Vegan Red Velvet Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

This is another version of the Depression Era cake recipe that leverages vinegar & baking soda as a replacement for eggs. I’ve been making versions of this cake for years now; however, it seems especially timely right now with the egg shortage due to bird flu & a new Colorado law (HB20-1343) that requires our eggs sold in grocery stores (in CO) to be from cage-free hens. I am definitely glad to see this new law go into effect, or at least the beginning stages of it (It won’t be in full effect until 2025, unfortunately). I know there are some grumblings about the new law because it is partially why egg prices in Colorado have risen so drastically (and why eggs can be difficult to find in stores right now); however, personally, I think it’s a small trade off for doing the right thing (for the chickens)…

This Red Velvet cake recipe is very similar to my Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe- however, the Red Velvet has about 1/4 cup less cocoa powder than the Chocolate Cake. The chocolate flavor is very subtle on this cake.

I decided to frost this Red Velvet cake with a Vegan Lemon Buttercream frosting. It turned out to be a great frosting choice for this cake…the lemon buttercream is seriously addicting.

In fact, it was so addicting that I decided my next cake attempt is going to be a Vegan Lemon Cake frosted with this Lemon Buttercream frosting…just so I can reuse this lemon frosting recipe on different cake. 😋

I experimented with this recipe a couple of different ways… once with vegan buttermilk and twice with just almond milk. Both versions turned out to be a very soft, moist cake- and neither were noticeably different from each other. Traditionally, Red Velvet cake is made with buttermilk, so I am including that in the recipe; however, it is optional (you can also just use any plant-based milk- without adding the lemon juice to curdle it, if you prefer).

To make vegan buttermilk: place 1 Tablespoon lemon juice in a measuring cup, and then fill it up to the 1 cup mark with a non-dairy milk (i.e. almond, soy, coconut, etc). Allow it to set for 5-10 minutes until it “curdles” (it will have little clumped bits in it when it’s ready).

Red Velvet cake is also typically dyed with red food coloring. I’m not a huge fan of adding food dyes when not really necessary, so my “Red Velvet” cake is more of a “Brown Velvet” cake. Lol. On this cake, I did add a small amount of red food coloring, but it needed a lot more dye to actually turn the cake red (and in the future, I plan to just leave out the red dye). However, if you like the look of red velvet cake being bright red, then just add at least a teaspoon of red gel food (i.e. AmeriColor) coloring to the batter.

I also made this recipe into cupcakes which also turned out very well… super moist and yummy!

Vegan Red Velvet Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

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Servings 12 slices or cupcakes

Ingredients

  

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 cups All-Purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar (I remove about 2 Tablespoons from the cup due to living in high altitude)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
• 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (1Tablespoon of Lemon Juice + non-dairy milk to equal 1 cup total)
• ½ cup Canola Oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• Red Food Coloring (optional)

Frosting Ingredients:

• ½ cup Vegan Butter (i.e. Earth Balance)
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
• 3-4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 4- 4½ cups Confectioner's Sugar (Powdered Sugar)

Instructions

 

Make the cake/cupcakes:

• In a 1 cup measuring cup, place 1 Tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice, then fill the measuring cup with almond milk (or other plant based milk) up to the 1 cup line. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to curdle.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350° F (180° C).
• Spray three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Or add cupcake liners to a 12-cup muffin pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the buttermilk milk, sugar, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract (and red food coloring, if using). Mix until well combined.
• Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth and no lumps of flour remain. (but don't overmix)
• Spoon the batter into prepared cake pans or cupcake liners.
• Bake about 20 minutes or until the cake/cupcakes spring back when touched or a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cook on a wire rack.
• Frost with Lemon Buttercream Frosting.

To make the frosting:

• Zest a large lemon. Then juice the lemon; set the juice aside.
• Add the vegan butter and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Mix on medium to medium-high speed until thoroughly combined.
• Add 4 cups of confectioner's sugar to the bowl, and start the mixer on low to combine the sugar & butter.
• Add the lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency.
• Taste the frosting- if it's too tart (or if the frosting is too soft of a texture), then add in the last remaining ½ cup of confectioner's sugar, and beat at medium-high speed until smooth.
• Optional: At this point, I change from the paddle attachment to the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I turn the mixer on to high & beat the frosting for 2-3 minutes to help whip air into the frosting. IMO, it makes for a lighter & less sweet frosting.

Notes

•   I usually make my vegan buttermilk first before even starting to mix any of my ingredients together since it needs to sit for about 10 minutes to curdle.  
• I’ve also made this cake with just almond milk (and not adding lemon juice to make Vegan Buttermilk).  It turned out just fine with only almond milk.  In fact, one of my best textured cupcake batches was made with only almond milk- and not vegan buttermilk. 
• I always remove at least 2 Tablespoons of sugar per Cup in my recipes- as cutting back the sugar helps with texture if you live in a high-altitude area (>5,000 feet).   
• Do not overmix this batter- I think it tends to make the cake tough. Mix as little as possible to keep the crumb soft and tender.