Christina Vegan & Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake with super soft, light, and fluffy vanilla sponges, insanely yummy salted caramel buttercream, an incredible amount of salted caramel sauce and drizzle, and a large mountain of Vegan Salted Caramel Popcorn. This cake is not only vegan but also gluten-free. It’s simply PERFECTION! The perfect birthday cake for your loved ones!
I made this amazing Vegan & Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake for hubby’s birthday this year which was last weekend. I wanted to make a cake that was very very special and because he loves caramel popcorn and salted caramel, I thought he would love a Vegan Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake. Here it is, and yes he loved it!
If you’re looking for a luscious fluffy, moist, soft, insanely delicious vegan vanilla cake recipe that is not gluten-free, you need to check out our White Chocolate Vanilla Vegan Rainbow Cake. This recipe will blow your mind! YES, IT’S THAT GOOD!
And if you’re interested in a super delicious vanilla vegan cake frosting that is so much healthier than all the cake frostings in the world, you need to check out our Dreamy Vegan Whipped Cream. You will love it!
Why gluten-free?
Quite a few of you have requested that we make more gluten-free recipes, so I thought it would be perfect to start experimenting with gluten-free flour.
This Vegan & Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake is OUR FIRST gluten-free cake, and it was actually a little tricky to get right! We bought 3 different kinds of gluten-free all-purpose flour from the supermarket, and we were only satisfied with 1 of them (linked in the ingredients below!). One of the flours made the cake super gummy, dense, and not airy at all! It was a no-go!
Also, we noticed that the best results were achieved when mixing the dry and the wet ingredients slowly and gently and not for long. It’s very important to not overmix, as this will cause the cake to become gummy.
It’s also essential that you bake the cake immediately. Once you have poured the cake batter into the cake pan, don’t take too long to place it in the oven, as this will cause the cake to possibly become gummy. So make sure the oven it’s already preheated to the right temperature!
This cake is so much fun, everyone will love it, especially the children!
Now, let’s talk about the insanely yummy Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce. This caramel is so good, it will be the VERY BEST caramel sauce you’ll ever try, I promise you that! Check it out:
If you liked this recipe for Vegan & Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake, check out our Vegan Giant Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, our Autumn Vegan Chocolate Pie, our Luscious Vegan Forest Fruit Pie, or the rest of our Sweets recipes and Gluten-Free Recipes.
And… in case you missed it, we are so excited to announce that we have published our very first cookbook ALL PLANTS: The Food You Love, The Vegan Way, which includes over 150 satisfying recipes to feed all the members of your household (including your dogs!). It’s available internationally as a hardcover on Book Depository (with free delivery worldwide), Walmart, and in many other bookstores! Yay! Click here to learn more. You can also purchase it as a downloadable e-book (pdf) in our Store, and our Etsy Shop.
Vegan & Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake
Enjoy friends! If you make this recipe, please snap a photo and tag @veganvvocals and #veganvvocals on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
Equipment
Ingredients
1 LAYER Vegan & Gluten-Free Vanilla Sponge
Dry Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, the gluten-free flour blend we used already contained xanthan gum, check ingredients and if it doesn't contain any thickening agent, you'll need to add
- 1/2 cup raw sugar, we don't fancy too sweet and consider the cake is sweet enough this way, but if you like very sweet, then add more sugar!
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup aquafaba, the liquid inside a can of salt-free boiled chickpeas. Whip using an electric mixer with beaters, until foamy
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 tbsp applesauce
The Yummiest Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 2 tbsp agave syrup
- 3/4 cup coconut cream, canned, refrigerated overnight, extract only the solids, heated until just hot, but not boiling
- 50 g vegan unsalted butter block, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Flaked sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Irish whiskey
Vegan Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 400 g vegan unsalted butter block, browned, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup The Yummiest Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce, recipe above
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 2 tbsp aquafaba, the liquid inside a can of salt-free boiled chickpeas
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Irish whiskey
Vegan Salted Caramel Drizzle
- 3/4 cup raw sugar
- 50 g vegan unsalted butter block, at room temperature
- 7 tbsp coconut cream, canned, refrigerated overnight, extract only the solids, heated until just hot, but not boiling
- 3/4 tsp Flaked sea salt
Salted Caramel Popcorn
Instructions
Salted Caramel Popcorn
- Make sure you have the popcorn ready before you start preparing the cake!
1 LAYER Vegan & Gluten-Free Vanilla Sponge
- To assemble this cake, you need to bake 3 LAYERS OF SPONGE.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/356ºF.
- In a bowl, combine the unsweetened soy milk with the apple cider vinegar, and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan "buttermilk".
- In a large bowl, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, raw sugar, baking soda, and sea salt.
- Line a 20 cm cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease and coat it with some breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs are important to get the cake layer to not stick to the pan and break when removing.
