Red Velvet Cake

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

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except the baking soda: plain flour, cocoa, brown sugar, vanilla extract.
2. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients: soy yoghurt, soy milk, sunflower oil, red food colouring, lemon juice.
3. Pour the wet into the dry a little at a time, whisking until smooth.
4. In a small bowl, combine the baking soda with the apple cider vinegar: it will foam up.
5. Pour the foam straight into the batter and stir briefly (don’t overmix).

2. Bake the cake

1. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 24 cm (9.4 in) springform tin.
2. Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 40–45 minutes, with the tin on the middle rack.
3. Toothpick test: it should come out dry.
4. Take it out and let it cool completely (at least 2 hours).
5. 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

1. In a bowl, beat the vegan cream cheese with the icing sugar (add half first and taste) and the vanilla extract.
2. Separately, whip the cream with electric beaters.
3. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, working from the bottom up.

4. Assemble the Red Velvet

1. Release the cake from the tin.
2. Trim off the darker crust: keep the scraps aside (you can crumble them for decorating).
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. Top with the second disc, fill the same way, then add the third.
6. Use a spatula to cover the sides and top with the remaining filling.
7. (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.
8. 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.