The Best Vegan Cookies and Cream Cake

This is a sponsored post, in collaboration with Natures Charm.

3 layers of vanilla cake with cookies and cream specks, a vanilla condensed milk  buttercream, topped with a chocolate ganache drip and cookies and cream cookies.

ALL HAIL COOKIES AND CREAM! 

 Seriously though, this is THE BEST EVER cookies and cream cake, which you won’t even be able to tell is vegan! Make this, and let me know what you think, I know it’ll become your go-to celebration cake recipe!!!

Cake layers

The cake has 3 of the most incredible, light, perfectly moist and flavoursome vanilla cakes with chunks of cookies and cream cookies inside.

This cake base recipe is my go-to whenever I want a plain sponge! It literally creates the most incredible cakes each time WITHOUT FAIL! Everyone needs to make my cakes – haha!
I worked so hard, literally over years to develop a cake recipe that works each time!
For the vanilla, you can use vanilla extract, but I tend to use vanilla bean paste, or if i’m feeling really fancy, I’ll use vanilla seeds from a vanilla pod.

I am so excited to have partnered with my favourite company for this recipe, Natures Charm.

For more information about product placement and partnerships, check out my Disclosure Policy.

Filling and coating
I am so excited to share a BRAND NEW BUTTERCREAM RECIPE! So, you’ve seen me make American style buttercream, Swiss meringue frosting and Italian meringue frosting, but i’m so pleased to share CONDENSED MILK BUTTERCREAM to the list! *Que the ‘oh wow’*!

Adding sweetened condensed milk into buttercream has become a favourite! It doesn’t only create a delicious flavoured buttercream, but oh my goodness, it is SOOO smooth and sweet without being sickly sweet! And perfect for piping and spreading onto bakes.

For this recipe, I decided to go for the condensed-milk buttercream to stick with the ‘cookies and cream / milk’ theme.

What is condensed milk?

Condensed milk is milk with the water removed leaving a very thick and creamy ‘milk’. As I’m vegan and I don’t use the ‘original’ condensed milk, I use Natures Charm condensed milk which is made out of coconut- how cool is that!?

It acts the exact same way as the dairy version (obviously without the cruelty), and tastes absolutely incredible. Its perfectly sweet and gooey, great for buttercream and making caramel sauce!

It’s made from coconut milk, sugars, minerals and vitamins. It’s also 100% vegan friendly (As are all of Natures Charms products). It’s also gluten-free and lactose-free.

Check out my recipes below in which I used Natures Charm products:

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Vegan Easy Banoffee Cream Bars

Vegan Triple Chocolate Cookie Cake

How to make condensed milk buttercream?

1. Firstly you’ll want to cream your dairy-free block butter until smooth.

2. Next add in the icing sugar and some vanilla. At this stage it will be extremely thick as there isn’t any liquid, but don’t worry, thats where the condensed milk comes in.

Pour in the condensed milk and watch the buttercream transform in to one of the most incredible buttercream EVER!

I couldn’t recommend Natures Charm enough! Their products are some of the most delicious I have ever tried. The condensed milk has changed the vegan baking game completely! It’s INCREDIBLE!

Speaking of their products, I also used their Coconut Chocolate Fudge Sauce in with the chocolate ganache drip.

This created a really sticky, fudgey ganache, which kind of tasted like a brownie, so yummy!

The fudge sauce is a great addition for any dessert, whether it be adding into fudgey cupcakes or drizzling over ice-cream!

If you’re looking to try out more Natures Charm products, they also have a delicious Vegan Oat Milk I used it to create Vegan Lemon Meringue Bars.

Check them out here.

Notes*

What vegan block butter to use?

My favourite block butters to use for buttercreams are Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative.

Preparation: 15 minutes
Baking time: 25 – 30 minutes
Serves: 8-10
Level: Easy

 

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Ingredients for the cake

• 480ml dairy-free milk
• 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• 420g of self raising flour
• 400g of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 120ml of sunflower oil
• 100g of ‘cookies and cream’ cookies

Ingredients for the buttercream

• 370g of dairy-free block butter (see notes*)
• 150g of Natures Charm Condensed Coconut Milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 ‘cookies and cream’ cookies
• 350g of icing sugar

Ingredients for the chocolate ganache

• 100g of dairy-free dark chocolate
• 100ml of dairy-free cream
• 2 tablespoons of Natures Charm Chocolate Fudge Sauce

+

• Mini ‘cookies and cream’ cookies ( for decoration)

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Method (cakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c fan and line tree, 8 inch cake tins with grease-proof paper.

If you only have one tin, you’ll have to bake one cake at a time. Cover the batter with a tea towel until ready to use.

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. Blend the cookies and cream biscuits until fine in a high speed blender. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, ground cookies, 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.

7. Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 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 (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.

2. Sift in the icing sugar and add in the vanilla extract. Whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.

3. Pour in the Natures Charm Condensed Coconut Milk and whip for 5 minutes until it turns thick and creamy. Don’t over whip it or it can become too soft. If it goes too soft add more icing sugar, too thick, add chunks more butter to get it to a smooth and creamy consistency.

4. Sprinkle in the ground cookies and fold to combine. This will create a speckled buttercream.

5.  Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off set spatula or pallet knife.

Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with a heaped tablespoon Natures Charm Chocolate Fudge Sauce (optional).

6. Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks. Repeat until you’ve used up all 3 cakes.

Coat the whole cake with the buttercream. Use an offset spatula or cake scraper to get the sides of the cake smooth. (Save some buttercream for the swirls) Place the cake into the fridge to set. This will take around 10-15 minutes.

Chilling the cake makes it easier when adding the final coat of buttercream.

7. Add a thick layer of buttercream all around the edges and top of the cake, smooth out with a pallet knife or cake scraper so its smooth/ Place back into the fridge for 10 minutes. In this time, prepare the ganache drip.

Method (ganache)

1. Place the dairy-free cream and chocolate into a medium sized saucepan. Gently heat until melted. Stir with a heat proof spatula / wooden spoon to prevent burning. Stir in the chocolate fudge sauce. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

2. Add the ganache into a heat proof piping bag and pipe drips down the sides of the cake. As this cake is chilled, the ganache will set quite quickly.

3. Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle and pipe some swirls around the top edge of the cake (I use a Wilton 2D tip).

Decorate with some ‘cookies and cream’ cookie crumbles and mini ‘cookies and cream cookies’.

Slice with a sharp knife and enjoy.

To store:

Keep this cake stored in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within 3 days of making.

Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days.

Shop the whole ‘Natures Charm’ range here.

A huge thank you to Natures Charm for collabing on this recipe with me!

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