Gretchen's Vegan Bakery

Vegan Caramel Apple Cake

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One of the top selling layer cakes from my bakery days!

You won’t want to go through an entire Fall Baking Season without making this Vegan Caramel Apple Cake!

caramel apple cake

 

 

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!

Vegan Caramel Apple Cake

This cake has gotten rave reviews by all who have made it!

There’s really no wonder the Caramel Apple Cake was one of my most popular layer cakes of all time!

 

Caramel Apple Cake

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE

Caramel Apple Cake

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Notes for Success:

I have several options for vegan caramel to choose from so be sure to pick which one suits you best!
Here I am using the traditional caramel sauce

CLICK HERE FOR VEGAN CARAMEL 3 WAYS

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 be a breeze!

Make the Apple Compote and Buttercream Recipes ahead of time~ up to a week in advance!
Additionally the caramel sauce gets thicker as it sits in the refrigerator so to that one is a great idea to make ahead!

7 ” Cake Pans are my choice for a 3 layer cake but if you only have 8″ pans divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans

Yield: Serves 10 people

Caramel Apple Cake

Caramel Apple Cake
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the cake

  • Vegetable Oil 1 cup (237ml)
  • 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)

caramel recipe

Instructions

  1. For the Cake:
  2. Prepare your cake pans with pan grease and a parchment paper liner I am using 3-7" cake pans but you can make 2-8" layers instead
  3. Preheat the oven to 350F
  4. Peel, core, shred the apples
  5. Combine the ground flax with the hot water and whisk smooth, set aside for 5 minutes to thicken
  6. In a large mixing bowl combine both sugars with the salt, oil and vanilla & whisk smooth.
  7. Add the thickened flax paste and whisk smooth
  8. Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and the baking soda and baking powder and add to the liquid mixture in the mixing bowl
  9. Add the shredded apples and mix well.
  10. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake immediately in preheated 350° F oven.
  11. 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
  12. Prepare the recipe for the caramel sauce as per the instructions on that page, then pour into a heat proof container then refrigerate until thick and cold
  13. 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.
  14. Prepare the apple filling as per the instructions on that recipe post
  15. 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.
  16. Watch the full YouTube video tutorial to see how I assembled the cake.

Notes

The apple cake layers can be frozen wrapped well for up to 1 month
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.

© Gretchen

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Isabelle

    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.

  5. Maria

    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

  6. Fani

    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?

  8. Rose

    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?

  9. Timesaflyin

    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?

    • Gretchen

      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!

    • Fernanda

      I just wanted to second your comment and say that this cake is indeed one of the best I’ve ever had! Thank you so much Gretchen for this amazing recipe! It’s infallible and great every time. It’s moist and fluffy. Love it! ❤️

  11. Julia

    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!

    • Gretchen

      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

  12. Katie

    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!

    • Katie

      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?

  13. Viv

    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!

  14. Diva

    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

    • Gretchen

      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?

  15. Jundel Andres

    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?

    • Gretchen

      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.

  17. chrissy

    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 🙂

    • Gretchen

      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

  18. chrissy

    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 🙂

  19. Sunitha

    Hi Gretchen, I was wondering if applesauce could be used for the the amount of oil or up to half of it in the recipe. Would it affect the texture?

  20. Crystal Reid

    So excited to try this ! any tips on dehydrating the apple slices ? I was going to use my ninja airfryer on the lowest dehydrate setting.

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