Last year on my husband’s birthday I made my very first layer cake. This year I felt like I needed to up my game so I made a vegan stroopwafel s’mores cake filled with layers of chocolate frosting, caramel, stroopwafel pieces, toasted marshmallows and topped with aquafaba marshmallow fluff. My only adjustment would be to add more marshmallows!
Ingredients and Instructions
Caramel
I used this recipe for my caramel sauce. If you have your own tried and true recipe, then use that! Or if you’re not vegan and you just want to melt some caramel cubes, go right ahead. You do you.
Cake
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups stroopwafel edge crumbs* or graham cracker crumbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan margarine
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease four 6″ cake rounds and line with parchment.**
- Combine the soy milk with apple cider vinegar and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, stroopwafel crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.
- Add sugars and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
- Reduce speed and add applesauce, soy milk, and vanilla.
- Adding flour mixture 1/3 at a time until fully incorporated.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes while still in the pan. Then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
*I used a food processor to crush up my stroopwafel edges. Gezellig Cookies makes a vegan stroopwafel. Contact them about purchasing a vegan bag of their edges.
**You can use whatever size pan you’d like. You’ve baked a cake before, you know what you’re doing. I just wanted four layers for this recipe. Don’t forget to adjust baking time accordingly. I also highly recommend you line the bottom of your pans with parchment paper because this is a very moist cake.
Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup vegan margarine, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled to room temperature
- Whip the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until well-combined and the frosting is creamy.
- Mix in the vanilla.
- Drizzle in the cooled melted chocolate and whip the frosting on medium speed until it is fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
Marshmallow Fluff
- 1/2 cup liquid from a can of chickpeas (aquafaba)*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- Add the aquafaba, vanilla, and cream of tartar to the bowl of a mixer.
- Use the whisk attachment to beat the liquid for about 1 minute until it starts to get frothy.
- Very slowly sprinkle in the sugar a spoonful at a time while the mixer is on.
- Continue to beat for about 10-15 minutes until a stiff peak is formed. When you lift the beater the fluff should look glossy and hold a stiff peak, even if you jiggle the bowl the peak should stay as is. It may take more or less time depending on your mixer and brand of aquafaba.
*Chickpeas with no salt added is ideal, but sometimes this is difficult to find. One can of chickpeas has approximately 1 cup of liquid.
Assembly
- Make your caramel and let cool for at least 3 hours or refrigerate overnight.
- Make your cakes and let cool.
- Make your chocolate frosting.
- Place one cake layer on your cake board or plate and cover the top with a thin even layer of frosting, then drizzle with caramel.
- Stack your second cake layer on the first and pipe a circle of frosting only on the outer edge. Fill the middle with mini marshmallows and torch to toast.*
- Stack your third cake layer on the second and cover the top with a thin even layer of frosting, then drizzle with caramel.
- Stack your fourth cake layer on the third.
- Use remaining frosting to coat the entire cake.
- Dollop marshmallow fluff onto the cake however your artistic will leads you. Lightly torch the fluff. No charring here because you don’t want to melt the chocolate frosting.
- Decorate with stroopwafels and chocolate pieces. Feel free to use any leftover caramel, mini marshmallows, and stroopwafel crumbs as well. The cake is your canvas!
* My husband and I both love charred marshmallows. Get that lightly toasted shit out of here! Also, if I were to remake this cake, I would consider doing two layers of marshmallows and one layer of the caramel/stroopwafel pieces instead of vice versa. Or maybe everything on every layer and see just how tall it can get!
