Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Cake

Instructions

For the Cake

1. 1. Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly mist three 8-in. loaf pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
2. 2. Break the chocolate bar into four pieces. Grate the bar using a food processor or hand grater until the bar is finely grated. (If you are using a food processor, insert the steel blade and drop the chocolate pieces into the processor one at a time.) Set the grated chocolate aside. -I also grated a regular Hershey’s almond bar once. Another time I just used already shaved chocolate that is for super good hot-chocolate. It worked great and was easy. I’ve seen it particularly in the check-out aisles at places like Marshalls HomeGoods or TJMaxx.
3. 3. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
4. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
5. -Stop the machine, fold in the grated chocolate, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
6. -Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping sides as needed.
7. -Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter should look well blended and the chocolate chips should be evenly distributed.
8. -Pour the batter into 3 8-inch circular pans. Place the pan in the oven.
9. 4. Bake the cake at 325* until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 58-60 min. for tube pan (50-52 min. for loaf pans). Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool 20 min. for a tube pan (5 min. for a loaf pan).
10. -Run a long sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that it is right side up. (I just do whatever is pretty)

For the Pretzel Crunch

1. 1. Heat the oven to 275°F.
2. 2. Pour the pretzels in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the milk powder, malt powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the pretzels and creating small clusters.
3. 3. Spread the clusters on a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.
4. 4. Cool the pretzel crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month.

For the Chocolate Crumb

1. 1. heat the oven to 300°f.
2. 2. combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until mixed.
3. 3. add the butter and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.
4. 4. spread the clusters on a parchment-or silpat-lined sheet pan. bake for 20 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. the crumbs should still be slightly moist to the touch at that point; they will dry and harden as they cool.
5. 5. let the crumbs cool completely before using; place 40g aside for the mint cookies and cream frosting.

For the Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1. Beat butter until smooth and fluffy.
2. Add a pinch of salt and the cocoa powder. Blend until mostly incorporated.
3. Then add the powdered sugar, a little bit at a time to avoid a mess, and keep adding until it is the thickness you desire. Add more cocoa powder if you want a stronger chocolate flavor.

To assemble

1. Put down the first layer of cake. Layer pretzel crunch and chocolate crumb on top, and drizzle with salted caramel sauce. Add another layer of cake, and continue until you have the last layer on top. Then spread frosting on top of and on the sides of the cake. Decorate with leftover crunch and crumb. Enjoy!