Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Fluffy, vegan, low-fat Red Velvet Cupcakes should be on your list for Valentine’s day! It’s the perfect combination of vanilla cake with a touch of chocolate and let’s not forget that beautiful red color.
To top these, I made an easy cream cheese frosting that made them even better!
The best part of this recipe is how EASY it is to make! No need for professional baking skills for these and the batter comes together in about 20 minutes. Grab your bowls, ingredients, whisk, and make these for your loved ones on Valentine’s Day (or any day)!
A few tips
The traditional recipe for red velvet cake requires buttermilk, for the vegan version I mix vinegar with vegan milk and let it sit until it thickens.
Depending on the type or brand of food coloring, you might need to add different quantities to get the perfect red hue.
The frosting is optional, if you want to save a little bit of time buy a tub of Pillsbury vanilla frosting which is vegan!
For the frosting I used Violife cream cheese, it’s the best vegan cream cheese I’ve tasted so far and has a very similar taste to the non-vegan version.
One step you should not miss is sifting the dry ingredients for the cake batter, it makes the cake fluffier and gets rid of any lumps in the flour.
Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsweetened soymilk
- 1 tsp fresh lime juice
- 2 – 2 ½ tsp red food coloring (depends on the brand)
- 1 ½ cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- Red sprinkles (optional)
- 2 TBSP vegan butter
- 2 TBSP vegan cream cheese (preferably Violife)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ - 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line a cupcake mold with 12 baking cups. Mix the soymilk with the lime juice and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes. Once the “buttermilk” has thickened, add the food coloring, vanilla, and applesauce.
- In a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar with a whisk until fluffy (about 2 minutes), add a third of the dry ingredients, half of the buttermilk mixture, and mix until combined. Add another third of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk mixture, mix well and add the rest of the flour until all the ingredients are well combined trying to not over-mix.
- Fill each cupcake liner up to three-quarters of the way and bake for 25 minutes or until you insert a toothpick, and it comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes cool prepare the frosting. Cream the butter and cream cheese until soft, add the vanilla and powdered sugar 1 cup at a time mixing well with a whisk until creamy and to your desired consistency. If the frosting is too thick, add a splash of vegan milk.
- Spread or pipe frosting onto each cupcake and add sprinkles.
