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Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

February 5, 2022 By Gretchen 27 Comments

It’s hard to imagine a Valentine’s Day without Red Velvet Cake!

So in honor of Cupid’s Love Day

Make individual Red Velvet Cakes for your sweeties!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

Perfect little cakes to give as gifts to the ones you love!

I even used my Russian Piping Tips to decorate them with a basket weave design!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

This cake is so moist with the traditional cream cheese filling and icing 

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

Of course you can make this entire recipe into an 8″ layer cake instead

Just by dividing the cake batter evenly into 2-8″ cake pans instead

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

But if you want to spend a little bit more time on this project to make these adorable little individual cakes like I did

You would simply bake all the batter into a half sheet pan and then cut out each heart shaped layer! *video tutorial linked below

Totally worth the extra effort when you give these mini cakes as gifts to the special people in your life!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

The only problem with doing it that way is the excess cake scraps left over when cutting shapes from a sheet cake

But I never fret over excess cake scraps since I will always use it in something else later

Like these adorable heart shaped cake pops for example!

Red Velvet Cake Pops

Red Velvet Cake Pops

Or these luscious Red Velvet Cake Balls dipped in white chocolate!

No Dye Red Velvet Cake!

Red Velvet Cake Balls

This is my original bakery recipe for red velvet cake that has been converted to vegan!

 

It does have red food coloring to make the vibrant red color

However I am no longer a fan of using harsh chemical dyes in my recipes anymore

So I have since developed a No Dye Red Velvet Cake recipe using beet root powder that is worth a look!
Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

I have also developed a No Cream Cheese ~ Cream Cheese Icing recipe that is room temperature stable

Bonus: It doesn’t require using vegan cream cheese which can be difficult to find nowadays

No Shortening Buttercream Icing Recipe

Another option is to just go straight up buttercream if cream cheese icing isn’t exactly “your thing”

There are so many options for making the best red velvet cake for Valentine’s Day this year!

Just type “Valentine” in the search bar here on my website and you will see the endless ideas!

12 Valentine's Day Desserts from easy to advanced

Notes for Success:

I am using my No Shortening Buttercream Icing recipe modified for Cream Cheese icing that does not require vegan cream cheese!

Be sure to read the entire blog post for that recipe and use the modified “no refrigerator” cream cheese icing version for the best cream cheese icing ever!

In the video for this recipe I was using beet juice for added color but I find that this is an annoying ingredient as well as an unnecessary one so I’ve replaced it with more water to reconstitute the flax meal

The Russian Piping Tips are optional of course, and if you have never used Russian Piping Tips before you will want to be sure your icing is as cold as possible before piping to give the flowers the best definition

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
 
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COCOA POWDER
Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

If you are making my individual heart cakes you will need a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the cut outs

CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THESE LITTLE RED VELVET CAKES!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day

Check out all the Red Velvet Recipe versions below!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day
No Dye Red Velvet Cake
Vegan Red Velvet Cheesecake
Red Velvet Cheesecake
Red Velvet Twinkie Cake
Red Velvet Twinkie Cake

No Dye! Red Velvet Cake ~ Vegan

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Twinkie Cake

4.0 from 4 reviews
Red Velvet Cakes
 
Print
Prep time
2 hours
Bake time
30 mins
Total time
2 hours 30 mins
 
Serves: Serves 8 people
Ingredients
  • For the Red Velvet Cake
  • All Purpose Flour 2½ cups (312g)
  • Granulated Sugar 1½ cups (300g)
  • Baking Soda 1 teaspoon (5g)
  • Salt ½ teaspoon (3g)
  • Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 2 Tablespoons (12g) * see notes in notes for success above recipe section
  • Vegetable Oil ½ cup (120ml)
  • Plant Milk 1 cup (240ml) * I am using soy milk
  • Flax Meal 2 Tablespoons (16g)
  • Hot Water 6 Tablespoons (90ml)
  • Red Food Color optional
  • White Vinegar ½ teaspoon
  • Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
  • 1 Recipe No Refrigerator Cream Cheese Icing
Instructions
  1. For the Red Velvet Cake:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  3. Grease & parchment line your cake pan(s)
  4. First combine the flax meal with the hot water and whisk smooth, let it stand for 5 minutes to thicken
  5. Combine the vinegar with the plant milk to sour
  6. In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar with the oil, & vanilla extract and whisk smooth
  7. Add the flax paste and the soured milk and whisk smooth
  8. Sift all the dry ingredients into the sugar/oil mixture and whisk smooth again
  9. Add optional red food color to spike it up then pour into a greased and parchment lined 12" X 18" pan and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until it is springy to the touch when you gently press the center
  10. If using 8" pans divide the batter evenly between both greased & parchment lined pans and bake for approximately 25 minutes, check with a toothpick to make sure it is done.
  11. Cool the cake in the pan and then cut out the heart shapes with a 4" heart cookie cutter, save the scraps for another project like Cake Pops or Red Velvet Truffles *links above in text
  12. Meanwhile prepare the cream cheese icing according to the instructions on that recipe post linked above
  13. **You will notice it is titled "No Shortening" icing, but scroll down to the bottom of the post for the Cream Cheese version
  14. Decorate the cakes as you like ~ watch the video tutorial for how to make the basket weave and the Russian piping roses decor
Notes
Since there is no vegan cream cheese in the icing, this cake will be fine at room temperature for up to 4 days.

For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 week
3.5.3251

 

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cake Recipes, Individual Desserts, Layer Cakes

Previous Post: « Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
Next Post: Triple Strawberry Cake Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dee

    January 31, 2017 at 2:05 pm

    Love your work. So Talented

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      January 31, 2017 at 7:24 pm

      thankyou so much!

      Reply
  2. Xiomara Miro

    February 5, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    You are amazing Baker. Thank you for all yours recipes.

    Reply
    • Mru

      June 25, 2020 at 9:35 am

      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

      Reply
      • Tahira

        July 25, 2021 at 10:28 am

        Instead of the beet juice can I just add red food colouring?

        Reply
  3. daffodil

    May 2, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    can i use diary milk instead of non diary??

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      May 2, 2017 at 1:55 pm

      sure

      Reply
  4. Kerstin Coursey

    January 30, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      January 30, 2018 at 5:36 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Kerstin Coursey

        February 2, 2018 at 9:56 am

        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.

        Reply
        • Gretchen

          February 2, 2018 at 11:58 pm

          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.

          Reply
  5. Johnny Li

    February 13, 2018 at 3:12 am

    Can I use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar?

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      February 13, 2018 at 5:10 am

      yes for sure

      Reply
  6. Jennifer C Velez

    May 13, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    You are amazing and inspiring!!! Keep it up!!!!

    Reply
  7. W. Price

    October 8, 2018 at 4:52 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      October 8, 2018 at 7:13 pm

      awesome! thanks for the feedback!!

      Reply
  8. Hayley

    December 29, 2018 at 1:25 am

    Hi how could this be made in a 13×9 rectangular pan or 8 or 9” round cake pans?

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      December 30, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      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

      Reply
  9. Celines

    May 12, 2019 at 3:52 pm

    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!!

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      May 13, 2019 at 1:48 am

      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.

      Reply
  10. vedika

    January 10, 2020 at 3:36 am

    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:))

    Reply
  11. Bel

    February 20, 2020 at 6:37 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      February 20, 2020 at 8:11 pm

      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!

      Reply
  12. Olasumbo

    May 24, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      May 26, 2020 at 3:21 pm

      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

      Reply
    • Karen

      February 14, 2021 at 3:39 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Gretchen

        February 14, 2021 at 4:26 am

        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

        Reply

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