What does red velvet cake have in it?

Today, red velvet cake is made by combining cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour as well as buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring that gives the cake its iconic red tint. In a classic red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting is paired but the cake can be really be frosted with anything.

Does red velvet cake count as chocolate?

No, Red Velvet Cake is not just Chocolate Cake . While both Red Velvet Cake and Chocolate Cake use cocoa, that's where the similarities basically end. Chocolate Cake is made with Dutch processed cocoa, melted chocolate, or both.

What flavor is red velvet actually?

What flavor is red velvet? While there are cocoa undertones, red velvet is not chocolate cake because it balances both chocolate and vanilla flavors. It contains cocoa but not the same quantity as traditional chocolate cake, resulting in a more subtle cocoa flavor and tanginess due to the buttermilk and vinegar .

What makes red velvet cake so expensive?

Unlike many people claim, its not just tainted chocolate cake. The cocoa powder is used in less quantity and the taste develops by the mixing of vinegar and buttermilk with the cocoa powder. The recipe involves many ingredients in small quantity. The frosting- if used cream cheese is an expensive element in itself .

Why do you put vinegar in red velvet cake?

White Vinegar: It sounds like a strange ingredient in a cake, but it is essential in a red velvet cake. This recipe calls for baking soda to leaven the cake (make the cake rise). The small amount of added vinegar allows the soda to do its best work .

Why do you add vinegar to red velvet?

The buttermilk and vinegar give the cake that tender, light, and fluffy texture . Red velvet cake is also usually paired with white cream-cheese frosting. The white contrast highlights the lush red color, while the tanginess of the cream cheese plays off the buttermilk so well.

What's the difference between red velvet and devil's food cake?

Devil's food cake typically has coffee, sour cream, or water in the batter. While red velvet cake has tangier flavored liquids like buttermilk or vinegar . The different liquids also mean that Devil's food cakes have more moisture, which results in a more tender cake than red velvet.

What is traditional red velvet cake made of?

Popular in the southern U.S., red velvet cake is a vanilla cake with a few tablespoons of cocoa powder and red food coloring mixed in. Vinegar and buttermilk bring some acid to the batter, adding a bit of tanginess that balances out the sweet cream cheese-butter frosting that is standard.

What is red velvet cake mix made of?

Ingredients. Enriched Flour Bleached (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate), Cocoa Processed with Alkali.

What was the original red velvet cake made of?

Around the 1900's cake recipes with cocoa as the main ingredient began to surface. People were finding recipes for cocoa velvet cakes, red cocoa cakes and other "cocoa" types of cakes.

Is red velvet just chocolate dyed red?

While Chocolate Cake is made primarily with cocoa powder and sometimes melted chocolate, Red Velvet Cake is made with a small amount of cocoa powder, but is also known for its signature bright red color, which is usually achieved by adding red food coloring to the batter .

Red Velvet Bars | vegan, gluten-free, healthy cake recipe

By Ela on 10. February, 2019 | 65 Comments. This post may contain affiliate links*. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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5 from 11 votes

Rich and creamy red velvet bars made with natural beet powder (NO food coloring)! The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, high in antioxidants and easy to make. This blog post is kindly sponsored by SUNFOOD, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Red Velvet Bars

This is hands down the best cake I ever made! I am not kidding. I made many amazing desserts like cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, pancakes, crepes, bars etc but this one is so special. It’s rich, moist, soft, creamy, lush, and super delicious! The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and easy to make. You can make red velvet bars as I did or use a round cake tin to make a beautiful red velvet cake. I didn’t use any artificial food coloring which you can find in most red velvet recipes. Instead, I used 100% natural beet powder which is so much healthier than a red food dye.

Made with simple wholefood ingredients

These healthy red velvet bars contain only wholesome ingredients like oats, shredded unsweetened coconut, plant-based milk, raw cacao powder, beet powder, cashews etc. There is no need to use dairy, eggs, butter, cream cheese or food coloring. Even though this recipe is vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free, it still turned out exceptionally good.

As mentioned before, I never made a cake before which is so rich and moist and I am sure I will make this dessert more often in the future. Even my boyfriend loves it and he is not a big fan of desserts!

No food coloring!

I wanted to make this cake as natural as possible, that’s why I used Sunfood’s beet powder. This amazing powder is organic, vegan, gluten-free, Non-GMO, Kosher and has an incredible red color which is 100% natural. No artificial food dye, no chemicals, just dried beetroots in powder form.

