Finally a no dye red velvet cake that is actually red!
I am literally obsessed with how this came out!
The original Red Velvet Cake was actually a chocolate cake, it never had red dye to begin with
Over the years we started adding tons of red dye to the cake better for a thrilling red that would make Dracula cringe.
Due to the reaction from the cocoa powder with the baking soda, the cake took on a slight red color upon baking.
Just like my chocolate cake recipe shown here
Somehow though, we have developed this insatiable need to have the most red of reds for this classic cake.
But who the heck wants to dump in a bunch of red food dye?
Ermine buttercream is the traditional icing used on a red velvet cake, not the Cream Cheese Icing many of us are familiar with,
Although I have a fabulous cream cheese icing that requires no refrigeration or that pesky vegan cream cheese!
Notes for Success:
The cake recipe is for 3-7″ layers but you could easily divide the batter between 2-8″ cake pans instead
The recipe will also make about 15 cupcakes, just fill the liners 3/4 of the way full for a nice dome
Ermine buttercream can be quite fragile and on the verge of “breaking” so be careful not to add the custard too fast and make sure it is very cold
Recommended to ice your cakes or cupcakes immediately after making the fresh batch to avoid the trouble of trying to save a broken buttercream
Be careful on the measuring of this recipe a heavy hand on the flour will cause this cake to be more like bread texture! A scale is recommended!
You can use 2Tbs flax meal reconstituted with 6Tbs warm plant milk from the recipe if you prefer not to buy a proprietary blend dry egg replacer
By changing the leavener from baking soda to baking powder I was able to get the color right
So be sure you are using baking POWDER not SODA or you will get some weird shade of pinkish gray instead of this vibrant red!
With the trimmings from the cake layers add a touch of buttercream and mash it all together in a bowl! Roll them in white chocolate and YUMM!
CLICK HERE for a closer look at how to make cake balls
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE!
For more Red Velvet Recipes click the links below!
No Dye! Red Velvet Cake ~ Vegan
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- All Purpose Flour 3½ cups (437g)
- Beet Root Powder 9 Tablespoons (72g)
- Baking Powder 1 Tablespoon (10g)
- Salt 1 teaspoon (6g)
- Cocoa Powder * natural NOT Dutched Process 4 Tablespoons (24g)
- Egg Replacer *I am using Bob's Red Mill 2 Tablespoons * see note above
- Granulated Sugar 2 cups (400g)
- Vegetable Oil ¾ cup (177ml)
- Plant Milk * I am using soy milk 2 cups (473ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
For the Ermine Buttercream:
- Granulated Sugar 2 cups (400g)
- All Purpose Flour ¾cup + 2 Tbs (110g)
- Plant Milk *I have used both soy & almond with good results 2 cups (473ml)
- Vegan Butter 4 sticks (454g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Salt pinch
Instructions
- For the cake batter, combine the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, oil and milk in a large mixing bowl and whisk smooth.
- Sift the flour, beet root powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and the egg replacer together then add it to the liquids in the mixing bowl.
- Whisk smooth then divide the batter evenly between your greased & parchment lined cake pans
- Bake immediately in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or better yet when they are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
- Cool cakes in the pan until you can safely touch them with your fingers then flip onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way
- Meanwhile to prepare your ermine buttercream, combine the flour, salt & sugar together in a medium heavy bottom sauce pot over medium - high heat.
- Whisk together and let the flour "toast" for about 2 minutes whisking to prevent burning on the bottom.
- Add the room temperature plant milk whisking constantly to smooth
- Bring the custard to a boil whisking constantly
- Once it starts to bubble gently, remove it from the heat add the vanilla extract and then pour into onto a large plate and cover it directly on the surface with plastic wrap or parchment paper to prevent a "skin"
- Cool in the refrigerator while you whip the vegan butter to fluffy.
- Add the cooled (be careful this is not the slightest bit hot or you will have a melted butter!) custard to the whipped buttercream 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, whipping on medium the entire time until it is all incorporated.
- Ice cake as shown in the video.
- For making the *optional red velvet balls to go on topCLICK HERE
Notes
This cake will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 2 days, for longer storage refrigerate for up to 1 week.
While this is a strong buttercream, I have been told that it does not hold up very well in hot temperatures!
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If i dont use an egg replacer how much egg do i use
I do not use eggs, and this cake was formulated to use the egg replacer so it work perfectly as it is written. I think you can probably find a NON vegan recipe on the internet that you may like if you did not want to try it this way.
