours and the trouble with them sliding on your cake. I think my stayed was because 1) I put the pecans in a wider circle and the frosting had something to grip onto, 2) I followed your suggestion about not putting the candy turtles so they didn’t weigh it down. I thought about putting some rosettes around the bottom and alternating with the candies. I think that would look pretty, but you saw my picture and know that in the end I didn’t do it, because I didn’t have them on hand. I think I will do this on the next cake and will send you a picture.
Hakima says
I am trying to think of a cake to make for my friends and me for our combined birthdays (our birthdays are several months apart, but we don’t all live in the same city now). And we’re all turning 30. So it’s kind of a big deal. And this looks perfect! I can almost taste it. So delicious.
Your pics look gorgeous. I see no imperfections. And your rosettes looks amazing.
I do have a question. I like to make some things in advance and was wondering about the caramel sauce. I know I’ll need to warm it up a bit and I don’t have a microwave, so I’ll be using a double boiler. Do you have any suggestions on how long or how warm it should be? Should I just warm it up until it’s easier to spread?
Olivia says
Thanks so much Hakima! You always have such sweet things to say 🙂 Double boiler will work totally fine and yes, you just want it spreadable! You could try leaving it at room temperature for a bit to see if that loosens it up enough. For the drips though, you’ll want it a tad more on the pourable side vs. spreadable. I hope that makes sense.
Hakima says
I made the caramel sauce last night. First batch I think I kept it on the stove too long and it burned. Didn’t know this until I cooled it and tried it and it was quite bitter. So I tried again. Second batch was MUCH better. I ended up putting it in a mason jar and leaving it at room temperature. When I woke up this morning, the caramel sauce had thickened a lot (if I move the jar, the caramel barely moves). Should it do that, even at room temperature? Still looks and tastes like caramel.
Wonder if this will change the cake at all? Should I remake it? What are your thoughts?
Olivia says
Hi Hakima! It should be thick but pourable if I remember correctly. More like a thick sauce. If it’s thicker than that, something might have been off 🙁 Are you able to pour it at all? If so, it should not change the cake, you can still add it to the buttercream and just make sure to incorporate it well. It might not work so well for the drips though — you can try heating it up a bit to see if it will thin out, but be sure to cool it to room temperature before using in the buttercream and on the cake!
Erica says
Thanks for this recipe and the tips on making ganache and caramel the day before. Yesterday, I did a different recipe and it took me 6 hours even skipping the fudge frosting and opting to do a ganache drip. It turned out well but I’m pinning your recipe so I can do some things in advance next time. I also did rosettes and one dripped off but I had run out time to chill! I still love the look of your cake and think you could do rosettes with just pecans on top? Thanks, again.
Olivia says
Hi Erica! I think the pecans would be better for sure, but I think the rosettes would still slide off — that damn caramel! It’s worth it though, still delicious even though a bit messy looking 😉 You can also bake the cake layers in advance — I almost always do. I bake them one day, cool, double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until I’m ready to use them.
ss says
Hi, I just wanted to know how this beautiful masterpiece should be stored?
Olivia says
Hi! I would store it in the refrigerator and take it out 2-3 hours before serving. For longer term storage of the leftovers I usually portion into slices, wrap each in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag in the freezer.
Paulette says
This cake is amazing!!!
Olivia says
Thank you Paulette!
Christina says
Beautiful cake! about how many cups of caramel buttercream does this recipe make? Thank you
Olivia says
Hi Christina! I’m not 100% sure, I’ve never measured. I’d say maybe 4 cups or so?
Justtracy says
I want to make this for my partners B’day, looks so yummy! I read through but maybe I missed it in the directions…how much of the caramel sauce did you use in the buttercream / how much did you reserve for the drips?
Olivia says
Hi Tracy! I used 1/2 cup of the cooled caramel sauce in the buttercream. It should be listed as part of the buttercream ingredients 🙂 I hope you like this one!!
DisappointedBaker says
Yeah, this was one big disaster. Despite following the directions to the “T”, the cake fell flat in the middle and was the consistancy of a stale brownie. If following this recipe, the icing turns out runny, I spread it on my (box made) cake and it ran right off onto the plate. So I’ll bet that’s why your rosettes fell off. Maybe, in the future, fine tune your recipes before posting them.
Olivia says
If your cake fell, you either took it out before it was done or used expired baking soda/powder. If your frosting was runny, either your meringue didn’t whip up properly due to grease in the bowl/yolk in the whites or you frosted a warm cake.
Vivian says
Hi Olivia,
Can I use regular natural cocoa instead of dutch processed?
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Vivian! That should work fine. It will affect the flavour and color slightly, but should be ok 🙂