Millionaires Cake!
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A three-layer caramel sponge millionaires cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, gooey caramel, and mini shortbread bites!
Millionaires bakes
So I adore anything millionaires themed… how can I not?! Biscuit, caramel and chocolate are basically THE BEST COMBINATION in the world. Ever. Honestly, I love it! My millionaire’s cupcakes post has been so popular since I posted it, and I can see why.
I adore the secret caramel centre, with the naturally caramelly sponge using light brown soft sugar with chocolate buttercream on top. The photos look so good on that post because they show the caramel oozing out so it never surprises me that they’re a hit!
My salted caramel millionaires shortbread has always been a massive hit as well because its a salty twist on the classic. I adore it! I love the salted caramel, which you can easily add to this recipe as well. You could simply add a tsp of salt to the tin of caramel, and it would be delicious!
The cake
With this recipe, I did base it quite heavily on my millionaire’s cupcakes as I adore it so much. I used the light brown sugar recipe again as I just adore the flavour of the sponges, and it keeps it so moist and lovely. Unsalted butter, light brown soft sugar, eggs, self-raising flour and an optional bit of baking powder are the dream.
- Butter – For the sponges, you can use baking spread, margarine, or even room temperature block butter
- Sugar – I use light brown soft sugar for the flavour, but dark brown soft sugar works well also.
- Eggs – I use medium eggs. It’s best to weigh them in their shells so you match 400g of dry ingredients, it can be 6-8 eggs.
- Flour – Self raising flour as always, guys!
- Raising agents – I add a tiny bit of baking powder for this for a fluffier sponge, but this is optional.
Buttercream
For the frosting, I then went with an easy chocolate buttercream using unsalted block butter (never use a spread for buttercream!), icing sugar and cocoa powder, but you can easily swap to using actual chocolate if you wanted instead.
I tend to use cocoa powder because I simply use whatever I find easier sometimes (and whatever I have in the cupboard!) – whereas with melted chocolate it is another bowl to clean and something to remember to do – but if you do want this, I would recommend 200g dark chocolate, melted and cooled.
If you are baking the cake in the middle of winter or cold weather you may need to add 1-3tbsp of boiling water to your buttercream to smooth it out slightly. This is a common thing and something I do often – however, if it is the middle of summer, the chances of needing to do this are slim as the ambient temperature of your kitchen will naturally soften the buttercream.
Decoration
I decided to pipe the buttercream onto my cake using my all-time favourite 2d closed star piping tip, because I am in love with it. You can of course pipe the buttercream on however you like, or even just slather it on if you fancy – there is no shame in that.
For the caramel I used a shop-bought caramel for ease, and don’t hate anyone for wanting to do that. Shop bought ingredients are there for a reason, and there is no issue in using them. If you want to make your own caramel sauce, you can try my homemade caramel sauce recipe!
I love layering the naturally caramel flavoured sponges with buttercream and then plenty of caramel sauce – it drizzles out the sides of the sponges, looks AMAZING when you cut into the slices and is generally utterly irresistible.
Yes, I did use shop bought mini-shortbread bites for the top – you can just use shortbread if you like, or even make some mini homemade shortbread bites with one of my many millionaires recipes but that is entirely up to you!! Enjoy!
Two layer version
This recipe is a three-layer cake so I bake the sponges into three 8″/20cm round tins for best results – I get that it is quite an intensely tall cake if there aren’t many of you, but trust me it is worth doing. If you want to make a two-layer cake, however, I would use 250g butter, sugar and self-raising flour, 5 medium eggs and 1/2 tsp baking powder split between two tins, baked for 30 minutes.
You would then want to have 2/3 of the decoration ingredients as well, but the method is the same as this recipe.
Tips & Tricks
- I use these cake tins
- I use this piping tip
- Here is my homemade caramel sauce recipe if you want to make it yourself
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3 days!
- You can freeze this bake for 3+ months
I went for a big three layer cake as I just love the look of them, and it certainly makes them a showstopper. But honestly, this is one of my favourite bakes in a long time and I hope you all love it too! Enjoy x
Millionaires Cake!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 400 g unsalted butter
- 400 g light brown sugar
- 8 medium eggs
- 400 g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 350 g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 650 g icing sugar
- 75 g cocoa powder
- 1-2 tbsp boiling water
Decoration
- 350 g caramel (Carnations)
- Shortbread bites
- Sprinkles
- Crushed shortbread
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Heat the oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan and line three 20cm/8inch sandwich cake tins with baking parchment – leave to the side.
- In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and light brown sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour, eggs and baking powder and beat again
- Divide the mixture between the three tins and smooth it over – bake for 25-30 minutes until the cakes are golden and when the cake springs bac
- Once baked, leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes or so, and then remove and leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the Decoration!
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes to loosen it.
- Gradually add the icing sugar on a slow speed until it is combined then speed the mixer up and mix for 3-4 minutes until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Add the cocoa powder to the buttercream and continue mixing. If its really stiff, add in 1tbsp of boiling water at a time until you reach the desired texture.
