Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake

So many people love red velvet cake and cupcakes. I haven’t ever really been one of them, probably because I was never given too many opportunities to try them. When I finally had a red velvet cupcake several years ago in New York, I was underwhelmed. The flavor wasn’t very memorable – mainly it was just pretty. But then I made them myself a few weeks ago, and I got why they were special: chocolate.

Don’t mistake me – red velvet cupcakes don’t have a very strong chocolate flavor, but you do have a hint of it, which is sometimes all you need. This particular recipe is a winner because the flavor, color and texture is all exactly what you’d want in a red velvet cupcake. It’s sweet, mild on the chocolate, the color is a lovely shade of dark red, and moist, plus the cupcake holds together pretty well. The frosting is not very thick, but it complements the cupcake with a creamy, sugary finish. I shared these cupcakes with some friends, none vegan, and they all agreed that they were delicious!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
This recipe is taken from Food.com
Yields approximately 12 cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

1 cup vegan milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup vegan granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vegan red food coloring* or two small bottles of red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract, optional (this can be hard to find, so omit it if you cannot locate it in your local store)

For the Frosting:

1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Note that not all red food coloring you find in your grocery store is vegan. Make sure it is Red #40, which is chemical-based. I don’t recommend using this particular red with a lot of frequency – it’s really unhealthy, but if you don’t have any other options, it’s an okay stand-in. Your natural foods market may carry a vegetable-based food coloring, but as I discovered, it can be extremely expensive (think around $16/box of red, blue and yellow…and this recipe calls for two small bottles – ouch). Up to you – in general, food dyes are not really healthy at all, but if you use them only occasionally, it’s probably not a big deal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin pans with liners.

Whisk together the vegan milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Note that I have only used soy milk in this recipe, so I do not know if other vegan milks will thicken in this step.

Curdling soy milk with apple cider vinegar

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

Sifting the dry ingredients

Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract (if using), vanilla extract and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine.

You'll use about two small bottles of red food coloring

Make well in center of dry ingredients and gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear. Do not over mix, or your cupcakes will turn out gummy – small lumps are okay.

Finishing up the batter

Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full as these cupcakes will rise fairly high. And make sure you use the right size of cupcake liners – mine were too small for my pan, but I used them anyway!