By: Mikyla Meckelson



This Sea Salted Pink Sweetheart Popcorn Cake is the PERFECT treat for Valentine's Day. Made with clean ingredient swaps, you'll want to add this recipe to your arsenal of desserts!

INGREDIENTS

Cake

• 1 tbsp. flaxseeds, ground
• 2 tbsp. warm water 
• 1 ½ cup oat milk, room temperature 
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar 
• ½ cup vegan butter, melted 
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 1 ½ cups organic cane sugar 
• 1 tsp. vanilla 
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 tsp. baking powder 
• ¼ tsp. salt 
• ½ tsp. cinnamon, ground 

Sea Salted Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup vegan butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup vegetable shortening
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp. aquafaba, chickpea brine
• 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 3 tbsp. pink sea salted caramel
• 1 tsp. beet powder

Pink Sea Salted Caramel

• 1 ½ cup organic cane sugar 
• 3 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 ¼ tsp. pink Himalayan salt
• 3 tbsp. coconut cream, room temperature
• ¼ cup oat milk, room temperature
• ½ tsp. edible pink glitter (optional)
• 1 tsp. beet powder

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
   
   
2. In a medium bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds  with warm water and set aside for 1 minute.
   
   
3. Then add 1 ½ cups of room temperature oat milk and 2 teaspoons  of apple cider to the bowl and let the mixture sit for an additional 2 minutes to form a “buttermilk”.
   
   
4. While waiting for the buttermilk to curdle, melt ½ cup of vegan butter and then add it to the “buttermilk” mixture. 
   
   
5. Next, add in ¼ cup of applesauce, 1 ½ cup of organic cane sugar, 1  teaspoon of vanilla, and stir well. 
   
   
6. In a separate bowl, combine 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 2  teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon  salt, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and whisk together.  
   
   
7. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until  incorporated. It is ok for the batter to be slightly lumpy, do not over stir the batter. 
   
   
8. Transfer the batter into 3 parchment-lined 6” round cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. 
   
   
9. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes in the cake pans. Then remove from the cake pans and  transfer them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely  before frosting. 
   
   
10. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting and  salted caramel sauce. Starting with the frosting, whip 1 cup of room temperature vegan butter and ¼ cup vegetable shortening  in a mixer or with a handheld mixer at medium speed. 
    
    
11. Then add in 3 tablespoons of aquafaba, which is just the  liquid inside of a can of chickpeas! Whip these together for about 3 minutes until the butter is soft. 
    
    
12. Once the butter is creamy, begin slowly sifting in 5 cups of  powdered sugar. 
    
    
13. Then add in 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste and stir.  
    
    
14. At this point, remove ¾ of the total amount of frosting and place it in a medium size bowl.   This white frosting will be the  outside of the cake. 
    
    
15. With the remaining ¼ amount of frosting remaining in the  mixer, add 1 teaspoon of beet powder and whip again until you  have a pink color. Leave the pink frosting in the mixer and prepare  your caramel sauce. 
    
    
16. To make homemade salted caramel sauce start by combining 3  teaspoons of coconut oil with 1 ½ cups of organic cane sugar in a  saucepan on medium-low heat. 
    
    
17. The most important thing to remember while making the caramel  is to keep a medium-low heat and stir frequently to prevent the  sugar from burning. 
    
    
18. As you stir, the sugar will begin to dissolve and melt. As it melts  the sugar also will turn a caramel color. Keep stirring until all the  sugar is melted into a light brown color and the consistency is a sticky liquid. Note this may take up to 10 minutes. 
    
    
19. When the sugar is fully melted, remove the caramel off of the hot  burner to an unused burner on the stove.  
    
    
20. Then add in 3 tablespoons of coconut cream, one tablespoon at a  time, while whisking vigorously. Note this will bubble and crackle!  
    
    
21. Then pour in ¼ cup of oat milk in slowly while whisking vigorously.  
    
    
22. Return the pot to medium heat and continue stirring while the  caramel reheats. Bring the caramel to a low bubbling boil and boil for 2 minutes. 
    
    
23. Then remove the caramel from the heat and whisk in ½ teaspoon  of edible pink glitter and 1 teaspoon of beet powder.  
    
    
24. Pour the caramel into a heat safe glass container and allow to cool  for 10-15 minutes. The goal is for the caramel to have thickened slightly but is not fully solid.  
    
    
25. Then add 3 tablespoons of the pink sea salted caramel to the pink  frosting and whip together. This will be the middle layer in between each of the 3 cakes. Reserve the rest of the salted  caramel for drizzling on top of the cake. 
    
    
26. When the cakes have fully cooled, layer and frost them using the  pink salted caramel frosting in the middle layers and reserving the  white vanilla bean frosting for the outside.
    
    
27. Once the layers have been filled and the cake assembled, begin to  frost a crumb coating on the outside of the cake with the white  vanilla bean frosting. This first layer is light and imperfect. It helps  the next layer of frosting stick to the cake better. After the crumb  coating is applied to the cake, transfer the cake to the freezer for 10 minutes.  
    
    
28. After 10 minutes, remove the cake from the freezer and frost the  outside until completely and evenly coated with the remainder of  the white frosting. 
    
    
29. Next, pour on a pile of Lesser Evil Sweetheart Popcorn on the top  of the cake for a perfect cake topper!  
    
    
30. The remaining sea salted caramel sauce is for pouring over the  popcorn on the top of the cake. If the caramel has hardened too  much to easily pour, simply reheat the caramel by submerging it  in a hot water bath. Stir the warm caramel sauce well and drizzle over the cake.  
    
    
31. Slice and enjoy!