This vegan red velvet cake is rich, moist, vibrantly red and topped with a delicious tangy lemon buttercream frosting.
Red velvet cake is not just cake dyed red. It’s a lot more than that.
It’s a mix of subtle flavors: vanilla, chocolate, buttermilk. All these flavors are represented gorgeously, and subtly.
It’s like you can’t quite put your finger on it, is that vanilla I’m tasting? Oh wait no, it’s chocolate.
Paired with a tangy lemon buttercream frosting this is a cake to remember!
Perfectly moist, dreamy and decadent, not to mention absolutely gorgeous with that glorious red color.
This cake is ideal for birthdays or other special occasions and it definitely stands out from the crowd.
It’s also really versatile and can be adapted for different size cake pans.
And if you love red velvet then also check out our vegan red velvet cupcakes and vegan red velvet cookies. You’ll also love our vegan blue velvet cake and vegan blue velvet cupcakes.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Cake:
Ingredient Notes
- Red gel food color – our favorite brand is Americolor Super Red. Gels are much more concentrated than liquid food colors, so you can use much less and still get a very rich vibrant color.
- White vinegar – distilled white vinegar does two things in this cake recipe. It reacts with the baking soda and the acid in the vegan buttermilk and causes the cake to rise. It also helps to strengthen the color.
- Canola oil – can be switched for vegetable oil if you prefer.
- Vegan buttermilk – we make a homemade vegan buttermilk by mixing lemon juice and soy milk. You can also make vegan buttermilk with almond milk but I prefer soy milk as it creates a thicker, richer buttermilk.
How To Make Vegan Red Velvet Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle into buttermilk.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract and red gel food color and mix it into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter between three 6-inch round cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper along the bottom) and smooth down.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- If your cakes have domes, then use a sharp knife to level them.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, frost and decorate.
The Frosting
We used our vegan lemon buttercream frosting recipe to frost this cake. The tangy lemon is a perfect complement to the flavor of red velvet.
A more common pairing for red velvet is a cream cheese frosting and our vegan cream cheese frosting also works great.
About That Color!
A note about the color. I used red food dye.
Initially we made this cake with a liquid red food color but have since switched to a red gel color (Americolor is our favorite brand) and it works wonderfully and is confirmed to be cruelty free.
From my research it seems that most red food dye is vegan these days. The non-vegan ingredients – cochineal or carmine – are not usually seen anymore.
I did try using beet juice to dye previous versions of this cake, and…. I did not manage to make that work – to put it nicely.
It was the worst I have ever made and the whole thing went straight into trash, to put it more bluntly.
First off – it tasted like beets! Yum. Or rather, not yum at all!
All that and the red color did not hold.
The chemical reactions that take place while baking stripped that red color right out of it and it was a not terribly appealing shade of reddish brown. But way more brown than red.
I’ve heard of beets being used successfully but it might be out of my purview, so red food dye it is!
Red food dye enabled this cake to come out beautifully, with the color holding absolutely perfectly.
Baker’s Tips
- Weigh your flour or spoon and level. If you have a food scale then I highly recommend weighing out the flour for perfect accuracy. If you don’t have a food scale, then spoon and level the flour. Spoon it into your measuring cup and level off the top with the back of a knife. Don’t pack it into the cup and don’t scoop the flour.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing the batter can result in a dense cake. Mix it with a spoon or a hand whisk (don’t use a stand mixer) and mix it until just mixed.
- Don’t let the batter sit for too long before baking. As soon as your batter is mixed, divide it between your cake pans and then bake right away. Don’t let it stand too long or it can affect the rise.
- Level the cakes. If the cakes have domed on top then it’s best to level them with a sharp knife. If I’m making a two layer cake I seldom do it, but for a three layer cake it helps to level them. Serious Eats have a great tutorial on how to level cakes with a knife.
Recipe FAQ
The flavor of vegan red velvet cake is a gorgeous blend of vanilla and chocolate, with a hint of tanginess from the vegan buttermilk.
For a gluten-free red velvet cake try a gluten free all purpose baking blend to replace the regular flour, in the same quantity. We like Bob’s Red Mill brand.
