I swear by the WASC, play around with flavorings, love it dearly, and would wear one to bed, if I could.

That being said, I'm trying to figure out the best way to make a caramel version. I'm making Dulce de Leche filling for DH's 35th birthday this weekend, and would love something to complement that. So, what do you think? Substituting caramel for part of the liquid? Might still need some more liquid, though ... Also, I want some caramel (or similar) buttercream that I can still play around with and ice my cake nicely. Haven't tried caramel very much, since it's not really my cup of tea, but hubby loves the stuff, so I'll give it a shot . Thanks for any suggestions!

I would add ice cream topping either marbled into the batter or mixed in completely. Don't replace the liquid but maybe cut down just a bit....Instead of the 1 1/3 c use 1 c.

Or if you are wanting the flavor you can add caramel flavoring---think Lorann's sells it. Don't know if you like it or not, but caramel SMBC is yummy! (I've made it w/ just a little caramel flavor--a little goes a long way!)

Thanks so much for your suggestions! Hubby just told me it was his dream cake . I ended up making some dulce de leche and using it as filling, and then thinning it out to mix it into the batter, as suggested. I didn't have any caramel flavoring on hand, and although I have ordered it now, it wasn't going to get here on such short notice ... still, now I know exactly what to do next time . Thanks again!