- Keep on beating for 5 minutes until whipped and silky smooth
- On the first layer of the cake, pipe your buttercream using a 2d closed star piping tip, and then drizzle/spread some of the caramel on top. Repeat again with the next layer.
- For the top layer, pipe on the rest of the buttercream, and add some little swirls. Drizzle over some more caramel. On top of each swirl, add a mini millionaires shortbread bite, or a piece of shortbread.
- Sprinkle on some crushed shortbread, some sprinkles, and ENJOY!
Notes
- I use these cake tins
- I use this piping tip
- Here is my homemade caramel sauce recipe if you want to make it yourself
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3 days!
- You can freeze this bake for 3+ months
ENJOY!
Find my other Cake, Chocolate & Caramel Recipes on my Recipes Page!
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Hi Jane- how did you pipe the layers? Was it in circles like you’d pipe cupcakes or do you just push on the bag and lift up and let the tip do the work? Or another way? Thanks so much!
Hi Jane! I am wanting to make this recipe at the weekend for my anniversary, the only issue is that I only have one deep 8″ cake tin. Can I pour the whole recipe into this and just allow it to bake for longer then cut it into 3 layers?
Hello! You can but I have no idea what the timings would be for this I am afraid x
Hi
Cook it for an hour,vthen it should be okay and at the temperature stated
Hi I ordered some light brown sugar for this cake, but its been substituted for dark brown sugar. Is this OK to use? It was quite nice in the butterscotch cupcakes but not used in a big cake before. I will be doing the smaller 2 tin version. Thank you x
Yes its totally fine to use! Just a slightly deep flavour! X
Thank you! X
Hi Jane,
I’m just wondering what the measurement would be for a 4inch cake ? I want to make a smaller one for Valentine’s Day.
Thank you,
Cristal
I’ve not bake a 4″ cake before as it really is so tiny, but it would be about 1/3 of the recipe so the timings will be less x
Hi Jane,
Could this recipe be covered in a fondant icing for a birthday cake?
Thanks!
Yes it could – but I would recommend a decent crumb coat to seal all the crumbs in first!
Hi
I don’t have a stand mixer! Would it make a big difference if I used an electric whisk when making the cake mix?
Thank you
No that would be fine, just try not to over mix it way too much x
I made this cake last week for a birthday and it came out incredibly well! The sponge was perfect and the buttercream was delicious. I only used half the caramel but if I made it again I’d put more caramel between each layer! I ordered the icing nozzle that was recommended in the post and it was so easy to use! Even for a first timer like me! Perfect!
Hi, if i was to use 3 x 6 inch tins would the recipe be the same as the smaller recipe using 2 x 8 inch tins?
So for a 6″ version I usually say to use about 2/3 of a recipe – so you can use the smaller version if you want but I’m not 100% sure on timings!! x
Hi, my son has picked this recipe for me to try for his birthday cake this year! I can’t wait to taste it myself as it looks amazing! However, on the day I need it I will be short of time, so am planning to bake the cake the day before and then decorate on the day. Would the butter cream be ok to pipe the next day if I made it the day before too? Just trying to save as much time as possible. Thank you x
You would need to re-mix the buttercream to freshen it up to be able to pipe it again – You could definitely do the sponges the day before, but personally (unless you don’t mind the re-mixing) would make the buttercream on the day! X
Looks amazing !! Thinking of making this. When you say ‘light brown sugar’ do you mean caster sugar?
No, light brown sugar is a soft brown sugar. It’s not caster, muscavado or Demerara – it’s just light brown sugar x
Do we pipe all over the cake with the buttercream.
Yep, three layers of buttercream!
Hi Jane,
Another fantastic creation! Can I ask why the addition of baking powder to this cake recipe? Normally you make your sponge without.
I have several recipes with baking powder, not just this one – and I find it just lightens the texture! You can leave it out if you want x
Did you melt the caramel and then drizzle it?
I don’t melt it, no. I just mix it a little in a bowl or the tin and then drizzle x
Hi Jane.
I made this cake for my son for his birthday. The sponges came out lovely, but the butter cream so was thick. I did everything precisely as per recipe, but it was that thick I couldn’t pipe it! In the end after a couple of attempts at re mixing it, I gave up and just had to smooth it onto the sponges, which spoilt the affect. Help….what did I do wrong?
You just need to add a little boiling water or whole milk to thin a buttercream out if it’s too thick xx
Hi jane,
I’d like to make this cake in 6” tins for my mums anniversary. How would I adapt the recipe please!?
You use about 2/3 of the recipe, and follow the method, but baking time is shorter x
This looks insanely good !! In your notes where you talk about adapting the recipie to make a smaller version, how many tins was that in reference to w.g. was it for 2 x 8 inch tins ?
Yes, two 8″ xx
I made this cake yesterday but two layered and it came out amazing. Made this for my family and they have said it tastes so amazing and the cake itself was really soft! Can’t wait to bake some more cakes from your page! Xx