Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 tablespoons of food coloring is the same as this whole bottle 

I love trying new vegan recipes for my daughter with egg and dairy allergies. I’ve never tried a red velvet vegan cupcake recipe. These turned out really well!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes (~from egglesscooking.com)

Ingredients:

o   1 cup Non Dairy Milk (I used almond milk)

o   1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

o   1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

o   1 cup sugar

o   2 tablespoons Cocoa powder

o   1/2 teaspoon Baking powder

o   1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

o   1/2 teaspoon Salt

o   1/3 cup Oil

o   2 tablespoons Red Food Coloring (make sure that it’s vegan) (used entire bottle of red food coloring)

o   2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

o   1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

Procedure:

1.      Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and grease it lightly.

2.      In a medium size bowl, mix together the milk and vinegar allowing it to curdle. This will take about 5 minutes.

3.      Meanwhile in a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar too.

4.      Once the milk has curdled, stir in the oil, food color and the extracts. Whisk it well to combine.

5.      Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients to it, stirring it until all the ingredients come together. Small lumps are okay. Take care to see that you do not over mix it otherwise you will not get fluffy cupcakes.

6.      Fill each muffin tin 3/4ths full of the batter.

7.      Bake it for about 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean or with very little crumbs is okay too. Mine were done after 17 minutes. (Baked mine for 18-19 min)

8.      Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it remain there for 5 minutes. After that remove the cupcakes from the pan and let it cool completely before you can frost it.

Taste:

o   Since I have not tasted a regular red velvet cupcake before I have nothing to compare this vegan red velvet cupcake with, but I firmly believe that even those who have tasted the original version will love this vegan version too. It doesn’t taste very “chocolaty” or doesn’t have an overpowering vanilla flavor either. The original recipe uses some chocolate extract, which as the author suggests makes this cupcake stand out. I was not able to find it though.

My Notes:

1.      My red velvet cupcakes looked more like purple Velvet cupcakes. I think I should have used the entire bottle (28ml) of red food color instead of just the 2 tablespoons. The color of the cake depends upon the brand of food color you use. Mine looked more like cupcakes made with beets, which actually is a very good alternative for the red food color.