My boyfriend's favourite cake ever is caramel mud cake. He isn't much of a cake person, like I am, but he will make an exception for caramel mud cake. Back when we first started dating over 3 years ago (before I was vegan), for his birthday I made him this cake. And he loved it. It is one of the only foods he has really liked that I have made for him (he is the most critical person ever of my cooking). Years later, he would mention, "Now that caramel mud cake was good". For his birthday this year, I thought I would make him another caramel cake, and I even contemplated making a non-vegan one, just for him.

But I couldn't do it. The thought of making him a cake full of eggs and milk literally wracked me with guilt.

So the solution? I made a vegan one. One that isn't trying to be healthy or gluten free, but one full of sugar, oil and fat. Now, this is a cake.

What is with the popcorn you may ask? Popcorn is one of my boyfriend and I's favourite foods. We literally cook a massive bowl of popcorn and sit down in front of the TV on a regular basis. And finish it. Plus, you know, it makes this cake extra caramelly.

So what do you really need to know about this cake? It features a fudgy caramel mud cake full of vegan white chocolate and brown sugar, a buttercream icing, caramel sauce and caramel popcorn. Much caramel, much goodness.

Recipe altered from here, and inspired by La Pêche Fraîche.

 Serves 8 - 10.

You will need:

For the cake:

200 g vegan butter
200 g vegan white chocolate
200 g brown sugar
180 ml hot water
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vanilla essence
120 g aqaufaba mixed with 1 tbsp egg replacer
150 g plain flour
150 g self-raising flour

For the salted caramel sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
30 g water
1 tbsp glucose syrup
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut cream
2 tbsp vegan maragrine
1/4 tsp salt

For the buttercream:

50 g butter
1.5 - 2 cups icing suagr
1 tsp vanilla essence
1-2 tbsp almond milk

Plus 2-3 cups vegan caramel popcorn (store bought or homemade)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees Celsius fan-forced. Grease a circle cake tin.
2. Melt butter, white chocolate, sugar, water, maple syrup and vanilla in a saucepan on low to medium heat. Once smooth, let cool for 10 minutes then beat in the aquafaba egg and sift in the flours. Stir the flours in with a spoon.
3. Pour into the cake tin and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes (depends in the depth of the cake tin).  Let cool.
4. Once cool, make the buttercream icing by beating the butter, adding the icing sugar and mix until desired consistency. Ice the cake.
5. For the salted caramel sauce: in a saucepan melt the sugar, vanilla, water, and syrup. Stir in until sugar is dissolved then turn heat up to high and let the sugar burn. Once the mix has turned the colour of amber, remove from heat, and whisk in the coconut cream and butter. Let cool.
6. Assemblage: pour the cooled sauce over the iced cake and top with popcorn. Serve! Avoid putting the cake in the fridge until you are ready to serve to avoid popcorn going soggy.