Salted caramel cake

Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter two 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Put the butter, sugars and caramel sauce into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tbsp of flour with each and beating well between each addition, until the batter is light and airy. Scrape down the bowl as needed, and beat in the vanilla bean paste or extract.

• step 2

  Gently fold in the remaining flour, the baking powder and a pinch of salt using a large metal spoon, being careful not to knock out any air. The mixture should drop off the spoon easily – if not, add 1 tbsp of milk and gently fold again. Divide the batter equally between the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sponges are risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middles come out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

• step 3

  To make the buttercream, tip the butter into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until very soft. Add a third of the icing sugar, whisk well, and repeat until all the sugar has been used and the mixture is very light and fluffy. Add the caramel sauce and a big pinch of sea salt, then beat until evenly combined.

• step 4

  Put one of the sponges on a cake stand and spread half the buttercream over the top. Sandwich with the second sponge, spread over the remaining buttercream and sprinkle over the fudge pieces. Drizzle with a little extra caramel sauce before serving.