Thank you ma
I only use eggs as well. The measurements in the recipe are equal to 2 eggs. I also don’t use margarine, soy oil nor soy milk so am using good butter, whole milk, and avocado oil. The frosting is also called boiled milk frosting, and it’s a recipe I grew up with from my great grandmother. It’s much more stable made with real butter and milk, even in hot California July summers for my birthday cake. Never had it melt away.
Typically it’s 1egg per 1 TBS of egg replacer. (I have a dairy allergy so I cook with and without eggs)
So this recipe would use 2, depending on the type of egg replacement being used.
Happy baking!
I know you’ve mentioned you don’t like storing leftover ermine in the fridge and re-whipping, but why is that? What about it changes after refrigeration + re-whipping?
And in terms of its instability, how is it unstable? Is it severely sensitive to heat? Until about how hot? Does it weep or collapse easily even when only at room temp?
Lastly, do you know if this would work if I were to add your regular “whipped” caramel sauce from your caramel cake to the ermine, despite its hydration point? If so, up to how much can I add?
Ermine is the most unstable buttercream (in my opinion) it is bordering on breakage at the moment of making it fresh, in my experience storing buttercream of any kind requires care for proper remixing & emulsification since vegan butters are almost always the culprit (and most often contain way more moisture content than cow butters~ which is why I prefer Earth Balance *not sponsored) it’s the added moisture that seeps out upon storage (not to mention condensation that occurs during refrigeration & then bringing back to room temperature adding ore chaos to the mix) that causes breakage when remixing.
So all that being said I have not had success adding ANYTHING liquid as far as flavorins to Ermine, UNLESS you add that liquid flavoring to the custard process in lieu of the milk in the beginning. that would be my best offer as a workaround.
Click here for more about flavoring your butterrcreams
CLICK HERE for more info about ALL THE BUUTERCREAMS
How about raw cane sugar?
I have never heard of ermine buttercream. That’s really interesting! I’m going to have to try that. I love the no red dye in the cake as well. Beet root. Who knew? Thanks for sharing!
How much flaxseed to aqua faba to create egg replacer
2Tbs flax meal reconstituted with 6Tbs hot aquafaba if you prefer
can you tell me what vegan butter you use please?
I prefer Earth Balance but sometimes use Fleishmans Margarine
Earth Balance is great!
Can I use margerine instead of buttercream for the ermine buttercream?
This is a little off the topic, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to make the vegan Swiss buttercream frosting recipe with only a small portion (like maybe 1/4) of vegan butter rather than the full amount listed in the recipe. Would that work? Thanks.
I have seen a lot of white velvet cake recipes online and was wondering if I left out the beet root powder and the cocoa powder could this become a white velvet cake? Also would I need to replace the cocoa powder with flour?
Yes this recipe originated from my Vanilla Cake! CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen we’re can I get that wisk?
LOL I get more inquiries about that whisk than anything else! haha
It was a gift to me about 20 years ago, but the company is called Rosle – they are in business still, but I have a hard time finding that giant balloon whisk nowadays
Heya! This looks amazing! I was wondering if you could use ground flax seeds as the egg replacer? I’m from the uk and I don’t know if egg replacer is the same here
yes you can use it, 2 Tbs and then use 6Tbs of the liquid from the recipe to reconstitute it.
**Just a note, I do prefer the Plant Based Egg (or one similar- like Orgran? I think is in your country??- The flax is a high fat replacer, so it adds a slight “heaviness” or rather I should say Moistness that I dont think this recipe needs, since in my opinion it is already super moist!! That said, Yes you CAN use it, just be aware of that slight different in the final)
Oh!! I can only find orgran here, could it use it as a subtitute? Same amount?
Thank you and love your content!
Sorry for the late reply, my blog has been broken for a couple weeks and I could not reply!! Yes you can use it, I have not used that brand so I am not sure the result, but I think it should work. The PBE is able to go into the dry ingredients, and I am not sure about Orgran, so you may have to reconstitute it in some of the liquid ingredients here
Hi Gretchen and thank you so so much for your amazing knowledge and kindness, I am a vegan baker and I am so happy I finally came across this recipe! I was thinking of adding some cocoa powder to make a chocolate version!
When would you suggest to add the cocoa powder? I would put 3 TBS, and add them just before adding the milk to the toasted flour and sugar…Thank you so much again!
Sara
Hi there, I am assuming you mean for the buttercream? If so, then yes! Sounds like a good idea!
