• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Simply Delicious

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Quick and Easy
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Lunch
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Meat
    • Baking Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Gluten Free
  • Videos
  • In My Pantry
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Home » Recipes » Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

May 21, 2020 by Alida Ryder 20 Comments

Pin534
Share21
555 Shares
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Dulce de leche chocolate cake is an easy, delicious recipe and requires no frosting, making it fuss-free. The perfect cake to feed a crowd!

Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

This cake is an homage to the cakes my mom bought from home industries when I was a little girl. Home industries (or Tuisnywerheid in Afrikaans) are small shops that sell cakes, cookies, pies and tarts made by local cooks and bakers. These businesses allow family’s an extra source of income and are quite popular where I grew up. The cakes specifically are always amazing. Light, fluffy and impossibly moist with simple buttercream frosting and more often than not, a thick layer of dulce de leche (or as it is also called, Caramel Treat). Simple indulgence in its best form.

Ingredients needed

Full recipe + amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

  • Flour. I use cake flour but all purpose will work just as well. 
  • Sugar. Caster sugar or regular granulated.
  • Salt. 
  • Baking powder. 
  • Baking soda. (Bicarbonate of soda)
  • Cocoa powder. I used a very rich, dark cocoa which is why my cake turned out so dark so don’t be alarmed if yours is lighter.
  • Boiling water. I add a teaspoon of instant coffee to the water to intensify the flavor of the cocoa but this step can be omitted.)
  • Milk. 
  • Vegetable oil. 
  • Vanilla extract. 
  • Eggs.

Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

How to make dulce de leche chocolate cake

  1. Make the batter: Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well until the batter is smooth and thick.
  2. Bake the cake: Preheat the oven and grease and line a rectangular cake pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and place in the oven. Allow to bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.
  3. Decorate the cake: Once the cake has completely cooled, whip the dulce de leche to make sure its completely smooth. Spread/pipe the caramel onto the cake then decorate with sprinkles (optional). Slice and serve.

What is dulce de leche?

Dulce de leche is caramelized, slow-cooked sweetened condensed milk. Traditionally, it is made cooking milk and sugar very slowly until it is rich, dark and thick. It can easily be made yourself by cooking a sealed can of condensed milk in a pot of water over a long period of time (there are many articles on doing this yourself all over the internet). I, however, choose to use the ready-made, canned version because it is absolutely delicious and requires no effort on my part.

In South Africa, Nestlé manufactures cans of caramelized condensed milk called Caramel Treat so I’m not sure of the names of similar products globally but I know dulce de leche is a readily-available ingredient in most supermarkets.

Are caramel and dulce de leche the same thing?

No, they are not. Caramel has a base of water, sugar, butter and cream while dulce de leche is milk and sugar cooked slowly until thick, darkened in color and caramelized.

For this cake you want dulce de leche which is thicker than caramel and is used as the topping.

Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

Chocolate cake recipes

  1. Flourless chocolate cake
  2. Easy one bowl chocolate cupcakes
  3. Easy peanut butter chocolate sheet cake
Easy dulce de leche chocolate cake

Easy Dulce de leche chocolate cake

This Dulce de leche chocolate cake is an easy, one-bowl recipe and requires no frosting, making it fuss-free. The perfect cake to feed a crowd!
4.67 from 21 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Chocolate cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chocolate cake, Dulce de leche, Easy chocolate cake recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 358kcal
Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
  • 1 cup boiling water/coffee
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs

For the topping

  • 2 cups dulce de leche
  • sprinkles

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Grease and line a 30cm x 20cm cake pan with parchment/baking paper. 
  • In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. 
  • Mix all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl/measuring jug and pour into the dry ingredients. 
  • Mix until just combined then pour batter into the prepared cake pan. 
  • Place into the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
  • Remove from the oven once baked and allow to cool completely on a wire-rack. 
  • Whip the dulce de leche to make sure it's smooth then spread onto the cooled cake. Top with sprinkles and serve. 

