Vegan Caramel Apple Cake recipe

Vegan.

Wanting the perfect cake to bake for Autumn? Look no further! 

Kick-off the ‘fall’ with this over the top and quintessentially autumnal caramel apple inspired cake, with a spiced sponge, vanilla cream cheese frosting, topped with a caramel drizzle and whole caramel apple. 

This is the definition of warming, comfort food even if it is in cake form- haha! Rich and infused with some of the most delicious spices known to man.

This cake pretty much how I imagine fall- warming, comforting, and cosy. 

Caramel apples remind me when was younger. Me, my mum, dad and sister would pop to the supermarkets and hunt down caramel apples before heading to the local fireworks display. They bring such fond memories for me!

Thankfully, its apple season which means we can make as much caramel apple treats as we like- hurray! 

Recently i made caramel apple cupcakes and they went down an absolute storm, I just had too step up my game and create the most moorish cake imaginable.

Why you must make this cake?

• The sponge is perfectly moist
• Loaded with comforting spice
• The cream cheese frosting adds the perfect balance of sweet and tangy

How do you make a vegan caramel apple cake?

• To make this scrumptious cake, you want to make vegan buttermilk with dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar. 
• In a bowl, combine self-raising flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and a combination of the most iconic ‘autumnal spices’- ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground ginger. These spices combined to create the most flavoursome cake imaginable. 
• Add oil to the buttermilk, whisk to combine then pour into the dry mixture.
• Add wet into the dry and combine.
• Pour into lined cake tins and bake. Voila, Apple Cake!!!

You can store the cake un-iced in a sealed container at room temperature ready to ice the following day. I like to do this as it allows the flavours and spices to infuse further.

How do I make a vegan cream cheese frosting?

This absolutely delicious cream cheese frosting is made using dairy-free butter, dairy-free cream cheese, icing sugar, and vanilla extract.

• Whip the dairy-free butter and cream cheese together until light and cream, then whip in the icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. This frosting will be the perfect taste and texture to add to any cake, but particularly delicious on a spiced cake, carrot cake, or red velvet cake.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Serves: Approximately 10-12

Level: Medium

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Ingredients for the cake

-480ml of dairy-free milk 

 -2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

-420g of self-raising flour

-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

-1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

-1 teaspoon of ground ginger

-450g of caster sugar

-1 teaspoon of baking powder

-1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

-120g of vegetable oil / melted coconut oil

Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting

-250g of dairy-free butter

-50g of dairy-free cream cheese

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-600g of icing sugar

Decorations

-1 whole red apple 

–Caramel sauce

-Cinnamon sticks and star anise 

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Method (cakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line three 6 inch cake tins with grease-proof paper.

2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.

Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.

3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Mix well to combine.

4. Add the oil into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.

6. Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

Optional: Sprinkle biscuit crumbs over the cakes before baking.

7. Pop the cakes into the center of the preheated oven and bake for around 30 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

8. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully. 

Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (Cream cheese frosting)

1. In a bowl/stand mixer, cream the dairy-free butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, then add in the vanilla extract and icing sugar in stages until fully combined.

Add a splash of dairy-free milk if the buttercream is too thick. If its too runny, add more icing sugar until its a nice and creamy consistency. 

2. Stack and fill the cakes with the frosting, then crumb coat the whole cake and pop into the fridge to set. 

This will take 20-25 minutes.

3. When the crumb coat feels firm to the touch, add a thick layer of the frosting all over the cake and using a smooth or textured cake scraper or large spatula, smooth out the buttercream.

4. Add caramel sauce into a piping bag and drizzle it around the top edge of the cake, so it drips down the sides of the cake. Spread it evenly over the top of the cake too.

5. If you have any frosting leftover, add it to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle and pipe a decorative border around the top edge of the cake. 

6. Dunk an apple into the caramel sauce and place it on the top of the cake. Add a stick or paper straw to create the classic /candy apple’ effect. 

Decorate with some biscuit crumbles, a cinnamon stick and star anise for an autumnal touch.

Serve fresh and store in a sealed container in the fridge. 

Best eaten within a few days!

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