- After 10 minutes have passed, stir in the whipped aquafaba into the vegan "buttermilk". Add also the vanilla extract, canola oil, and applesauce, and whisk until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix slowly and gently. Do not overmix, as this will cause the cake to become gummy.
- Make sure to tap the pan on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake immediately. Once you have poured the cake batter into the cake pan, don't take too long to place it in the oven, as this will cause the cake to possibly become gummy.
- Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Check with a toothpick or similar to see if it's ready. If not, keep checking every 5 minutes until it is! The toothpick should come out without any stickiness and maybe with a cake crumb or two stuck on it.
- Let the cake cool down before removing it from the pan as it will become more sturdy and not break so easily. Once cool, place it into a sealed container to keep it fresh before adding the frosting.
- Repeat this same procedure twice more, so you have 3 layers.
The Yummiest Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce
- Make sure you're using a saucepan that can hold a capacity of 2.5 litres.
- Place water, raw sugar, and agave syrup into the saucepan, and put it over low-medium heat. Set a timer for 8 minutes.
- While the caramel is cooking, place the coconut cream solids into a small saucepan and heat until just hot, but not boiling.
- When the 8-minute timer is done, turn off the heat, and pour the hot coconut cream into the bubbling sugar, stirring gently with a silicone spatula.
- Stir in the room temperature butter, while you keep stirring carefully.
- Add the flaked salt, vanilla extract and whiskey, stirring until smooth.
- Let the sauce cool for 10 minutes and then store in a sealed container. Let it get to room temperature before adding to the buttercream.
- You can store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you're going to use it after having been refrigerated, let it warm up for 2 hours before.
Vegan Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Using a pot with tall sides, brown the butter by cooking it for 10 minutes stirring continuously, until it gets a deep brown colour and starts to smell nutty. The butter will foam a lot, so make sure you use a deep pot. Be careful so it does not burn!
- Allow the butter to cool until it reaches room temperature.
- Beat using an electric mixer with beaters on medium speed, until it becomes pale again, fluffy and it increases in volume.
- With the electric mixer with beaters in low, stir in the aquafaba, cream of tartar, 3/4 cup of caramel sauce, vanilla extract, and whiskey. Turn to high speed, and continue beating for 5 more minutes until the frosting is smooth and super fluffy.
Assembling
- Normally the sponges will rise a little while baking in the oven, and create a bulge on one side. This has to, for obvious reasons, be removed to create a stable stack of cake layers. The easiest way is to use a special cake leveller. Just let the layers cool down completely before starting the cut, as they will break a lot easier otherwise.
- Place a bit of buttercream onto the centre of a lined cake serving plate. Now place the first layer of vanilla sponge right on top, and pipe a generous layer of buttercream over it, spreading it out evenly. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of The Yummiest Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce on top and spread it out nicely with a spatula.
- Place the second layer of sponge on top, pipe another generous layer of buttercream and 3 more tablespoons of the salted caramel sauce, spreading it over nicely.
- Place the third and last layer of sponge on top, and pipe another generous layer of buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake. Smooth out the frosting with a frosting spatula or icing smoother. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will firm up the frosting.
- After 30 minutes, take the cake out of the fridge and place one more generous layer of buttercream on top of the entire cake, covering it all again. Take a good amount of frosting with the spatula and start spreading it out on the side of the cake, working yourself around the cake, and up to the top.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator again for 30-60 minutes.
Vegan Salted Caramel Drizzle
- In a medium pot, melt the sugar over medium heat until it gets a deep golden brown colour.
- While the caramel is cooking, place the coconut cream solids into a small saucepan and heat until just hot, but not boiling.
- Stir in the room temperature butter, while you keep stirring carefully. Allow it to cook for a few minutes.
- Add the hot coconut cream slowly into the pot, stirring continuously. Be careful, it will become very bubbly!
- Spoon out a small amount of the caramel sauce, allow it to cool, and check its consistency. If it's too thick, add a bit more of coconut cream. The caramel should be runny as it's going to be drizzled onto the cake, but not too runny so the cake doesn't become a mess!
- Stir in the flaked sea salt and let cook for 1 more minute. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool completely before drizzling onto the cake.
- Take the cake out of the refrigerator and spread the salted caramel drizzle on top, allowing it to drip down the sides.
- Pile the salted caramel popcorn on top and on the sides of the cake using the salted caramel to stick the individual pieces together. Refrigerate again for an hour.
- Now it's ready to be enjoyed, you're going to LOVE this cake!
Notes
- Store in the refrigerator, in a sealed container, for up to 3 days or wrap thick slices of cake into aluminium foil packages and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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O.M.G. This cake is so spectacular. Looks amazing and tastes amazing too. Gluten-free and vegan and no one noticed! My kid loved his birthday cake and the popcorn, he loved them even more! Thanks so much, this is the best birthday cake EVER! SO PHOTOGENIC TOO!