Delicious and vegan! I scaled it up to 28 servings (not without drama) and it won everyone over. I’ll definitely make it again, mostly to nail the red — which didn’t really pop here (luckily without affecting the flavour).
Quick info
- Servings: 10
- Prep: 4.5 hours (20 min for the base, 10 min for the filling, lots of cooling and decorating time)
- Baking: 45 minutes
- Tools: 2 bowls, electric whisk, 24 cm (9.4 in) springform tin, spatula for spreading the filling, ruler and toothpicks
- Heads-up: you can decorate it Christmas-style or however you like!
Ingredients
Base:
- 250g (8.8 oz) plain flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 200g (7.1 oz) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250g (8.8 oz) plain soy yoghurt
- 120ml (4.1 fl oz) soy milk
- 120ml (4.1 fl oz) sunflower oil
- 3 teaspoons red gel food colouring
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Filling:
- 250g (8.8 oz) vegan cream cheese
- 200ml (6.8 fl oz) soy cream (or other plant cream)
- 120g (4.2 oz) icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate:
- Strawberries
- Whipped soy cream (or other plant cream)
Method
1. Make the cake batter
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except the baking soda: plain flour, cocoa, brown sugar, vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients: soy yoghurt, soy milk, sunflower oil, red food colouring, lemon juice.
- Pour the wet into the dry a little at a time, whisking until smooth.
- In a small bowl, combine the baking soda with the apple cider vinegar: it will foam up.
- Pour the foam straight into the batter and stir briefly (don’t overmix).
2. Bake the cake
- Pour the batter into a greased and floured 24 cm (9.4 in) springform tin.
- Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 40–45 minutes, with the tin on the middle rack.
- Toothpick test: it should come out dry.
- Take it out and let it cool completely (at least 2 hours).
- Tip: if the cake won’t release, soak a tea towel in boiling water and rest the tin on it — the butter melts and the cake comes free!
3. Make the filling
- In a bowl, beat the vegan cream cheese with the icing sugar (add half first and taste) and the vanilla extract.
- Separately, whip the cream with electric beaters.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, working from the bottom up.
4. Assemble the Red Velvet
- Release the cake from the tin.
- Trim off the darker crust: keep the scraps aside (you can crumble them for decorating).
- Slice the cake into 3 discs: hold the ruler next to the cake, stick toothpicks in to mark the cutting line and use them as a guide.
- Place the first disc on the serving plate and spread on about 1/5 of the filling (a layer about 1 cm / 0.4 in thick).
- Top with the second disc, fill the same way, then add the third.
- Use a spatula to cover the sides and top with the remaining filling.
- (Optional) Spread a thin layer of cream all over, smooth it out and chill for 5 min to set a crumb coat, then cover completely.
- Decorate the sides with red crumbs from the scraps, and the top with whipped cream and strawberries.
5. Rest
Let the cake rest in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.
Comments & questions