This ‘raw-ish’ vegan caramel slice recipe is a mixture between your traditional naughty caramel slice and the healthy raw vegan version. It really does have the best of both worlds!
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Refrigeration time: 50 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Difficulty: hard
Serves: makes 16 slices
The caramel layer in this vegan caramel slice recipe tastes a lot more like real caramel than the raw version. The raw vegan version is generally made purely from medjool dates. In this recipe we make vegan caramel from coconut sugar and coconut cream. I use coconut sugar because it has a much lower glycemic index (35) compared to white sugar (60-65). The caramel layer in this vegan caramel slice recipe also has a much similar texture to real caramel. This layer is also super creamy from the coconut cream, blended soaked cashews and cacao butter. Cacao butter adds the most amazing flavour to this layer!
The chocolate layer is real vegan dark chocolate, whereas in raw vegan caramel slice it’s generally made from a mixture of coconut oil and cacao powder. To me that is SO not that same as chocolate!
And lastly, the bottom layer is the same as in a raw vegan caramel slice. I make it from processing nuts, dates, coconut and a little coconut oil together to get a nice, mouldable consistency. This is much healthier than the traditional version made from flour, butter and sugar. It also means this vegan caramel slice recipe gets to boast gluten free status! OH YEAH!
Want more vegan recipes?
Check out my other vegan dessert recipes, gluten-free vegan recipes and quick & easy vegan recipes. I also have two downloadable vegan cookbooks – my Vegan Main Meals Cookbook and my Vegan Thai Cookbook. ALL of the money from the sale of the Thai cookbook goes to Baan Unrak Thai Animal Sanctuary – a sanctuary in northern Thailand which is home to around 30 beautiful adoptable Thai dogs, and runs the only vet clinic in the area, providing purely donation-based care.
Ingredients
Base
- 1½ cup mixed nuts
- ½ cup dates (if they are really hard from being in the fridge, soak them for 5 minutes in boiling water)
- ¼ cup desiccated/shredded coconut
- 1 T coconut oil
- ½ cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- ½ cup coconut cream
- 1 cup soaked cashews (soaked overnight, or in boiling water for 1 hour)
- 1 cup softened cacao butter
- 2 t vanilla essence
- Pinch salt
- 100g vegan chocolate (I used 1 block Coles dark 70%)
- ¼ cup coconut cream
Methods
- Process the ingredients in a food processor until the mixture stays in place and sticks together when you press it down and the nuts are finely chopped (this will take a while).
- Press into a square tin.
- Pop in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
- Dissolve the sugar in the cream in a pot over high heat and bring to boil.
- Boil while stirring for 2 minutes then remove from heat.
- Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until very smooth.
- Pour over the base.
- Pop in the freezer for 10 minutes then start making the chocolate topping.
- Place the chocolate and cream in a double boiler pot over low heat.
- Stir until melted and pour over the caramel layer.