What can I use instead of red food coloring for red velvet cake?

Red velvet cake requires a lot of red food coloring, and if that doesn't sit well with you there are natural alternatives. Pure beet juice. Beet powder. Pure pomegranate juice. Dried hibiscus flowers steeped in hot water, strained. Cranberries boiled with enough water to cover, strained. Nov 30, 2016

What does red velvet cake have in it?

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 a substitute for vinegar in red velvet cake?

Is it necessary to use vinegar when baking red velvet cake? If you don't want to use vinegar, you can substitute an equal amount of lemon juice . If you want to skip the acidic liquid altogether, you can substitute a tablespoon of baking powder for each teaspoon of baking soda.

Why does my red velvet cake turn out brown?

The red food colouring makes the cake batter prone to splitting, and turns everything it touches red; a couple of grams over on the cocoa powder and the cake goes brown instead of a rich red; the cream cheese frosting has a tendency to turn to gloop at the very last minute for no apparent reason; and the list goes on.

What is the best cocoa powder for red velvet cake?

The Best Cocoa for Red Velvet Cake Is Natural Cocoa Natural cocoa is the best cocoa for red velvet cake for two reasons. With a higher acidity, natural cocoa works with the cake's baking soda and buttermilk to leaven the cake to a tight, tender crumb. The results are an almost melt-in-your-mouth tender cake.

What filling goes best with red velvet?

In my opinion, cream cheese frosting pairs best with red velvet's flavor and this frosting recipe is really simple. You need brick-style cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, a splash of milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt to offset the sweetness.

Why is red velvet cake expensive?

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.

What is a good substitute for red food coloring?

Try using concentrated beet juice in place of red food coloring. Berries - Raspberries, Cranberries, Currents, Goji, Strawberries are all the most red when they are fresh and in season. Berries make a star feature to a dish whether they are cooked, pureed or just left raw.

What if I don't have red food coloring?

Perhaps the most commonly used substitute for red food coloring is beet juice.

How do you dye a cake red naturally?

There are a few ways to naturally colour a red velvet cake, but my preferred method is using beetroot powder . Beetroot powder is created from dehydrated or dried fresh beets that have been ground into a powder. It's super versatile and subtly sweet, so it's perfect for colouring frostings and baked goods.

How to make red colour for red velvet cake?

Mix cocoa with vanilla essence. Using a toothpick, add gel food colouring gradually in small amounts along with a little extra water. Step 2: Mix the red food colouring, cocoa and vanilla essence mixture well to form a paste.

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 can I use instead of red food coloring for red velvet cake? ›

How to make red colour for red velvet cake? ›

References