This recipe makes a perfect 12 cupcakes! Bake for 20 minutes. Or just check out our vegan red velvet cupcakes.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for a few days (3-4) or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
- Vegan White Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
For the Red Velvet Cake:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder Unsweetened
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice + Soy Milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Red Gel Food Color
For the Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray three 6-inch cake pans (*see notes for different pan sizes) with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle into buttermilk.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract and red gel food color and mix it into a batter. Don't overmix.
- Divide the batter between the three prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- While the cakes are cooling, add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, lemon extract and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If needed add more lemon juice (see notes*).
- If your cakes have domes, then use a sharp knife to level them.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, frost and decorate.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method – spoon the flour into a measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife – don’t scoop it and don’t pack the flour into the cup. Alternatively weigh it on a food scale.
- Vegan buttermilk can also be made with almond milk. Other non-dairy milks may not curdle as well as soy or almond milk but could still be used.
- Red gel food color. We used Americolor brand and highly recommend it.
- Level the cakes. If the cakes have domed on top then it’s best to level them with a sharp knife. If I’m making a two layer cake I seldom do it, but for a three layer cake it helps to level them.
- Frosting – the amount of lemon juice you need for your frosting will depend on the brand of vegan butter you use. Stick style vegan butter has a much lower water content than a soft tub style vegan butter. Only use as much lemon juice as you need to get a thick but spreadable frosting.
- Baking pan sizes. This cake can adapt as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes
- Two 7-inch round cake pans – bake for 25 minutes
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30 minutes
- One 9×9 square cake pan – bake for 25 minutes
- Cupcakes – This recipe makes a perfect 12 cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Gluten-Free – if you’d like to make this cake gluten-free then I recommend using a gluten free all purpose baking blend to replace the regular flour.
- Storing and freezing – store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. The frosted or unfrosted cake is freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- This recipe has been updated with new photos and lots of extra tips, but the recipe itself is the same.
I made this recipe and used lime extract instead. Turns out perfect and very tasty!! Thank you!!
Oh awesome! So glad to hear it was delicious!
Hello, can I use another type of vinegar? That type of vinegar is very hard to find in my country. Thank you!
You can use apple cider vinegar if you can’t get white vinegar.
Can I use coconut sugar instead of white sugar?
Yes you can.
This was by far the best red velvet cake I have ever had!!!!! Thank you so much for the recipe! Its so moist and delicious!
Yay! Thanks so much for the amazing review Karen!
I made this for my sister’s birthday as we are both vegans and she loved it. She said it tasted great and was super moist, not dry or crumbly at all. I used a separate vegan cream cheese frosting recipe and it worked beautifully. I used two 8 inch pans and they turned out fine, on the thinner side but still worked well. For a vegan cake, I would never be able to tell the difference from a regular classic red velvet. Delicious!
Thanks for the awesome review Raven!
Hi, do you know if I could you distilled malt vinegar instead?
I’m not sure, I haven’t used that, I’m not sure if the acidity would be the same.
Absolutely delicious. First cake to go at our 4th of July BBQ, vegans and non-vegans alike. I used Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese for the frosting.
Awesome Michele! Thanks so much for the great review!
Hi! I’m looking to make this for my brothers birthday and was wondering if cake flour and Dutch processed cocoa powder would make too much of a difference to use?
It should be fine, though I haven’t tested it with those changes, but my guess is it should be fine. Cake flour ‘may’ result in a more crumbly cake, so if it does end up a bit more fragile/crumbly then that will be why.
Hi, I tried this recipe twice and my cakes turned out brownish! The batter was red beforehand. What happened and how can I fix this?
It sounds like a quality issue in the brand of red food coloring that you’re using. Our favorite brand is Americolor and it really turns out great.
Hiya! I’ve made and loved this recipe before so coming back to it. Quick question – in the pictures for this recipe, what did you use to decorate the cake? It looks fantastic!
Hi Karrnan, so glad you loved the recipe! Our cake layers were slightly domed so we needed to level them, and the excess we just crumbled and used the cake crumbs for decoration. 🙂
This is the 1st vegan cake I ever tried to make. It came out better than I expected. The frosting held up well at room temperature. I used Miyokos stick vegan butter and the frosting was wonderful. This is a great recipe and I really appreciate your kitchen chemistry in coming up with perfect substitutes for things like buttermilk and eggs.
Thanks so much Liz! 🙂