Caramel Mocha Poke Cake

I can't say enough good things about my birthday cake. Maybe it's because this is the first birthday cake I've ever made myself, or maybe it's just because this cake is so dang awesome. It's chocolatey, moist, and fragrant from the strong coffee. The whip cream frosting with a caramel drizzle adds the perfect final touch to this likeness of the caffeinated beverage. I honestly can't stop eating it! One other interesting tidbit- I challenged myself to make a birthday cake using only ingredients I had on hand. I'm proud to announce that I completed that challenge, thanks to a can of Dulce de leche that I just happened to have on hand.

My 31st birthday turned out pretty good. The hubby had to work on my actual birthday, so he took me out the day before my birthday. We had planned to go for a run, but inevitably we woke up that day to a monsoon. Seeing as how we were celebrating my birthday, neither of us felt like 5 miles of mostly-likely soaked running. So, we did a little shopping instead. I got my traditional birthday bag-o-candy, and the hubby took me out for a Bloody Mary soaked brunch. And then...

We came home and ate cake!

Happy Birthday indeed! Plus, the Ducks beat Texas in the Alamo Bowl, so my birthday couldn't have got any better :)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Ingredients:

Cake:
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups brown sugar
4 eggs, room temp
1 cup milk
1 cup strong coffee
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (15.8 oz) can Dulce de leche

Frosting:
1 cup milk
5 tbsp flour
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 sheet cake pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour through salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In another large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well combined, 3-4 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in milk. Mix in coffee. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture to the bowl, and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. While cake is baking, prepare Dulce de leche. Using a double broiler method, heat caramel over low heat until the caramel reaches a perfect consistency for pouring. Remove cake from oven. Using a toothpick or skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake. Reserving 1/4 cup of caramel for drizzling, pour the remainder of the caramel over the top of the cake. Allow cake to completely cool before frosting.
5. To prepare frosting: In a small saucepan, combine flour and milk. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes very thick. Set mixture aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and very creamy. Mix in cooled flour mixture. Mix in vanilla. Beat mixture until it reaches the correct consistency of frosting. Spread mixture on top of cooled cake. Using reserved caramel, drizzle it over the top of the cake.
6. Serve immediately with lots of cold milk.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck