Dairy Free Red Velvet Cake (Vegan)
This delicious dairy free red velvet cake features a bakery-style crumb that stays moist for days. It’s a foolproof vegan recipe that’s easy enough for any home baker to master, yet looks impressive enough to be the centerpiece of any table.
Servings: 16 slices
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360 g)
- 2 tablespoon natural cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar (350 g)
- ½ cup vegan butter, at room temperature (stick butter works best)
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1½ cups unsweetened soy milk (any plant milk will work)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
- Vegan cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease two 8-inch cake pans, dust them with flour, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a small jar or bowl, stir the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Let it sit for 5 minutes to turn into vegan buttermilk.
- Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt) into a medium bowl and then use a whisk to mix them together.
- In a large bowl use an electric stand mixer or use a stand mixer to beat the softened vegan butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it's a pale, fluffy texture. Then pour in the oil and beat again for about 20 seconds until fully combined.
- Mix in the vanilla extract and red food coloring into the plant milk mixture.
- With the mixer on its lowest speed, add ⅓ of your dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Now, with the mixer running on LOW slowly pour in half of the milk mixture and mix until just absorbed. Repeat with another ⅓ of the dry ingredients, the remaining milk, and finally the last ⅓ of the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. Note: If the batter looks slightly curdled or broken during the milk additions, don't panic. This is normal. It will come back together with the final flour addition.
- Switch to a rubber spatula and fold the batter by hand once or twice, scraping the very bottom of the bowl to catch any hidden flour pockets.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans and bake for 30 to 34 minutes. When done, a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cakes rest in their pans for 10 minutes. Then carefully turn them out onto a wire rack and peel off the parchment. Let them cool completely before frosting.
- When cool, frost the cake with vegan cream cheese frosting.
Notes
- Properly measure the ingredients with a digital scale if possible. If not, use the spoon and level method when measuring the flour.
- Every oven is different. A digital oven thermometer is recommended.
- Your vegan butter should be soft enough to indent with a finger, but still feel cool. If it's oily or melted, your cake will be dense rather than fluffy.
- Use natural cocoa powder. The acidity is necessary to react with the baking soda for the proper rise.
- The cake layers are actually easier to frost if you wrap them in plastic and chill them in the fridge for an hour after they've cooled.
- The estimated nutritional info does not include the frosting, which will depend on the recipe you choose you use or store bought brand.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3.5g | Sodium: 215mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 22g
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