Description
This rich and velvety vegan red velvet cake with dairy free cream cheese frosting is the ultimate vegan cake recipe! The perfect balance of cocoa and sweetness with a slight tang, this red velvet cake will be your favorite, vegan or not! Naturally dairy free and gluten free!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cup (360 g) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (195 g) neutral cooking oil or melted vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp vegan red food coloring*
- 3 tbsp dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream
- 3 cup (375 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 batch vegan cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and grease three 6″ cake pans or two 8″ cake pans with olive or coconut oil. Line with parchment paper and set aside. Add the apple cider vinegar to unsweetened dairy free milk to make the vegan buttermilk and set aside to curdle for 5 minutes.
- Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, cocoa powder, red food coloring, and dairy free yogurt together. Then add in the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and whisk again to combine. Add in the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk in increments of two, whisking until the flour is JUST integrated into the wet ingredients.
- Bake the cakes: Divide batter evenly amongst the cake pans. Place cake pans into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes: Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a drying rack to cool completely before frosting.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:
- When ready to frost the cakes, make sure that each cake layer is leveled using a knife.
- Add vegan butter and vegan cream cheese to a large bowl and beat together with a hand mixer.
- Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing the beat the mixture until it’s a thick buttercream.
- Add in vanilla and continue to beat until desired texture.
- Frost cake and enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: I recommend King Arthur measure for measure gluten free baking flour.
Food coloring options:
- Wilton Food Coloring Gels
- Whole Foods Plant Based Food Coloring
- Suncore Food Beet Powder
If using coconut sugar: your cake will look more tan/brown than red, even with using the vegan food coloring, but it will still taste delicious!