- Filling
- ¼ cup store-bought dulce de leche
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
- Cakes and Assembly
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar, plus more for ramekins
- ¼ cup store-bought dulce de leche
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Everybody has heard of molten chocolate cake, so we thought we’d try to create a caramel version, with a toffee-ish tender cake encasing a runny dulce de leche center. Well, folks, it worked.
ingredients
directions
1. Filling: Stir dulce de leche and butter in a small bowl until well combined. Dollop in 4 equal-size blobs on a metal baking dish or baking sheet. Freeze at least 30 minutes or up to overnight until very firm (the sugar will keep it from freezing completely solid). |
2. Cakes and Assembly: Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. |
3. Coat ramekins with butter in a thin, even layer, then coat with sugar, knocking out any excess. |
4. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed (use the paddle attachment if you’re using a stand mixer), beat ⅓ cup sugar and 6 Tbsp. butter in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add dulce de leche and continue to beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined, followed by vanilla. Beat mixture on medium-high speed 1 minute (it might look slightly grainy and separated, and that’s okay!). Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in reserved dry ingredients until smooth. |
5. Divide batter among prepared ramekins. Make a small divot with a spoon in the top of each mound of batter. Place frozen filling onto divots, but do not press down into batter; you want the filling cradled by the batter but still on the surface, as it will sink to the center during baking. Place ramekins on a small rimmed baking sheet. Bake cakes until tops are browned, firm to the touch (be careful when checking as the filling may ooze out and it is very hot), and a tester inserted into the cakes, avoiding the liquid centers, comes out clean, 23–25 minutes. |
6. Invert cakes onto plates to serve. (If you invert the first cake and see slightly underdone batter—it will be tan against the filling’s dark brown color—keep remaining cakes in ramekins a couple minutes longer before unmolding. You can still eat the underdone one!) |
