This shockingly moist vegan caramel cake will leave you speechless. It has layers of a soft, one bowl “buttery” vanilla cake, gooey salted caramel, and a rich and nutty ‘brown butter’ caramel frosting. All dairy free, no eggs, and strictly for caramel lovers only!!

slice of bitten vegan caramel cake

Tell me about this vegan caramel cake:

Oh, you are so in for a treat.

This is the caramel cake to make, and it’s all unbelievably vegan.

That’s right- no eggs, no dairy, and you’ll never know. Here’s why:

  • Not too sweet, but ultra decadent: We’re balancing the over sweetness of the caramel with a tangy, nutty, and decadent “browned” butter vegan frosting. Plus, a dash of sea salt on top helps a ton!
  • Rich, “buttery” soft vanilla cake layers: The cake itself is not overly sweet, yet the vanilla is punched up a ton to offer flavor depth rather than just sweetness.
  • Caramel throughout every bite: Though there’s no caramel in the actual cake portion, rest assured, you’re getting tons of gooey caramel in between each soft layer.
  • Rich, nutty, ‘brown butter’ frosting: Think you can’t have a vegan browned butter? Think again! This nutty, silky smooth frosting is further balanced with some tang from vegan cream cheese, rounding out the flavor profile to be, rich, sweet, decadent, and tangy. Each mouthful is jaw-droopingly good.

In fact, I’d put it right there with my all time favorite must make cakes- chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and red velvet cake. This vegan caramel cake really is a classic that you must make.

Plus, the cake itself is made in just one bowl, the caramel just a pot, and the frosting in a mixing bowl! How simple and easy is that?!

sliced caramel cake

Key ingredients for the most ‘buttery’ soft caramel cake:

Okay, so how the heck do we make a classic Southern inspired caramel cake vegan. Let me break it down for you:

  • For eggs, we’re using dairy free yogurt: This is my favorite vegan egg replacement. It truly acts just like an egg, giving rise to our cakes while also adding moisture.
  • For milk and cream, we’re using heavy vegan cream and dairy free milk: For vegan heavy cream, I like Silk. It’s ridiculously similar to conventional dairy heavy cream. This is for our caramel sauce, to help it thicken up but also stay pourable. For dairy free milk, any will do- soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk.
  • For the butter, we’re using vegan butter: My favorite brand here for both the cake, caramel, and frosting is Miyoko’s. It does contain nuts though, so if you’re nut free, Plant crock is the next best option.
  • For the cream cheese, we’re using vegan cream cheese: I really love my homemade vegan cream cheese here. It’s so simple and just 3 ingredients. You can also use store bought if you’d like- Kite Hill and Oatly are great here.

The remaining ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and powdered sugar, are your pantry staples that can be found in any kitchen- vegan or not!

slice caramel cake on a cake plate

Overview: step by step how to make a vegan caramel cake:

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

The caramel

This is my standard caramel recipe, and it is lovely. I have a few tips for your caramel sauce below, so read on for that.

You only need one batch of caramel for this recipe too, so it’s super straightforward and easy to make. The one major tip here is patience. Caramel can really not be sped up, so take your time!

vegan salted caramel in a jar

The cake batter

We’re using a simple one bowl vanilla cake batter, based off of my classic vegan vanilla cake. I recommend using cake strips around the cake pans to get a nice even rise. And then you don’t need to level the cakes at all too!

caramel cake cake batter

The ‘brown butter’ caramel frosting:

This is my favorite part of the cake! We’re using browned vegan butter here in lieu of regular butter, along with vegan cream cheese frosting to add a rich, tangy, ‘nutty’ flavor to the frosting that pairs so well with the salty sweetness of the caramel.

I recommend browning the vegan butter right before the caramel, to allow it to cool to room temperature before using in the frosting.

Then you simply use a stand mixer with whisk attachment or a hand mixer and a bowl to make the frosting before assembling!

For assembly, we’re adding 2-3 tbsp of caramel in between each layer. I do recommend doing a crumb coat and chilling the cake before the final frosting coat. This is because cream cheese frosting is a bit softer than regular frosting, and we want the caramel to really set in the cake.

As long as your cake is fully frosted for the crumb coat, it won’t dry out in the fridge. You can give it an hour chilling before you finish with the final coat of frosting.

sliced vegan caramel cake

Help! My caramel is [insert issue here]!

We’ve all been there. Your burnt the sugar, the caramel is grainy, it’s too clumpy and not darkening, etc.

Here are my common fixes for these issues:

  • Burnt sugar: We’ll start with the most common one, and unfortunately, there’s no real save for the caramel here. You’ll have to start from scratch, but please please keep the heat to medium, not medium high (speeding up the caramelization of the sugar will inevitable put you at greater risk for burning the sugar, as the sugar keeps cooking faster, even after you’ve turned off the heat). Patience is key here.
  • Grainy caramel: This sometimes happens with either the vegan butter you’ve used (I really like Miyoko’s best) or because you didn’t cook the caramel well enough. You can reheat it to a boil for just 30-45 seconds and cool it to see if that helps the grainy texture.
  • My sugar isn’t melting: You’re either not stirring it enough, causing it to clump, or your pan doesn’t have a large enough surface area for the sugar to try to cook as evenly as possible. I would switch to a large pan with a flatter bottom, and try to stir frequently, every minute or so, as the sugar melts.
  • My sugar isn’t browning/darkening: This issue occurs if you’re not using high enough heat. Turn up your heat to medium, and keep stirring frequently.
bitten slice of vegan caramel cake

Can I make this cake gluten free?