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 183mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.9mg
Pin534
Share21
555 Shares

Filed Under: Baking Recipes, Cakes, Dessert Recipes, Quick and Easy, Recipes Tagged With: Cake, cake recipe, caramel, chocolate cake, chocolate cake recipe, dulce de leche, dulce de leche chocolate cake, easy cake recipe

Subscribe

Previous Post: « Grilled steak with blistered tomatoes
Next Post: Easy BBQ Chicken »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lesego

    June 5, 2020 at 10:58 AM

    Hi,

    I just wanted to know where you found dulce de leche in South Africa?

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      June 6, 2020 at 2:47 PM

      I use Caramel Treat if I can’t find Dulce de Leche.

      Reply
  2. Nicole

    February 4, 2020 at 7:21 AM

    I really loved this recipe. I did a few things different. First, I used thick cream (like Nestle) in place of milk because I didn’t have any. Turned out really wonderful. Second, I didn’t cool the pan because we all wanted cake- the smell was too enticing! So I served it warm with warm dulche de leche drizzled on top. IT. WAS. AMAZING. Thanks for such an awesome recipe.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      February 7, 2020 at 9:15 AM

      Oh yum, sounds amazing served warm!

      Reply
  3. Mart

    December 3, 2019 at 7:25 AM

    The recipe was really simple and the cake turned out great! However, it wasn’t possible to decorate the cake with the dulche la leche this great. It runned to just a dulche la leche layer without those frosting technique.
    And the dough and consistency inside looked like chocolate pudding but set
    Have I done something wrong?

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      December 3, 2019 at 8:35 AM

      The dulce de leche you used could just be softer than the one that I use. The cake shouldn’t have that texture so I’m not sure what could’ve gone wrong there. I’m happy to hear it still tasted good though! 🙂

      Reply
      • Mart

        December 7, 2019 at 11:15 AM

        I haven’t thought about it but my dulche la leche was probably softer.
        Since my whole family still loved the cake I’ll definitely bake it again!
        Maybe it’ll turn out the right way this time:)

        Reply
  4. Carissa

    November 29, 2018 at 5:30 AM

    Absolutely love this recipe. It’s so easy to make and the chocolate cake is by far the most delicious I’ve had. Great recipe!

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      November 29, 2018 at 5:33 PM

      Love hearing that! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Heather

    October 16, 2018 at 8:48 PM

    I’ve made this cake twice already and it’s become my favorite. Such an easy recipe and definitely the best chocolate cake I’ve made.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      October 17, 2018 at 2:44 PM

      That’s great to hear, it’s my favorite too!

      Reply
  6. Jo-Anne

    October 5, 2018 at 7:39 PM

    absolutely loved the cake. Such a hit with my kids too.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      October 5, 2018 at 10:42 PM

      Yay!!

      Reply
  7. Nora

    September 30, 2018 at 8:58 AM

    Love this recipe. So rich and tasty.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      September 30, 2018 at 8:59 AM

      Right? We all love it over here.

      Reply
  8. Heather

    September 30, 2018 at 8:58 AM

    Most delicious chocolate cake recipe I’ve tried. I found a can of Nestle La Lecha in my local Trader Joe’s and it worked perfectly as the topping.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      September 30, 2018 at 9:00 AM

      Oh that’s great! So happy you could find a local version.

      Reply
  9. Anna

    September 27, 2018 at 6:34 PM

    I baked this today and I must say, it is the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve tried. Moist, tender crumb and so rich in flavor. Loved it.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      September 30, 2018 at 8:55 AM

      So happy you liked it Anna!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Alida, mom of twins and creator of Simply Delicious. I hope to encourage a love for cooking by creating fool-proof recipes that are easy and delicious. Read More…

Conversion Chart

Simply Delicious conversion chart

DMCA Protection

Website Content Protection

Copyright © 2021 Simply Delicious on the Foodie Pro Theme Privacy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy