The most stunning and delicious chocolate turtle cake recipe! This incredible cake is inspired by one of my favorite chocolates – the caramel pecan chocolate ‘turtle’. To make this chocolate cake, I used my ‘Perfect Chocolate Cake’ recipe, my homemade ‘Caramel Sauce’ recipe and a fluffy milk chocolate buttercream. The crunchy and creamy caramel pecan filling on the inside is magical! It’s the perfect turtle cake recipe!

How to Make Turtle Cake

Making this chocolate turtle cake is a breeze! First, you’ll need to prepare my ‘Perfect Chocolate Cake’ recipe. For a taller cake like mine, you’ll need to prepare 1 1/2 portions of the original recipe; Please see the ingredient list for those measurements. This chocolate cake is very delicate and moist, made with chocolate chips, cocoa powder and coffee to really bring out the chocolate flavor. Once the cake layers are completely cooled, level off the top with a serrated knife. The cake layers are very moist but if desired, a simple syrup can be used to add more moisture. Get the recipe for the syrup below!

For the iconic caramel pecan turtle filling, I used my ‘Homemade Caramel Sauce’ recipe. This super easy, no-fail recipe is perfect for so many recipes and you can eat it with a spoonful! Use about 1 cup of the caramel sauce for the filling, along with a cup of chopped pecans. Reserve the remainder of the caramel for garnishing the cake and serve it on the side.

And to bring everything together, this cake is frosted with an incredible, fluffy milk chocolate buttercream! For my video recipe, I used my basic buttercream and added melted milk chocolate. If you don’t like American buttercream, try adding 1 cup melted chocolate chips to my ‘French Buttercream’ or my ‘Italian Meringue Buttercream’. Either one is a great option! Just allow the chocolate to chill slightly before adding it into the butter, otherwise the hot chocolate will melt the butter.