Thank you! Yes sorry I did not specify, I tried and it came out great but I added a lot more cocoa powder while I was mixing the buttercream to reach right taste and color…Success anyway!
My cake turned out quite dry. I baked it for 40 minutes in two 8 inch pans. Should I have baked it less?
A few things can contribute to a recipe not turning out exactly as intended. #1 yes too long baking could be the ultimate cause of a cake coming out dry, so I often dont like to rely on “exact times” but rather sight and touch to know when your cakes are done baking, All ovens bake slightly different as well. CLICK HERE for more into on How to Know When Your Cakes are Done But another reason could be the way you measure ingredients. The best method is to always use a scale CLICK HERE FOR MORE, because everyone seems to scoop ingredients into dry measuring cups differently. SO a heavy hand on the flour measurement could also cause a dry result.
If you used 8″ pans, versus my 7″ pans that could also be a reason. My 7″ pans are going to produce thicker layers than an 8″ pan so the time baking on an 8″ cake layer will always be less.
Hi Gretchen, was wondering if this egg replacer is suitable for this recipe? Was not sure if the potassium bicarbonate In it could change the red colour? I am from the uk and am not able to get the vegan egg replacer in your recipe.
Kind Regards.
https://www.thevegankindsupermarket.com/products/yes-you-can-vegan-egg-replacer-allergen-free-180g?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googleshopping&variant=31117519847518&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsbrxBRDpARIsAAnnz_P7xBt9LkhjDujyFrZTBoVs8SnCJnKj07DVPvZqfgwSwbdB1Pk5C0gaAuprEALw_wcB
Hey there, so basically the potassium bicarb, is a low sodium sub for baking soda, some egg replacers have leaveners in them (like EnerG) which I dont love… I prefer egg replacers that just bind so I can control my own leavening (thus the various reactions from them as well as you mentioned) as far as it working with this recipe, I don’t know how much of it is actually IN the egg replacer you listed, but one thing I KNOW for sure is this recipe did NOT work out (color was terrible) with baking soda rather than baking powder.
As a last resort, You can sub in flax egg for the egg replacer I am using 2 Tbs ground flax reconstituted with 6 Tbs liquid from the recipe. (Add the falx “egg” with the other wet ingredients
I haven’t tried the cake recipe yet (waiting for my local bulk foods place to stock their beet root powder), BUT I used this ermine buttercream recipe for the red velvet cake recipe I’m developing.
It is hands down the absolute BEST buttercream I have ever eaten in my entire life. I even used really cheap imitation vanilla because I ran out of my vanilla bean paste, and it was still phenomenal.
This recipe made enough to ice my 3-layer 8″ cake with just a tad left over. It decorates beautifully, and it freezes and thaws perfectly, too (decorated, at least. I haven’t tried in bulk yet)!
Gretchen, thank you so much for introducing the world to a vegan version of this buttercream. I don’t know how I ever lived without it!
Hi Gretchen, this looks amazing and can’t wait to make it myself! Question: do you think that the same measurements would work for 3 8” cake pans? Otherwise, how much % would you add for each ingredient? Hope you can let me know. Thank you!!
yes! Would be fine, you will just have SLIGHTLY thinner layers that’s all!
Hi friend!
I was wondering if this amount of beet powder lends any of that signature earthy flavor to the cake? I’d like to make this, but worry about that.
Thank you!
Hey there, while some people are more sensitive to this taste than others, I do find it gives a slight “sweet, earthy taste” but nothing that is offensive in my opinion! 🙂
Hello Gretchen. Would I be able to add fruit purées to flavor an ermine frosting? Or would that ruin/split it? I would love to try versions like banana, apple cinnamon, or mango and I don’t have access to fruit essences or dehydrated fruit powders.
Thankyou. You saved my life once again. Keep them coming.
This is the first time I have heard of the beet root powder. It’s a more natural color to the cake. Does it affect the flavor of the cake? Gretchen, remember the strawberry shower cake recipe you shared? I have made it for dinner guests and they absolutely loved it!! I’m looking forward to trying the beet root powder as long as it does not change the flavor of the cake. Would Whole Foods carry it?
Hi Ines! Yes it is a wonderful way to color our food naturally! I find it adds a very slight sweetness to the cake but I do not find it changes the overall taste of the cake. Red Velvet cake (in my opinion) is such an “odd” cake flavor to begin with- not many people can really put a finger on exactly what it tastes like, to me it is like a vanilla cake with a hint of chocolate?? So the beet root adds a slight “fruity” essence to it.
