Caramel Cake

lucylox

Sep 29

There was a caramel cake or was it a toffee cake that was sold in Marks & Spencer in the 1980s/1990s? Whichever way it was really delicious and I have fond memories, so here's my version, you could call it my M&S caramel/toffee cake dupe.

When I was growing up we didn't cakes very often, my mum would sometimes make a homemade one or occasionally we'd have a cake from M&S. It was either a circular chocolate cornflake cake cut into slices (remember those?) or a caramel cake (or maybe it was called a toffee cake) – it was a caramel/toffee flavoured sponge with a light buttercream filling and the top dusted with icing sugar. There was something so delicious about this cake, it's been on my mind ever since! So I had to recreate it, from a distant memory as this must have been in the 1980s or 1990s. Do you remember it too?

I'm delighted to say that this cake is an accurate recreation of my memories. The sponge is light and fluffy with plenty of caramel flavour and the buttercream is light, not at all cloying and just enough to moisten the cake but not overwhelm it with sweetness. I do feel that sometime a cake with less icing can provide more complex and delicate flavours. Honestly, it's such a good cake, I really hope you give it a go. It really should be a classic up there with the good old Victoria sponge, M&S are missing a trick by not selling it anymore!

Whether you remember this cake or not, it's just the right season for the warming and comforting vibes of caramel and toffee. This is definitely going to become one of our autumnal favourites!

Caramel Cake

dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan
makes one sandwich cake

2 20cm cake tins

370 g self-raising flour
2 tbsp custard powder
110 g light brown sugar
110 g dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
290 ml dairy-free milk
2 tbsp dairy-free yogurt
100 g dairy-free margarine (melted)
1 tsp caramel flavour (optional)

for the buttercream

50 g dairy-free butter
150-175 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line 2 20cm sandwich tins
Sift together the flour, custard powder, bicarb and salt
Stir in the sugars
In a separate bowl, mix together the dairy-free milk, melted dairy-free margarine, yogurt and caramel flavour.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix gently until well combined.
Pour into the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes, until a knife comes out clean
Cool on a wire rack
Meanwhile, whisk together the dairy-free butter and icing sugar, using more sugar if the buttercream is too wet. Whisk in the vanilla
Sandwich the cakes together with the buttercream and generously dust the top of the cake with icing sugar