Beets are known as a nitrate-rich superfood. Nitrates may support healthy blood flow, increase energy, and stamina. Their Beet Powder also has betaine, which may help liver function, cellular reproduction, and aid in the creation of carnitine — which helps your body turn fat into energy.
Consuming Beet Powder on a regular basis can lead to:₂
Youngercomplexion
Increased vitality
Healthier heart
Optimal longevity
Gracefulaging
(2) Craig S. Betaine in human nutrition1’2. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;80(3):539-549.

Cream

I don’t know what I love more about this recipe, the beautiful red bottom or the rich luscious cream. The cream contains no oil at all and the main ingredient is cashews. You will need to soak the cashews for best results but if you put them in hot water it takes only about 45 minutes.

I haven’t tried a nut-free version in this recipe yet but the thick part of a can (or better two) of coconut milk could work as well. You need to put the can in the fridge overnight and then use only the thick cream, not the water. The result will be different though since cashews add more creaminess, in my opinion.

You can easily prepare the cream in a blender which works best for this recipe. If you don’t have a blender, a food processor might work too.

These Red Velvet Bars are:

Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
Gluten-free
Oil-free
Can be made refined sugar-free
Can be made grain-free
Soft
Rich
Moist
Healthier than most red velvet desserts
Easy to make
Great for Valentine’s Day, dessert or a birthday party

Gluten-Free Red Velvet Bars

I used oats for this recipe which I processed in a coffee grinder to make oat flour. You can use regular oats or gluten-free oats and process them in a blender. You can also use store-bought oat flour.

To make the recipe grain-free you could possibly use buckwheat flour instead of oat flour. I didn’t try it out in this recipe but it should work fine. If you aren’t gluten-free you can most likely use all-purpose flour (wheat flour) or spelt flour.

Should you recreate these red velvet bars, please leave a comment below and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your recreations.

Red Velvet Bars

Author: Michaela Vais

These Red Velvet Bars are vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and super easy to make. They are rich, soft, moist, creamy, and delicious. Perfect for dessert, breakfast or a birthday party!

5 from 11 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (150 g) oat flour (gluten-free if needed)
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sweetener of choice (see notes)
7/8 cup (75 g) shredded unsweetened coconut (see notes)
2 tbsp beet powder
3/4 tbsp cacao powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

1 cup (240 ml) plant-based milk
1/3 cup (80 g) mashed banana (see notes)
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream/Pudding:

1 cup (240 ml) plant-based milk
2 1/2 tbsp (20 g) cornstarch (see notes)
7 tbsp (80 g) granulated sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (180 g) cashews (soaked)

Instructions

I recommend measuring the ingredients ingramson akitchen scale.
Soak cashews in hot water for about 45 minutes, then drain the water.
Meanwhile, start making the cake. Preheat oven to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line a baking dish with parchment paper. My baking dish measures 9"x6" (23 x 15 cm).
Process the shredded unsweetened coconut in an electric coffee/spice grinder or blender. Then put all dry ingredients into a bowl and stir with a whisk.
In another bowl combine the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk until combined.
Spoon the batter into the baking dish and bake in the oven for about 22-25 minutes and let cool.
To make the cream, add milk, cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla extract into a small saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring.
Once the pudding boils turn off the heat. Set aside.
Put the cashews into a blender (preferably a high-speed blender), add the pudding, and mix until the cream is completely smooth (might take a minute or two) and pour it onto the cooled cake.
Put the baking dish into the freezer for about 3 hours to set (or until the cream is not soft anymore).
Cut into bars and enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge.

Notes

Granulated sweetener: You can use regular sugar, Erythritol, Xylitol (birch sugar, coconut sugar, etc.).
Nuts: You can use 75 g ground almonds (almond flour) or any other ground nuts of choice.
You could use applesauce instead of banana. An even better idea would be to use beet puree, which will also add a nice color!
Cornstarch: You can use tapioca flour/starch or arrowroot flour/starch instead of cornstarch.

Nutrition Facts

Red Velvet Bars

Amount per Serving

Red Velvet Bars | vegan, gluten-free, healthy cake recipe - Elavegan (2024)

Red Velvet Bars

Made with simple wholefood ingredients

No food coloring!

Cream

These Red Velvet Bars are:

Gluten-Free Red Velvet Bars

Red Velvet Bars

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

Cream/Pudding:

Instructions

Notes

FAQs

What does red velvet cake have in it? ›

Is red velvet just chocolate dyed red? ›