Absolutely! As with all of my cake recipes, I really prefer King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour. If you’re using a gluten-free flour, I recommend adding in a tablespoon of cornstarch to help with the grainy texture, as that will help the cake feel more like cake flour.

Caramel cake variations:

Want to further amp up the flavors on this cake? Oh, we’re so alike 🙂

Here are a few different flavor variations to spark your cake baking and decorating creativity:

  • Caramel turtle cake: Use my chocolate buttercream frosting with a few tablespoons of caramel mixed into the frosting, and top with chocolate ganache and crushed pecans. YUM.
  • Caramel apple cake: Swap in my apple spice cake recipe with this browned butter caramel frosting for the ultimate fall cake recipe.
  • Browned butter caramel cake: Don’t just use brown butter for the frosting- brown the butter going into the cake as well!
  • Banoffee cake: Add a few slices of banana in between the cake layers for a yummy bite of soft vanilla cake, banana, caramel, and browned butter cream cheese frosting YUM!
bitten slice of vegan caramel cake

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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slice of bitten vegan caramel cake

Ridiculously MOIST Vegan Caramel Cake Recipe

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  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 27
  • Total Time: 57 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This shockingly moist vegan caramel cake will leave you speechless. It has layers of a soft, one bowl “buttery” vanilla cake, gooey salted caramel, and a rich and nutty ‘brown butter’ caramel frosting. All dairy free, no eggs, and strictly for caramel lovers only!!


Ingredients

Scale

Caramel:

Browned Vegan Butter:

  • 1 cup (220 g) salted vegan butter

Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups (300 mL) dairy free milk, such as soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) salted vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (110 g) olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1 3/4 cup (350 g) organic granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (220 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 3 1/2 cups (450 g) cake flour

Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • Browned vegan butter from previous step above, room temperature
  • 1 cup (220 g) vegan cream cheese, cold
  • 4 cups (480 g) sifted powdered sugar
  • 34 tbsp of caramel sauce from above recipe
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Prep the caramel first: Follow the instructions for the caramel sauce. Then pour the caramel sauce into a square baking dish to help the caramel cool faster.
  2. Next make the browned butter for the frosting: Add the vegan butter from the browned vegan butter section to a small saucepan, and heat on medium-high heat until the butter melts. Stir continuously, until the butter starts to brown, and caramelized brown flecks appear in the fatty solids of the butter, about 5-7 minutes. Once browned, pour the vegan butter into a small bowl, and set aside to cool back down to room temperature. It should solidify enough to be like room temperature butter, appropriate for frosting.
  3. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line three 8″ cake pans with parchment paper. Then in a large bowl, whisk together the melted (not browned) vegan butter, oil, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Add in the flour and dairy free milk, and stir with a whisk until the flour is just integrated into the wet ingredients.
  4. Bake: Divide the batter into the three cake pans, and bake for 27-29 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
  5. Cool the cakes: Remove the cakes from the oven, and let cool in their pans for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. It’s imperative that there is no heat whatsoever coming from the cakes before frosting, along with the caramel as well.
  6. When ready to assemble, make the frosting: Once the browned vegan butter is back to a set but soft state, you’re ready to make the frosting. In a stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the browned vegan butter and cream cheese until creamy, about 3 minutes. Then add in the powdered sugar, caramel, and vanilla extract, and mix again until the frosting is creamy and smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Take pauses to scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated. 
  7. Assemble: When ready to assemble with the crumb coat, place on cake layer onto a cake plate or cake turntable. Scoop about 2/3 cup of frosting onto the cake, and smooth the frosting with an offset spatula over the cake to touch the edges. Then using the offset spatula, create a well in the frosting, with just a little frosting as the wall along the border (see photos). Spoon 2-3 tbsp of caramel sauce into the middle, and spread the caramel to evenly touch the edges of the frosting wall. Be careful not to over-fill. It might not seem like a lot of caramel, but with another layer it will. Then repeat with the next cake layer, frosting and filling with caramel. Place the final cake layer on top, and frost the entire cake with a crumb coat, smoothing the edges.
  8. Chill the crumb coated cake: Place the cake into the fridge to chill for 30-60 minutes. Once chilled, you can remove the cake from the fridge to finish the final coating of frosting.
  9. Finish the frosting: Spoon more frosting on the cake, and smooth the edges. Pour the remaining caramel sauce on top, and smear into the frosting with a spoon. You can also sprinkle a bit of flaky sea salt on top.
  10. Slice and serve: Store the cake in the fridge or slice and serve immediately. Store any leftovers in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Enjoy!

Notes

See blog post for all tips and tricks on making this cake!