Toffee Crunch Chocolate Cake with Gooey Caramel

Top layer

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I was excited to make a turtle cake, but when I asked Jake if he liked pecans, he said he didn't like it so change of plans.  I thought oooh maybe this will be the magical day that I learn to make toffee.  It was actually alot easier than I thought and it definitely helps to build my culinary repertoire.  The only difficult part was the clean-up since the toffee stuck to the saucepan.  I had to soak it in hot water for half an hour to get most of it off, then followed it up with ALOT of elbow grease.  The other dilemma that I had was the springform pan I wanted to use was still stuck en route so I had to use a regular cake pan.  Not as pretty, but oh well.  I had to improvise.  All in all, when I finally surprised Jake with the cake, he said it was the best cake he ever had.  Sweet!  I brought the leftovers to work and they liked it so much for the next potluck, I am in charge of the desserts. Yay for me.

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Caramel Layer
1/4 cup butter
14 ounces bag of individually wrapped caramels
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk

Frosting
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup of homemade toffee*
1/2 cup chopped almonds

*For a recipe for homemade toffee, go to http://candy.about.com/od/toffeerecipes/ss/sbs_toffee.htm

 I stopped after step 6 and just used a pestle to pound the toffee into tiny pieces.  You can use a grinder if that is easier. 


Directions
Cake
1) Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2) In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3) Beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Set the rest aside.
4) Bake in a 350° oven about 20 minutes in a 9 x 13-inch pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Caramel Layer
1) In a heavy saucepan, stir the unwrapped caramels, butter, condensed milk, and regular milk together on medium heat until all the caramel has melted.
2) Remove from heat and pour over baked cake. 
3) Pour remaining cake batter on top and bake for additional 25 minutes at 350°.

Frosting
1) In a saucepan, mix the butter, cocoa powder, condensed milk, and buttermilk on low heat.  It will get very thick.
2) Remove from heat and frost the cake.
3) Sprinkle the toffee and almonds on top. 
4) Refrigerate overnight or at least for 5 hours.