I believe Whole Foods would carry – if not, they may have freeze dried beets that you can pulverize to a powder yourself!
if i don’t have the exact same egg replacer you use, can i use a homemade flaxseed egg substitute instead? and would it be the same amount you use?
Yes! You can use 2 Tbs flax reconstituted with 6 Tbs liquid from the recipe
thank you! 🙂 i’m a little confused tho, why can’t i add the ground flax to the whole liquid in the recipe?
I have never been much of a cake baker… That said, I followed your recipe instructions and amounts as exactly as possible. The result looked (and tasted) fabulous, but, when I cut into it, the downward pressure of the knife caused the layers to slide and squeeze the icing out the sides of the cake. Where did I go wrong? I was cutting the cake in half so as to take half of it to my daughter and grandson. Further, on the ride to her house, the top two layers slid off of the bottom one. It all stayed in the large container I was transporting it in, so no real harm was done, but its glory was certainly diminished. What did I do wrong?
Hmmm this is odd! This has not happened to me! (at least not with a buttercream cake!- A fresh fruit whipped cream cake! Yes! I have had that nightmare!) But Usually buttercream icing (no matter which recipe you use) is like glue for the layers! The only thing I can guess is that it may be super hot where you live? Maybe humid? Condensation between the layers from a not cold cake when it was iced? Just throwing out ideas to trouble shoot the problem, but It’s hard to say for sure! i hope it tasted good at least! 😀
Oh, it tastes wonderful! In fact, I’m having a piece right now! I actually live in one of the coldest places in the U.S.: just south of the Canadian border in northern, N.Y. (350 miles north of New York City and 80 miles south of Ottawa). At present we have about 3′ of snow on the ground and piles of it higher than my head where we’ve plowed and shoveled it! I refrigerated the cake, and that has solidified the icing, so next time I may try icing the tops of the lower two layers and then chilling them before stacking them up and finishing the whole cake. Thank you for all of your beautiful and delicious creations. I’m the 75 year old grandmother of a teenaged boy who is vegetarian and has some severe food allergies. It’s wonderful to be able to treat him to one of your creations.
It’s also possible that I made a measuring mistake of some kind – although I was exacting. Or maybe the heat from the woodstove was enough to make the icing slippery?
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe?
No Sorry I don’t have that plug in for this recipe program
Hi Gretchen! I tried out the ermine buttercream, and I’m not sure what went wrong but it tasted so floury 🙁 I followed the steps exactly, and toasted the flour for 2 minutes (it even took on a tiny bit of color). I used oat milk instead of soy or almond, not sure if that’s what made it different? My end result of the roux/custard looked exactly like yours in the video, and I let it cool completely before I added it to the butter. It whipped up great, but then when I took a little taste of it I was so disappointed! I’m sure I did something wrong, but I can’t figure out what. Any clue why it would taste so floury?
Hey there! Well, it sounds like you did everything right!! YAY!!
But…… it also sounds like maybe you just don’t LIKE ermine buttercream??
I did not find a “floury” taste, to me it tastes smooth and creamy like custard, maybe if you can find VANILLA Soy Milk? Use that next time??
And add more vanilla extract to your final buttercream?
But again, don’t assume you did anything wrong, it’s very possible you just don’t prefer the taste of Ermine??
Hello Gretchen!
This cake tastes so good. Made it without frosting and my family loved it.
However, the mixture was bright red and turned out just brownish after baking. It was nothing like the ones you have on your photos.
Do you think adding more beetroot powder will work? Should I use baking soda instead of baking powder?
Hey thanks! I’m glad you tried it and liked it! I am also doing more “no icing cakes” as I get older I can’t seem to tolerate the sugar as I used to!! Anywhoooo…. No to baking soda, I’ve had to tweak this recipe to convert from baking soda to powder otherwise you definitely get a weird color after baking. Did you also use NATURAL NOT DUTCHED PROCESS cocoa? These things make a difference here, the reactions are what cause the color changes.
Was wondering if you ever tried hibiscus powder for the color?
Thank you.
Yes I have but not for this recipe. I use it mostly in icings and cheesecakes. I am not sure how it would react here with the chemical reaction though
CLICK HERE for my cheesecake recipe
Thank you for this!
What would you suggest if I want to make the icing into a chocolate ermine icing?
Thank you and I bought for book!
