Red Velvet Bars | vegan, gluten-free, healthy cake recipe - Elavegan (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of food coloring for red velvet cake? ›

Using naturally sweet beet puree is a fantastic healthy alternative to food dye that adds a vibrant red color to the cake. I've tested this many times and found the secret to making it work. The bright color comes from an acidic batter.

Today, red velvet cake is made by combining cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour as well as buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring that gives the cake its iconic red tint. In a classic red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting is paired but the cake can be really be frosted with anything.

We recommend gel food colouring, such as Sugarflair and Wilton, having tested both of these brands out in our kitchens with great results. To use gel food colouring in your recipe, follow our guide below: Step 1: Mix cocoa with vanilla essence.

Aside from the basics of making a cake veganized, the tricky part when it comes to making a vegan and vegetarian red velvet cake is actually in the food coloring. Most food colorings contain a red that is actually not vegan.

The Best Cocoa for Red Velvet Cake Is Natural Cocoa

The results are an almost melt-in-your-mouth tender cake. Natural cocoa is also lighter in color, making the red velvet cake more vibrant. Natural cocoa also has the most chocolate flavor a cocoa powder can have because it is less processed.

Is it necessary to use vinegar when baking red velvet cake? If you don't want to use vinegar, you can substitute an equal amount of lemon juice. If you want to skip the acidic liquid altogether, you can substitute a tablespoon of baking powder for each teaspoon of baking soda.

In my opinion, cream cheese frosting pairs best with red velvet's flavor and this frosting recipe is really simple. You need brick-style cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, a splash of milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt to offset the sweetness. It glides on seamlessly and is silky smooth.

White Vinegar: It sounds like a strange ingredient in a cake, but it is essential in a red velvet cake. This recipe calls for baking soda to leaven the cake (make the cake rise). The small amount of added vinegar allows the soda to do its best work.

If you're finding that your red velvet cake is turning out more brown than red, you may want to consider adjusting the amount of cocoa powder and red food coloring in your recipe. You could reduce the amount of cocoa powder or increase the amount of red food coloring to achieve a more vibrant red color.

Why doesn't my red velvet cake look red? ›

The trick to using our Red Velvet Color when baking cakes and cupcakes is to lower the pH. Some ways to do this is by substituting baking powder in place of baking soda, using a natural non-alkalized cocoa powder, adding more white vinegar or buttermilk to your red velvet recipe, to achieve a bright red color.

How Did Red Velvet Cake End Up Red? Cocoa powder contains an antioxidant called anthocyanin, which is pH-sensitive, meaning it reacts to acids and bases. When raw cocoa powder reacts with acidic ingredients such as buttermilk and vinegar, it turns dark red.

Many years ago, the red color came from the presence of vinegar and buttermilk reacting with the anthocyanins in traditional cocoa powder. But for most of the last few decades, the red color has been supplied by Red #40 dye, in part because cocoa powder used now is alkalized to neutralize its acidity.

This cake is a southern tradition for festive occasions. It can be completely assembled and chilled one day before serving.

A BFG has multitudes of chocolate cake layers, real whipped cream, kirsch infused cherries and chocolate adornments. A red velvet is often a dry, red coloured fairly flavourless chocolate cake smothered in an overly sweet vanilla buttercream.

Try using concentrated beet juice in place of red food coloring. Berries - Raspberries, Cranberries, Currents, Goji, Strawberries are all the most red when they are fresh and in season. Berries make a star feature to a dish whether they are cooked, pureed or just left raw.

Powders such as spices, matcha, cocoa powder, coffee/espresso powder, or pulverized freeze-dried fruits can be added directly to the recipe for an extra pop of color. To incorporate these ingredients as a powder – run them through a food processor or spice grinder beforehand to make sure the granules are extra fine.

Making red velvet cake without food coloring lets the cocoa be the star. Plus, the reaction of the alkaline cocoa and baking soda with the acidic buttermilk and vinegar gives the finished cake a beautiful reddish-brown color all its own.