Coderrific: Vegan Dulce de Leche Cake w/ Salted Caramel Frosting

Two cake recipes in one day.  I didn't think I was going to survive, but with some planning (and simplifying) it was successful.

For a few months, I’ve been looking forward to making this cake for my friend Cody.  He was at the house in wine country when I presented my first successful Vegan cake.  The next time I saw him, he was raving about it and I promised I would bake a special cake for his birthday.

My inspiration for the flavor came from a video by Everyday Dish TV for Vegan Dulce de Leche.  It is so decadent and delicious, and I had to try it in a cake recipe.  As for the salted caramel frosting, I think this is the best frosting I have made thus far.  The small addition of sea salt to the recipe really makes a difference in flavor.  Some of my friends said the cake tasted like Sugar Daddy candies.  Yum.

Because the cake needed to travel in the heat, I didn't fill the cake with Dulce de Leche in fear it might melt and create a sticky mess.  Instead, I saved myself the headache and brought along a jar of it to use as a sauce on the plates.  Sadly, the cake didn’t survive the 4 hour trek to the cabin unscathed.  I made a rookie mistake of not gluing down the bottom layer to the cake circle with a few squirts of frosting.  Driving through hills with twists and turns caused the cake to shift over, and one side of the cake was harmed.  Lesson learned.  At least it was only one side and didn’t interfere with the decorations.

This is definitely one of my favorite cake recipes and I hope you will give it a try.  Cody was stoked, and enjoyed being able to eat his own face.

Dulce de Leche Cake w/ Salted Caramel Frosting

Dry Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
4 tbs Corn Starch
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Soy Milk + 1 tbs Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 3 tbs Water

2/3 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Dulce de Leche (recipe below)
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Apple Sauce

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to soy milk and reserve.  Stir egg replacer and 4 tbs water, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Pour oil and sugars into a large bowl and beat with a wire whisk until well incorporated.  Whisk in dulce de leche, water, apple sauce and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.

Vegan Dulce de Leche

(Based on recipe by Everyday Dish TV)  

1 jar Brown Rice Syrup

1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

2 tbs Earth Balance Vegan Margarine, melted

1/3 cup Soy Milk Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch Salt

Take lid off of brown rice syrup jar and warm in a hot water bath or microwave. Mix melted margarine, vanilla, salt and soy milk powder to create a paste.  When the brown rice syrup is warm, pour into a deep bowl and add brown sugar.  Using a hand immersion blender, beat syrup and sugar until dissolved.  Add soy powder mixture and beat until well incorporated.  Allow to cool.

Salted Caramel Frosting 

1/4 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine
3/4 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening
1/2 cup Dulce de Leche
2 tbs Soy Milk
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Mix in dulce de leche and soy milk until well incorporated.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Lastly, mix in vanilla and sea salt.