Vanilla Caramel Cake

Vegan, Gluten-Free

It was my hubby’s birthday recently which means I get to play with my baking! I love any opportunity to come up with new cakes and bakes – as always making them gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free!

I have a go-to vanilla cake, but honestly, vanilla cake can often be quite boring … until I came across this recipe for a caramel glazed, vanilla cake from Pick Up Limes. I knew I wanted to try it with my go-to vanilla cake recipe!

The yummy homemade caramel sauce definitely makes this an extra special, extraordinary vanilla cake – and as always, it is super simple to make! Recipes and sources are below!

Caramel Recipe (from Pick Up Limes)

• 1/3 cup vegan butter or margarine

• 1/3 cup brown sugar (I prefer dark brown sugar, but lighter brown sugar will yield a more traditional light caramel sauce)

• 1/3 cup almond milk (You can use coconut milk for a creamier, thicker caramel, but I don’t love the taste so I use almond milk. The caramel sauce is definitely runnier, but the flavour is better in my opinion).

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp vanilla.

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT vanilla into a medium sauce pan. Stir over low heat until boiling. Then leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Remove from heat and add in vanilla.

Vanilla Cake (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free)

1. Make Vegan Buttermilk and set aside:

• • 2 cups almond milk

  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar

2. Combine dry ingredients:

• • 2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (do note that different gluten free flours yield different results. I used half rice based flour, like Robin Hood, and half corn flour base, like President’s Choice – all rice flour based will make the cake dry)

  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 2 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp salt

3. Make egg replacer:

• • 1 egg of egg replacer (I prefer white egg replacer in cakes over flax or chia eggs because they look nicer and yield fluffier results – look for these in your organic food stores or sections of your grocery store).

4. Combine wet ingredients

• • 2/3 cup of flavourless oil – canola or coconut

  • 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla

5. Combine all wet ingredients together (vegan buttermilk, egg replacer, oil & vanilla) and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, over-mixing will make a tough texture.

6. Add to two cake round tins (greased and lined) and bake 350F for approximately 25 minutes.

7. Allow cakes to cool before icing with vanilla buttercream and caramel sauce from above. (Place a layer of icing and about 2 tbsp of caramel sauce between the cake layers, frost entire cake with vanilla buttercream and drizzle caramel over the top, however you desire).