Naturally Brilliant: Vegan Red Velvet Cake Recipes
The Veg Space keeps things simple by using tangy yoghurt over buttermilk.
Red velvet cake is a popular North American treat, which combines beetroot (one of nature’s sweetest vegetables) with chocolate, covered with a cream cheese frosting. This results in a beautiful dark red cake and contrasting white icing, the cake also usually made with tangy buttermilk made with apple cider vinegar.
Red velvet cake is thought to have originated in the Deep South, though became well known when New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel served it in the 20s.
Keep red velvet cake away from pets due to chocolate and spices.
For these recipes, use a good ice-cold vegan block butter with no palm oil (Flora and Myoko’s are good brands). Also be sure not to overmix the dough, and leave stem vents when baking.
Beetroot powder is good to make it red!
It’s a bit tricky to keep the cake red, as pigments in cocoa turn brown when exposed to acidic buttermilk, so some cooks add beetroot powder to the mix (more powerful to turn things red than beetroots alone).
Vegan red velvet pretty cupcakes!
These vegan red velvet cupcakes (Veggie Desserts) are similar, you can use a vegan red food dye (some brands use beetles) obeetroot powder as above. The author suggests crumbling part of a cupcake (eat the rest!) on top to make the pretty sprinkles. Top with her vegan cream cheese icing.
These are super-simple to make with everyday ingredients. The piece de la resistance is the cream cheese vegan strawberry frosting on the top. This uses freeze-dried strawberry powder to keep things pink!
