It’s hard to imagine a Valentine’s Day without a Red Velvet Cake!
Making individual red velvet cake to give away as gifts is even sweeter!
For that extra special touch you will spend a bit more time on this project making individual cakes
I even dusted off my Russian Piping Tips to decorate them with a basket weave design!
Or simply bake all the batter into two 8″ cake pans for a traditional red velvet cake
If you are making my individual heart cakes you will need a heart shaped cookie cutters *see video tutorial
No Cream Cheese ~ Cream Cheese Icing recipe is the prefect icing on this cake
Bonus: It doesn’t require using vegan cream cheese which can be difficult to find nowadays
Notes for Success:
In the video for this recipe I was using beet juice for added color but I find this to be an annoying, unnecessary ingredient so I’ve modified the recipe below
Cocoa powder is the most important ingredient to understand when making Red Velvet Cake
Many people think Dutch process is the best to use and should be used in all recipes asking for cocoa powder
This is not true, and especially not true of red velvet cakes
Red Velvet Cake
If these individual cakes are not in your wheelhouse right now, simply bake all the batter into two 8" cake pans for a traditional red velvet cake
Ingredients
- 2½ cups All Purpose Flour 312g
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar 300g
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda 5g
- ½ teaspoon Salt 3g
- 2 Tbs Natural Cocoa Powder 12g
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil 120ml
- 1 cup Plant Milk 237ml * I like to use soy milk
- 2 Tbs Ground Flax Seeds 16g
- 6 Tbs Hot Water 6 Tablespoons 90ml
- 1 teaspoon Red Food Color
- 1 teaspoon White Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 5ml
For the icing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F & Grease & parchment line your cake pan(s)
- Combine the flax meal with the hot water & whisk smooth, let it stand for 5 minutes to thicken
- Combine the vinegar with the plant milk
- In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar with the oil, & vanilla extract & whisk smooth
- Add the flax paste & the plant milk & whisk smooth
- Sift all the dry ingredients into the sugar/oil mixture & whisk to develop the batter approx 30 strokes
- Add optional red food color to spike it up then pour into your prepared pans then bake in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until springy to the touch when you gently press the centers
- Cool the cake in the pan and then cut out the heart shapes with a 4" heart cookie cutter. Or build a traditional cake if using 8" layers *see videos
- Meanwhile prepare the 2 2 2 cream cheese icing recipe according to the instructions on that recipe post linked above
- Decorate the cakes as you like ~ watch the video tutorial for how to make the basket weave & the Russian piping roses decor
Video
Notes
Read the notes for success above this recipe & watch the video tutorial
Storage Since there is no vegan cream cheese in the icing, this cake will be fine at room temperature for up to 3 days! For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 week
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Love your work. So Talented
thankyou so much!
You are amazing Baker. Thank you for all yours recipes.
Hi Gretchen,
This recipe and the red velvet cupcake recipe is exactly same …Oni difference is this uses 3 tbspn of water for flax while the cupcake recipe uses 6 tbspn of water for same amount of flax and rest of the ingredients. Is it a typo error? Or it is to be taken as it is.
Thanks
Instead of the beet juice can I just add red food colouring?
can i use diary milk instead of non diary??
sure
I have been following you for over 3 years now and I absolutely Love all your recipes!!!(cant wait for your new book to arrive!!!) A Friend of mine needs gluten free Cakes can I substitute the all purpose/cake/bread flour with gluten free flour or would this be “bad” for the Cake?
HI Thanks! While I don’t do very much gluten free (really none at all) I’ve been told that with vegan.. gluten free becomes more difficult. It’s worth a try though, you can only learn by testing! Please let me know if you do and thanks again!
I found some gluten free flour thats specially made for cakes& cookies… I decided to make cupcakes with the batter, the top came out really crusty hard and dry but the Inside is moist and fluffy.
Hey thanks for the feedback! I have been told that sometimes its necessary to increase the fat in the recipe (for vegan recipes) when also doing gluten free.
Can I use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar?
yes for sure
You are amazing and inspiring!!! Keep it up!!!!
Made this for my daughters birthday and it was so good- even non vegans said it was great! Recipe was easy to follow- I didn’t have hi ratio shortening but used Spectrum organic. Used Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese.and bottled straight beet juice. Used 7” round pans.
First time using flax egg- cakes rose and looked perfect, very moist. Thank you!
awesome! thanks for the feedback!!
Hi how could this be made in a 13×9 rectangular pan or 8 or 9” round cake pans?
This recipe makes 1- 12″ x 18 pan so you can just pour all the batter into your 9″ x 13″ too and it will be fine. OR 2- 8″ or 9″ pans as well
Hi! If you don’t mind me asking. What Hi ratio shortening brand do you use? Can it be bought in small quantities. I’ve read that sweetex is a good brand but when searching for it, I only find the 50lb. I don’t need that much. Thank you!!
Yes exactly about the sweetex, that is the best one, but I too cannot take on 50lbs of it anymore now that I no longer own my bakery! I have resorted back to crisco (while it is not hi ratio) it is the most stable for vegan icings, I have found spectrum to be super soft, just terrible.
hi!! your recipes are so amazing! i just switched to being a vegan and your recipes are the way to go. thanks a lot, these recipes helped a lot:))
Hi. Really keen to try your recipe. I just wanted to check the quantities in the recipe – its says 2 and a half cups flour is 312g and 1 and a half cups sugar is also nearly the same (300g) – is that correct? The sugar is a whole cup less than the flour but the grams amount is almost the same. We tend to use grams rather than cup measures in the UK. Thank you
Hi thanks for the inquiry, as sometimes I DO make errors!! But this recipe is correct, you see flour is much lighter than sugar (think 1 pound of rocks and 1 pound of feathers- the 1 pound of rocks will be a much smaller bag than that same amount of feathers) CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!
Can i subtitude fresh breet juice for dry hibiscus flowers juice, i’m in Africa, Nigeria and breet can be hard to find and expensive also. We make use of dry hibiscus flowers juice alot for drink.
Hi Yes, You can follow this recipe though, where I used DRIED BEET ROOT POWDER so it will be an easier 1:1 sub CLICKHERE
Greetings!
Firstly, I want to thank you for helping to inspire me. I love to bake, and have been following you for a few years now. I am vegan, and I recently went back to school to become a pastry chef. My goal is to make amazing desserts that happen to be vegan, not vegan desserts that happen to be amazing.
Secondly, how do you think this recipe would work as a roll cake? Red velvet roll cake is my brother-in-law’s favorite, and I would like to make one for him. Thank you in advance for any advice that you may have.
I LOVE IT! That is the best thing I’ve heard! And you are very welcome too! 🙂
As for rolling vegan cakes, not very successful! BUT I will send you to my friend Amy who has THE BEST ROLL CAKES EVER! CLICK HERE FRAGRANT VANILLA CAKE
Thank you for sharing this versatile and delicious Vegan Red Velvet Cake recipe with a unique twist on cream cheese icing!