Love
Thank you so much!! Since the ermine icing is the least stable of all the buttercream, I would definitely add the chocolate/cocoa powder to the “custard” part in the beginning
Do 3/4 cup AP flour & add in 1/3 cup cocoa powder – proceed the same
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON ALL THE BC RECIPES
Perfect! Will give it a go.
Would you recommend ermine icing in a hot climate? How would it behave? I live in a tropical country!
Thank you Gretchen.
So excited to give this one a try! Can this recipe be halved and turn out ok??
Yes! Just be careful of your math!
Could I use cornstarch in the ermine buttercream to make it gluten free? If I do how much would you recommend I use? I’ll comment my results if anyone else was wondering if it works.
Hi Katy! I have not tried that, so I can’t be sure what to tell you~ I would look for a GF Ermine icing and model after that rather than try to make this one work, since I’ve never done it with cornstarch! 🙂
I’ll definitely do some research using your recipe and gluten free recipes online. I’m personally not gluten free but a family friend has quite a few dietary restrictions (Dairy, Gluten and Refined Sugar) and I’m basically the only person that can make cakes for them. Luckily I don’t have to look for a cake recipe because your Carrot Cake works great with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour and coconut sugar. I have a quick question, do you know the ratio of custard to Butter in Ermine Buttercream? I’ve been trying to figure it out but I’ve never gotten a answer through searching online. If it turns out alright I’ll be sure to leave a comment with the measurements.
So things went a bit wrong before I even got to the ermine buttercream. Because I made the cake gluten free it fell apart while I was getting it out of the pan. I forgot that last time I made this recipe gluten free I put the pans in the freezer so it would firm up. Luckily it still tasted good so I made a trifle with the Carrot Cake, Pastry Cream and your Apple Pie filling.
I made this recipe last week. It tasted amazing and the color was stunning. The only thing is that it was too dense. I made another recipe by itdoesnttastelikechicken. Perfecr texture and flavor, but the red didn’t come out. Then I made the other one with food coloring today. It was pretty okay. Not red enough. Good texture and pretty good flavor. But i really loved this one so i made it again tonight and used 2 teaspoons of vinegar and it came out so so fluffy. Everything about this cake came out perfect. Will def make it next week for a birthday cake.
This was an absolute train wreck for me. I don’t know if I did something wrong or the recipe is off. I will say that the sugar that was in the video looks very different from white sugar and the instructions say to whip the frosting but the video shows two different blender attachments for the frosting. I was making this as a surprise for my brother who loves red velvet anything. I’m really glad I didn’t give him a heads up. I, literally, had to throw the cake out. I was skeptical when I saw 2 cups of sugar in the cake batter and 2 cups in the frosting. My cake did not rise at all. Perhaps it was the sugar or the butter I used. In either case, this just didn’t work for me and I bake all the time. 🙁
Hello, where do you find natural cocoa powder? Everything I see is Dutch processed. Do you have a certain brand you recommend? Thanks!
Hi! You must not be from the USA because ALL WE HAVE HERE IS Natural! It’s harder to find Dutched process here, but I have been told by many people in other countries it is just the opposite!
If you can order from Amazon CLICK HERE this is natural
Hello,
can i use beetroot puree instead?
I have used the beet juice in the past for my first go at vegan red velvet cake here
Have you tried freezing then re-whipping ermine frosting? Does it work okay? I don’t need it to hold structure like for piping, I just dont want it to break/ become curdled/liquify/etc.
I have refrigerated it with bad results, so freezing would be the same thing.
From the written post:: Ermine buttercream can be quite fragile and on the verge of “breaking” so be careful not to add the custard too fast and make sure it is very cold
Recommended to ice your cakes or cupcakes immediately after making the fresh batch to avoid the trouble of trying to save a broken buttercream
I just wanted to add my 2 cents: this frosting does WONDERFULLY in hot or warm weather! Mind you, I didn’t put a cake outside on a hot day, but on a humid summer day in a minimally air-conditioned home, I had ZERO frosting movement. In fact, there’s been no case where I’ve had the frosting melt or become too soft, even in transit (again, in the summertime). It is far more stable than traditional American buttercream. (And delicious!)
Excellent! Thank you for the feedback
Do i need a stand up mixer for the butter portion? Also would you NOT recommend raw cane sugar?
Since this is a creaming method recipe the power of an electric mixer is what gets it light & fluffy- not necessarily a STAND mixer but an electric mixer is needed. Also Raw sugar is typically a very large grain sugar so it would be best to grind it to a finer consistency in a spice grinder or food processor first