Vegan Better Than Sex Cake is a decadent chocolate poke cake that’s drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, caramel sauce, whipped topping, and toffee bits – all homemade and dairy-free! This iconic dessert is perfect for the holidays, celebrating birthdays, or any other occasion you need a perfectly moist, rich, and delicious chocolate cake.
How to Make a Vegan Version of Better Than Sex Cake
This ultimate dessert is a serious labor of love and it’s so worth it! Other than the cake mix, everything is made from scratch to keep it vegan-friendly. While your cake is in the oven, you can prepare the sweetened condensed milk, caramel sauce, and toffee bits.
Non-Dairy Sweetened Condensed Milk
To make the sweetened condensed milk, blend together cashews, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until super creamy. It’s quick and easy and works perfectly for this recipe.
Recipe Inspiration from My Quiet Kitchen
Vegan Caramel Sauce
For the caramel sauce, you’ll need vegan butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and non-dairy heavy cream. I like the brand Silk.
It’s incredibly easy to make homemade caramel sauce, and you can store it in the fridge for weeks to use in lots of different ways. To make, combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a light boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and cream and set aside until ready to use. It will thicken slightly once cooled.
Vegan Toffee – The Best Part of Better Than Sex Cake!
Creamy, crunchy, buttery vegan toffee really takes this cake to the next level. It’s probably the hardest part, though, when it comes to making this dessert. I had three fails before I finally figured it out. If all else fails, I believe you can purchase vegan toffee online or use candied pecans, instead. Methods and tips seemed to vary online, but here are a few tips that worked for me:
- Use a heavy-bottom saucepan. This is important as the thicker base means more even heat distribution which means less chance of burning
- Keep the temperature constant
- Keep whisking, or it can scorch. This is also a cause of butter separation.
- Use salted butter. I like Miyoko’s
- Apparently you’re supposed to use a wooden spoon but I don’t know why
- Have a silicone or parchment paper-lined baking sheet ready to pour your hot toffee onto
- If your toffee seperates, try adding a tablespoon of very hot water into the toffee
Dairy-Free Whipped Cream
For the creamy whipped topping, use a handheld blender and beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar on medium-high for about three to four minutes. You’ll want to make sure that your heavy cream is cold. You can even chill your bowl and mixers in the freezer before blending.
There’s really no compromise when it comes to vegan cooking. It’s better for us, for the animals, and for our environment, so make this ultra-sweet chocolate cake and share it with the people you love – whether they’re vegan or not!
If you make this recipe, let me know! Please leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and be sure to tag me. And, make sure to follow MNVegHead on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Lots of love, Allison
More Recipes
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Dessert Wontons with Strawberry Basil Sauce
Vegan Better Than Sex Cake
Ingredients
- 1 Box Vegan-Friendly Chocolate Cake Mix
Vegan Caramel
- 6 tablespoon Vegan Butter
- ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Water
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 tablespoon Non-Dairy Heavy Cream
Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 Cup Cashews
- ½ Cup Almond Milk
- ½ Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Vegan Toffee
- ½ Cup Vegan Butter
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Dairy-Free Whipped Cream
- 1½ Cups Dairy-Free Heavy Cream
- 3 tablespoon Powdered Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar (Optional)
Instructions
Cake
- Bake cake according to package using vegan substitutions (*see notes)Prepare caramel, sweetened condensed milk, and toffee while cake bakes.
- Allow cake to cool, then poke holes in it with a fork or the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour half of the sweetened condensed milk and half of the caramel on top. Transfer the cake to the fridge to cool for at least one hour. Then, top with whipped cream, toffee bits, and more caramel. Optional – add vegan chocolate chips and chocolate syrup!
Vegan Caramel
- Add butter, brown sugar, water, and salt to a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until the butter has melted.
- Bring the mixture to a low boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 4-5 minutes until golden brown and thickened, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla and heavy cream.
Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes (**see notes)
Vegan Toffee
- In a medium saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and vanilla over medium/medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until butter has melted and mixture is almond brown in color, about 7-10 minutes. You want a light boil the entire time. Don't stop whisking. The mixture will start out a yellow color, then start to look like melted marshmallows, and finally resemble peanut butter. Once you reach that caramel color, pour onto a silicone or parchment paper-lined baking sheet to harden. Once hardened, break into small pieces. (***see notes)
Dairy-Free Whipped Cream
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whip the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar on medium-high speed for about 3-4 minutes.
Notes
- Ingredients: 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 tablespoon vegan butter, 2 tablespoon water, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
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Add butter and pecans to a small skillet over medium heat and roast for about 2 minutes.
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Add brown sugar and water. Stir to dissolve and cook for another 2 minutes.
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Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside until ready to use.
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