Introducing one of my bakery’s all time favorite layer cakes!
A spinoff from my Famous Carrot Cake Recipe loaded up with apples
Homemade apple filling combined with vegan caramel just dripping out of each layer
Caramel buttercream wraps it all up for the best tasting cake you will ever try!
CLICK HERE FOR PRO TIPS ON HOW TO FLAVOR YOUR BUTTERCREAM RECIPE
This cake has gotten rave reviews by all who have made it!
It’s no wonder the Caramel Apple Cake was one of my most popular layer cakes from my bakery days that sold all year round, not just for fall!
While this is a pretty big building on recipes project don’t be intimidated
Just be sure to organize yourself before you begin and it will not be a difficult task.
You will want to go ahead and make the Apple Compote and Buttercream Recipes ahead of time
And the caramel sauce as I show in the full Youtube video
It’s an easy one bowl mix for the cake batter and the apple filling gets cooked on the stove top while the cake is baking.
I have several options for vegan caramel to choose from, and the one I am using here is more like a traditional sauce rather than a thick spread like some of them can be.
Some people don’t love the sauce like caramel as it is a bit drippy when you cut the cake, but I think it is perfect for this particular cake
For a more spreadable, thicker caramel with no refined sugar, CLICK HERE to see how I made it for my Snickers Cheesecake recipe
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE
I am using 3-7" cake pans but you can make 2-8" layers instead [b
- ½ recipe Apple Filling
- ½ Recipe Buttercream
- For the Cake:
- Vegetable Oil 1 cup (240ml)
- All Purpose Flour 2¼ Cups (280g)
- Baking Powder 1½ teaspoons (7g)
- Baking Soda 1½ teaspoons (7g)
- Salt ¾ teaspoon
- Ground Cinnamon 2 teaspoons (10g)
- Granulated Sugar ¾ cup (150g)
- Light Brown Sugar ¾ cup (158g)
- Ground Flax Seeds 4 Tablespoons (32g)
- Hot Water 10 Tablespoons (150ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Apples Shredded from 2 medium apples approx 2 cups (250g)
- For the Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (210g)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar (200g)
- ¾ cup Almond Milk or any milk alternative (177ml)
- Salt pinch
- Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
- For the Cake:
- Peel, core, shred the apples
- Combine the ground flax with the hot water and whisk smooth, set aside for 5 minutes to thicken
- In a large mixing bowl combine both sugars with the salt, oil and vanilla & whisk smooth.
- Add the thickened flax paste and whisk smooth
- Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and the baking soda and baking powder and add to the liquid mixture in the mixing bowl
- Add the shredded apples and mix well.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake immediately in preheated 350° F oven.
- Cake layers will take approximately 30-35 minutes or when a toothpick inserted yields moist crumbs, or the best way to check is if it is springy to the touch when you gently press the center
- For the Caramel Sauce:
- Combine all ingredients except the vanilla and the vegan butter in a large heavy bottom sauce pot
- Bring to a boil stirring over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved
- Let it boil rapidly without stirring for approximately 10-15 minutes or until it is caramel in color
- Remove from heat and stir in vegan butter and the vanilla extract
- Pour into a heat proof container then refrigerate until thick and cold
- Prepare the Buttercream of your choice by following the instructions for that recipe, at the last stage of mixing add ¼ cup of the cold caramel to the buttercream and mix well.
- Prepare the apple filling as per the instructions on that recipe post
- Once the cakes are baked and cooled, the caramel sauce is thick and the buttercream & apple fillings are also ready, you can proceed to build the cake.
- Watch the full YouTube video tutorial to see how I assembled the cake.
The entire assembled cake can stay at room temperature for up to 1 day, but will most likely need refrigeration for longer storage (up to 10 days) so it doesn't get too soft.
Jut what I was dreaming of or actually has been spinning in my head – was looking for a cake that combines apples and caramel not with the classic pie crust but with cake and buttercream to form an elegant cake. Hmmmmm. Looking forward to making it.
You are amazing ..I like your sweets.
thankyou!!
Where is the video?
oh wow thanks! I never added it to the blog post! CLICK HERE
hola muy buenas noches
me gustaría aprender hacer el pastel ya que ami me sale un desastre
Hola! Great! Hopefully you can translate the recipe and follow along!
Hello gretchen
When i make a ceramel after few minutes its going to dry. I dont know why. Plz tell me the reason im waiting
caramel by nature will definitely set up firm. If you prefer you can use the caramel SAUCE recipe (sub in vegan alternatives) it will stay liquid
I think you might want to change instruction #12… it contradicts #15, and also your video 😉
I think you meant to say:
“12. Combine all ingredients, except vanilla and vegan butter, in a large heavy bottom sauce pot”
thankyou for catching that! 😉
Hi Gretchen! Cannot find flax seeds, Soo.. I would like to know if I should use the same amount of chia seeds instead of flax seeds?
yes they are interchangable
i adore this cake, I made it for my birthday and everybody loved it!
awesome thanks for the feedback!!
Hello Gretchen. I just made the caramel sauce. And it has a gritty sugary feel to it. I’m thinking maybe I used a cheap pot and that can be why?
Hmm, could be that you created crystals in your caramel and this happens from too much agitation during cooking. You are only to stir it UNTIL it comes to a boil, once it boil s DO NOT STIR or you are creating crystals by doing so
Awesome! I didn’t stir but I did jiggle the pot by the handle a few times. Not giving up, gonna give it another try!
I have another caramel here- see what you like better: Snickers Brownies Caramel
Yes I have made those brownies many many times, changing out peanuts for pecans sometimes. They are bomb! I wanted to make this apple cake one just to try a new one 🙂 thank you for your responses!
