Oprah and I Love This 7-Layer Cake That Ships Straight to Your Door, and It’s the Perfect Gift for Any Occasion

Even for the most seasoned bakers, caramel cake is tricky to execute well. As a food writer raised in Atlanta, Georgia, I’ve had my share of caramel cakes — good and bad. The worst versions have too-dark and crystallized frosting, lacking the roundness and creaminess one would like in caramel. Well, at least that’s the caramel I prefer, which I want to taste like those chewy caramels you buy to make caramel apples for Halloween. Caramel frosting should be milky and full-bodied, the note one gets when eating Caroline’s cakes. 

I first tasted Caroline’s famous 7-Layer Caramel Cake at the Food & Wine Festival in Atlanta 10 years ago. Cakes are my favorite dessert, so I was hypnotized when I saw the stand showcasing bite-size cubes of the bakery’s best-selling cakes. Each cake I tasted was a revelation, but the 7-layer Caramel Cake is the most famous and beautiful example of the long-standing bakery’s craftsmanship. The company started over 40 years ago in Spartanburg with a caramel cake that founder Caroline Ragsdale Reutter made for her youngest son’s christening. Word quickly spread about how good the cake was, and soon, she started shipping it around the country. Her son Richard now runs the business, which has been lauded by numerous publications and tastemakers such as Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart.

The Caramel Cake From Caroline’s Cakes 

We already discussed Caroline’s superior frosting, but the yellow cake is just as important. Since these are multilayer cakes, the crumb is an important component, and you need the right tools to make them. The cake can’t be too cloying since the caramel frosting is so sweet, and it needs to have enough structure to be sliced thinly and layered. Since Caroline’s Cakes ships all over the country, a lot of expertise is involved in executing these cakes to get them to your table in one piece. Caroline’s ships the cakes in a signature red tin so they don’t get roughed up while they travel to your loved ones. I also love that this cake may be frozen and refrozen in its tin for up to six months, so you don’t have to worry about wasting it. 

Caramel cake may not be everyone’s favorite, but it’s my go-to among Caroline’s online offerings. I love that Caroline’s has various classic cakes in four to seven layers. The bakery also offers the option to send half-cakes, like a pizza. Regardless of which flavor you choose, there is something for anyone who appreciates a good Southern-style cake from South Carolina. Since finding them, I send them to my parents in New York or my sister in California for special occasions and birthdays when I can’t be there. Sometimes, I even send one to myself as a treat.

Shop More of My Caroline’s Cakes Favorites: 

1/2 Caramel and 1/2 Southern Chocolate

Sinfully Chocolate

7-Layer Coconut Cloud

Carrot Cake Traditional

Strawberry Cake