This light and fluffy beet powder red velvet cake has a beautiful red hue and an undertone of cocoa flavor! It’s covered in a luscious vegan cream cheese frosting. Simply divine!
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Red velvet cake has a signature flavor! While some think it is simply a red-colored chocolate cake, nothing could be further from the truth!
Red velvet cake has a distinct flavor that differs from dense chocolate cake varieties. It’s also much lighter and fluffier in texture.
The traditional red velvet cake recipe is bright red in color and made with buttermilk, butter, cocoa, flour, and vinegar. It was first served during the Victorian era as a special occasion dessert.
It has a tangy flavor that comes from buttermilk and vinegar. The cocoa gives it a hint of chocolate but also helps create a red color when combined with vinegar.
It is most common to use food coloring to achieve the deep red color, but during the Depression, they used beets! Using beetroot powder instead of food coloring is acceptable to achieve the red color we all know and love.
💗 Why You’ll Love Beet Powder Red Velvet Cake
- Easy to make
- All vegan ingredients
- Paired with a tangy and sweet vegan cream cheese frosting
- A beautiful dessert to make for Valentine’s Day or other special occasions
- Light and fluffy
- Gorgeous red hue
- A tangy chocolate flavor
- A perfect Valentine’s Day treat!
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Vegan Buttermilk: Make your own vegan buttermilk to get that signature tang. Don’t worry! It’s super simple! All you need to do is combine 1 cup of soy, almond, or your favorite non-dairy milk with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes, and the milk will curdle and thicken into tangy buttermilk!
Cocoa Powder: Use an all-natural cocoa powder to get that undertone of chocolate flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: I used all-purpose flour for this recipe, although I usually use white whole wheat flour. I wanted this cake to be as light and moist as possible, and all-purpose flour or cake flour creates the best texture.
Coconut Oil: Unrefined coconut oil has more health benefits and a thick texture that creams nicely to create a moist crumb.
Raw Cane Sugar: Not all sugars are vegan! That’s why I opt for organic raw cane sugar.
White Vinegar: Along with the buttermilk, the white vinegar gives this cake its tang.
Beet Powder: Beet powder is an excellent stand-in for food coloring and creates a gorgeous red hue without artificial ingredients.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Beet Powder Red Velvet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, grease them with coconut oil, and flour the sides.
- Make Vegan Buttermilk: Combine 1 cup of soy milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Whisk together to combine. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the milk will thicken and curdle.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, including the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the wet ingredients, including the coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla, with an electric mixer for 30 seconds or until well combined.
- Beat in the beetroot powder and vinegar until well combined.
- Alternately, add the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk, beating on low to medium speed until just combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the cakes from the pan by running a knife along the sides and inverting the cake so that it gently releases from the pan. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack. Note: Reserve some of the cake crumbs to decorate the top and sides of the cake.
- While the cakes are cooling to room temperature, make the vegan cream cheese frosting with vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
- When the frosting is ready, add a thick layer to the top of the first layer of the cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. This allows the first layer of frosting to set.
- Place the other cake layer on top and frost the top and sides. Sprinkle with cake crumbs or red sprinkles. Keep the cake in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
📝 Expert Tips
- Use a healthy oil or applesauce to create moisture. If you’re following an oil-free diet, using applesauce and even bananas adds needed moisture.
- I recommend using oil for cakes, or you risk it coming out dry and dense. I recommend coconut oil or a healthier vegan butter such as Earth Balance or Miyokos.
- Use unsweetened, non-dairy milk. The added sweetness and vanilla flavor of other plant milks will affect the overall taste of your cake.
❓ FAQS
Traditionally, red velvet cake is paired with tangy cream cheese frosting. The tang from the cake and the frosting combine for a delicious taste and texture. However, if you do not like cream cheese frosting, you can always use a simple vegan vanilla buttercream frosting.
Yes, beetroot powder can be added to baking recipes. When baked, you do not taste the flavor of the beetroot.
Yes, this recipe will prepare 24 red velvet cupcakes. Line with baking cups, add the batter ⅔ of the way full, and bake for 18-22 minutes at 350°F.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
You can frost your cake, add piping, or even add a few red vegan sprinkles! I suggest reserving some of the cake crumbs to sprinkle on the top or sides of the cake for decoration! It’s easy and beautiful! Serve with a warm cup of coffee or tea. You could even add a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream!
🫙 Storage
Fridge: Store the cake in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. Since this cake has a cream cheese frosting, it is best to keep it refrigerated. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator as well. Lightly cover with saran wrap, or keep in a cake storage container. The cake will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.
🍰 Using Beetroot Powder vs. Vegan Food Coloring
Beetroot Powder: Beetroot powder is made from grinding dried, dehydrated beets into powder form. It’s all-natural with nothing added. Using beetroot powder will yield a beautiful crimson color to your baked goods. However, do consider that the beetroot powder has a beet flavor. It’s subtly sweet and not noticeable when baked. If you choose to use beetroot powder instead of food coloring, it’s a 1:1 substitute.
Vegan Food Coloring: The artificial red food dye you find in the baking aisle of your grocery store has harmful chemicals that have been tested on animals. This is why they are not technically vegan. If you choose not to use beetroot powder, opt for the Watkins brand of food coloring.
😋 More Vegan Cake Recipes!
Recipe
Beet Powder Red Velvet Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Vegan Buttermilk
- 2 cups soy milk
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Dry Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 ½ cup raw organic sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon beetroot powder
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
Frosting
- vegan cream cheese frosting double recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper, and grease and flour the sides.
- Make Vegan Buttermilk: Combine 1 cup of soy milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the milk will thicken and curdle.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl beat together the coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer for 30 seconds or until well combined.
- Beat in beetroot powder, and vinegar until well combined.
- Alternately, add flour mixture, and vegan buttermilk, beating on low to medium speed until just combined.
- Pour batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully, remove the cakes from the pan, by running a knife along the sides, and inverting the cake so that it gently releases from the pan. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack. Note: Reserve some of the cake crumbs to decorate the top and sides of the cake.
- While cakes are cooling make the vegan cream cheese frosting.
- When frosting is ready, add a thick layer of frosting to the top of the first layer of cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. This will allow the first layer of frosting to set.
- Place the other cake on top and complete your frosting. Keep the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- I recommend using oil for cakes, or you risk it coming out dry and dense. I recommend coconut oil or a healthier vegan butter such as Earth Balance or Miyokos.
- Use unsweetened, non-dairy milk. The added sweetness and vanilla flavor of other plant milks will affect the overall taste of your cake.
- Use a healthy oil or applesauce to create moisture. If you’re following an oil-free diet, using applesauce and even bananas adds needed moisture.
- Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Keep the leftovers in the refrigerator.
- The cake will keep up to 5 days when refrigerated.
Julia
Mind blown! My first red velvet cake since turning vegan almost 5 years ago, and one recipe I am sure to follow again and again! Thanks for bringing red velvet cake back into my life – I never thought I’d find such a great recipe, but here it is (made with beetroot powder)!!
Wanda
My daughter is totally into making cakes so I’m going to get her to make this cake for us!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
That frosting sounds incredible! I can’t wait to make this and cut a slice for myself -yum!
heather johnson
I love red velvet cake – making this for my bf birthday!
Beth
This looks so delicious and yummy! My family is going to love this recipe! Can’t wait to make this!
Courtney
This was a really great cake! Easy to make, perfectly moist and the colour was unbelievable!