Hello! I’m struggling to find the link for the more in-depth tutorial on how to make caramel sauce. Thank you!
Hey! Hmm, Good idea! I actually don’t have a specific post dedicated to JUST making caramel- so I think I should do that!!
In the meantime I have a “semi- tutorial” at the end of this Snickers Bronwie Video!!
AND the Bananas Foster Cake!
Well, you have exceeded expectations once again. I baked this to celebrate birthdays for two friends and they said, “ This is the best cake I’ve ever eaten.” One wanted a piece to take to her husband but the other friend said, “You better not do that; he may call her tomorrow and propose!” LOL
I am one of those that followed you when you owned the bakery. I asked one time if you could create caramel pie. That dry method caramel is just the flavor needed. Can you create that into a cream pie?
Hi! Thanks! I am so happy you tried it! With grand results too! awesome!! I have made a caramel cream pie, I should put that on the To-Do list! Thanks for the remind!
hi,
Can we use egg in this recipe, if so how many and in which place.
Thanq
If you were to make this cake with the Plant Based Egg – how would you go about swapping it? 3 loose teaspoons and add some sort of additional liquid? Thinking about trying this cake for a gathering this weekend!
Yes on the PBE package it shows you that 2 tsp + 3 Tbs liquid = 1 egg.
So here, since this is already a vegan recipe, the flax was used originally with the added liquid to reconstitute
The Flax amount in this cake recipe was to replace 2 eggs, so you will use 3 teaspoons of the PBE is exactly what I would go for, loosely packed it correct!
The added liquid in the recipe is already sufficient and since you add the PBE to the dry ingredients, there is no need to reconstitute so just add that additional 10 Tbs water to the other liquids
What temperature do you bring the caramel sauce to when making this? I’ve tried making the caramel sauce twice and burned it both times. The mixture seems fine until right when the sugar completely melts and then it burns in a matter of just a minute or two.
Thanks!
I will edit to say I am using the caramel sauce from your cookbook and noticed the recipe for this one is the same with the exception that the butter weight is 30 grams, not 56 grams per the recipe above. Is the weight that I am using from the book the issue you think?
This recipe is INCREDIBLE! There are lots of steps and not something to be quickly thrown together last minute, but OMG it is worth it! I made this for a gathering of about 25 people a few months ago and was told by several people that they wish they could go out and buy this cake! So good!
Your recipe is great! but couple of things I might ask you how to improve. I made caramel sauce as per your recipe but after keeping it in the fridge it became so hard not slurry like your sauce.
My cake batter was very thick so I added bit of milk. Also, I did n’t used flax seeds so I added egg replacer 4tsp.
I followed your recipe but not sure went wrong while making sauce and cake batter.
Thanks
Diva
Hi Diva! Thanks for trying my recipe! The first thing that comes to mind is about using an egg replacer instead of the flax. I’m not sure which egg replacer you used, but they are all different. Some of them have pectin, potato starch, chia, cornstarch and sometimes even leaveners. So while it is usually ok to sub in another proprietary blend egg replcaer (like Orgran or Bob’s Red Mill) when I am using an egg replacer of the same value. But when I use Flax as the egg replacer it is typically because I want more fat and a loose binder, not a heavy starchy, thick, gummy binder like some of the others can be.
99% of the time I use The Plant based Egg by Freely Vegan as this is my Go-To egg replacer, not only did I have a hand in developing it (so I am biased!!) but I do think it is the best. I do not get any monetary gain from promoting this egg replacer, even though I did work for a long time in the development of it, so I just want to “disclaim” that! LOL
But anyway, it sounds like this was the case for you since whatever egg replacer you used turned your cake SUPER THICK!! Hence the need for more liquids.
In regards to the caramel, if it got super hard that means you cooked it to too high a temperature. Caramel becomes CANDY if it is cooked too long. Sounds like too much of the liquid was evaporated before you added the fat/milk?
hi chef gretchen I’ve been watching your youtube channel and subscribe as well here in the philippines, I just wanna ask what will be a substitute for a ground flax seeds since it’s so rare here in the philippines. Can I used an egg instead?
HI Thank you! Hmm, all my recipes have been modified for vegan ingredients, so sometimes it’s not as easy to just go back and add the egg since other things had to change in the recipe as well. Like fat content and leaveners and sometimes even the flour ratios have to change to accommodate a vegan recipe.
While you can go ahead and try to change the recipes to suit you, it’s sometimes easier to just find a (non vegan) recipe that is more suitable.
If I can be honest, this recipe would be totally fine without the egg replacer (flax).
If you do try to omit that ingredient, replace it with 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or cornflour) added to the water to make a paste and proceed as the recipes states.
Hi Gretchen, can this be made into cupcakes at all?
yes but the cake will not dome like a traditional cupcake recipe, it will be more flat
Hi Gretchen this cake looks amazing but i was wondering how much batter those your recipe make for cupcakes. I like to make 24 cupcakes! Also for the caramel sauce I was wondering how much brandy do you pour in. Thank you for your help, I really enjoy watching what your going to make next, all your vegan desserts look really good.
take care and happy holidays Chrissy 🙂
Hi Chrissy thank you! I think this batter will make about 24 cupcakes if you fill them 3/4 of the way full~ I like to bake cupcakes at 375F for the first 15 minutes to get a good jump on the rise, then turn temp down to 350 to bake the rest of the way
Cupcakes are usually done at about -28
For the brandy I usually eye it, but you can add about 2 tbs
Thank you Gretchen for writing back I really appreciate it. I will give this recipe a try.
Take care hope your week goes well
chrissy 🙂