Vegan Toffee Apple Cake
This Vegan Toffee Apple Cake is packed full of autumnal flavours and the red toffee sauce drips give it a hint of Halloween! Get the recipe below.
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Seasonal sweet treats
Toffee apples are an incredibly nostalgic sweet treat. Their bright red, candy coating is synonymous with Halloween and Bonfire Night for me. I love the way the toffee is crisp and shatters almost like glass shards with the juicy apple underneath. The contrast of the sweet toffee and slightly tart apple is the perfect juxtaposition.
Of course you find apples in a wide range of desserts in the autumn, not just toffee apples. The humble apple pie is another nostalgic apple dish that is often cooked this time of year. It’s full of sweetness and spice making for a really warming pudding.
For this Vegan Toffee Apple Cake I’ve taken the bright red of the toffee on a toffee apple and turned it into a vivid drip to decorate the cake. But, I’ve also taken the spices of an apple pie to create a spiced apple filling which is sandwiched between layers of classic vanilla sponge.
With every bite, you get a delicious mix of spiced cake, soft apples, and a sticky, decadent toffee glaze! What more could you ask for?
I’ve also added some extra bats to make my Vegan Toffee Apple Cake perfect for Halloween but you can leave these off if you wish.
How to make the sponge cake
The recipe for this sponge cake requires splitting your ingredients into two: (1) the wet ingredients and (2) the dry ingredients. It’s then just a case of mixing the two.
The wet ingredients include:
- soy milk or other plant milk
- lemon juice
- caster sugar
- vegetable oil or any neutral-flavoured oil
- apple sauce
- vanilla paste
I usually mix my wet ingredients in a jug rather than a bowl so I have more control pouring them into the wet ingredients – a little hack from me there!
Hopefully each of the ingredients is self explanatory. The only thing I think is worth mentioning is that you want the applesauce to be smooth. It’s included as an egg replacement rather than for its flavour. So, with that in mind you want it smooth. Avoid buying an apple sauce that has lots of lumps.
The dry ingredients include:
- self raising flour
- baking powder
- salt
We use self raising flour and extra leavening agents to make sure you get a good rise and that its super light and fluffy.
How to make the apple filling
The filling in this cake is one of my all time favourites and is what makes this cake extra special.
It’s made by cooking apples in a syrup that’s been flavoured with cinnamon and nutmeg. The trick is to remove the mix from the heat when the apples are soft but not mushy. It does take a while to cool down so the apples do continue to cook a little bit until its completely cool.
The filling does mean it loses its structural integrity once cut, hence the slightly wonky cake slice photo!
How to make the toffee drip
This is, hands down, the hardest part of the cake so take it slowly and don’t rush the process.
- First add the sugar to a saucepan ensuring the sugar is in one even layer and place over a low heat. There’s quite a lot of sugar in this recipe so you may need to large a large saucepan or even a frying pan to ensure it’s in one even layer.
- You then heat the sugar for 5 – 10 minutes or until it has melted and becomes golden. It’s fine to stir the sugar while its melting but once it has melted completely you must stop or it may crystalise.
- Add the vegan butter to the pan and stir until the butter has completely melted. Don’t panic if it splutters and spits. This is just because of the water content of the vegan butter.
- Next add the coconut cream and again stir until the coconut cream has melted and you have a sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat and then add the red food colouring and mix well so the colour is evenly distributed. You need to use a red gel food colouring as this will give you the strongest red colouring.
Once your caramel is cool it’s time to pour. You can choose to do short or long drips. I like long drips. But, the choice is yours!
The recipe
Vegan Toffee Apple Cake
Equipment
- 3 6 inch cake tins
Ingredients
For the wet ingredients
- 350 ml soy milk or other plant milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 300 g caster sugar
- 125 ml vegetable oil or any neutral-flavoured oil
- 75 g apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
For the dry ingredients
- 300 g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the apple filling
- 4 apples eating apples rather than cooking apples
- 25 g vegan butter
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 0.5 tsp cinnamon
- 0.25 tsp nutmeg
For the buttercream
- 225 g vegan butter
- 375 g icing sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 1 tablespoons soy milk or other plant milk
For the toffee drips
- 200 g caster
- 100 g vegan butter
- 200 g coconut cream the thick stuff at the top of a can of coconut milk, you can also buy just the coconut cream in tins
- 0.5 tsp red gel food colouring
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 180 C / 356 F / gas mark 4.
- Line 3x 6 inch cake tins with baking paper.
- In a jug, combine the soy milk and lemon juice and let them sit for 5-10 minutes until they have begun to curdle.
- Once they have curdled, add the oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla paste and whisk well to combine, making sure the sugar is not all clumped at the bottom.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients.
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together until just combined (you don’t want to over mix!)
- Divide batter evenly into each cake pan.
- Bake them for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pans for 15-20 minutes before carefully removing. Then let them cool on a rack completely before filling and decorating.
To make the filling
- In a saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, cinnamon and 150 ml water, and bring to the boil.
- Add the diced apple and stir so that they are coated in the syrup.
- Cook the apples in the syrup for 10 mins or until they have begun to soften (but have not gone completely to mush) and the syrup has become thick.
- Once they are cooked, remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool completely.
To make the buttercream
- In a large bowl, beat the vegan butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla paste and beat well until combined.
- Place this to one side while you make the toffee drip.
To make the toffee drips
- Add the sugar to a saucepan ensuring the sugar is in one even layer and place over a low heat.
- Heat the sugar for 5 – 10 minutes or until it has melted and become golden, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn't burn.
- Add the butter to the pan and stir until the butter has completely melted.
- Next add the coconut cream and again stir until the coconut cream has melted and you have a sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the red food colouring and mix well so the colour is evenly distributed.
- Set aside to cool before decorating. If you don’t let it cool it will melt the buttercream.
To decorate
- Place a small dollop of the buttercream into the centre of your cake board or plate.
- Place the first layer of your cake on top, the buttercream will stop it from moving.
- Spoon the rest of the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle.
- Pipe a circle around the top of the first cake layer.
- Spoon half of the apple filling in the middle of this buttercream ring.
- Add the next cake layer and then repeat with the buttercream ring and apple filling.
- Place the final cake layer on top and push down gently.
- Going in circles around the cake, pipe the buttercream.
- Finish by piping a swirl on top of the cake.
- Then, using an offset spatula, smooth out the buttercream until the cake is entirely covered with no gaps showing.
- Now that your toffee sauce has cooled, use a spoon and carefully pour drips down the side of the cake.
- Finish by pouring the remaining sauce on the top of the cake and using a spatula to spread out so it covers the top of the cake entirely.
Nutrition
More apple recipes
If you’re looking for more vegan recipes using apples, look no further!
Enjoy!