Eggless Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist, light and delicious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is an evergreen classic, that's the right fit for any special occasion! Here's a step-by-step recipe for the best eggless red velvet cake from scratch!
Servings 8 people
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
Dry ingredients
- 1.5 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled (Refer notes)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp white vinegar/lemon juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil, flavorless (I used canola oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp red food color
For the sugar syrup
- 2 to 3 tbsp sugar dissolved in the same amount of water
For the cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 cup / 113 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup / 226 grams cream cheese, softened
- 2.5 cups confectioner's/icing sugar, spooned and leveled (adjust as required)
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice, optional
Other ingredients
- Grated white chocolate, as required for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the eggless red velvet cake base
- Prepare an 8-inch cake pan. Grease the entire pan with oil and dust with flour. I placed a parchment paper at the bottom, for easy release of the cake from the pan. Also, preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C.
- Preparation of buttermilk- Measure out 1 cup of milk in your liquid measuring cup. Add 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar/lemon juice. Mix and leave it aside for 5-10 minutes. The milk will curdle, It is ready to be used in further steps.
- Meanwhile, while you wait for the milk to curdle, prepare the dry ingredients. Sift all the dry ingredients from a height, in a mixing bowl. Whisk well and set aside. Sift 2-3 times for a lighter and airy cake.
- Add the prepared buttermilk, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and red food color in another mixing bowl. Whisk well until everything is well combined and you have a homogeneous mixture.
- Make a well in the bowl of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix just until combined and no more flour pockets are visible. Do not over mix, or you will end up with a pretty dense cake.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin, tap to remove air bubbles, bake at 350 F for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, let it cool completely before frosting it.
For the red velvet cake icing (cream cheese frosting)
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat softened butter and cream cheese on medium speed, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. You may use an electric hand mixer too.
- Add vanilla extract and lemon juice.
- Also, sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar, beat on low speed initially, so that the sugar is well incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- Sift in another cup of powdered sugar, and continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar as required, for a thick, creamy and spreadable consistency. I used a total of 2.5 cups of powdered sugar, and it was the right consistency for layering and frosting the cake.
Assembling the cake
- You should get a flat-topped cake with this recipe. I sliced a very thin layer since I needed some crumbs for the decor. You can totally skip that and divide the cake into 2 layers with the help of a long serrated knife.
- Transfer one layer to a turntable or a plate. Brush with sugar syrup.
- Pipe out the cream cheese frosting using a plain, large piping tip, starting from the outer circumference towards the center. Smooth out the frosting with an offset spatula.
- Place the second layer of cake, brush with sugar syrup and apply a very thin layer of the frosting on top and the sides of the cake, using an offset spatula. This is the crumb coat which seals stray crumbs before the application of the second and the final layer of frosting. Chill the cake for about 30 minutes or until the crumb coat is firm. Pipe out the cream cheese frosting using the same plain, large piping tip, starting from the outer circumference towards the center. Also, frost the sides. Smooth out the frosting with an offset spatula. Decorate with cake crumbs and grated white chocolate. Refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes, so that the frosting sets well, and you have neat slices.
Notes
1. The use of cake flour results in light and soft baked goods, due to the low protein content in the flour. It has just 2 ingredients- all-purpose flour and cornstarch. If you can't find it, you can make your own cake flour. Here is how-
Measure out 1 & 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (maida), spooned and leveled.
Then remove 3 tbsp of flour and replace it with 3 tbsp cornstarch. Whisk well. Then sift it along with other dry ingredients. 2. Make sure all the ingredients for the cake and frosting are at room temperature. 3. Here is a tip I follow for flat-topped cakes, it works great all the time. Put a handful of ice cubes in a small baking tin, or make a small box out of aluminum foil. Place it in the lowest rack, just before you begin baking the cake. It works beautifully. This works for any other cake as well. What happens on doing this? The moisture from the melting ice, helps the cake bake evenly, resulting in a flat top. 4. Some more tips... Never open the oven door during baking (as tempted as you may be), for at least the first 30 minutes. Opening the oven door, lets some of the heat out, lowering the temperature inside, which may cause the cake to collapse. 5. To measure the flour, never scoop the flour out directly, you will end up with more flour than called for as it ends up being tightly packed. Always spoon the flour into the cup until it overflows, then level it off with a knife. 6. Do not over mix wet and dry ingredients.
Measure out 1 & 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (maida), spooned and leveled.
Then remove 3 tbsp of flour and replace it with 3 tbsp cornstarch. Whisk well. Then sift it along with other dry ingredients. 2. Make sure all the ingredients for the cake and frosting are at room temperature. 3. Here is a tip I follow for flat-topped cakes, it works great all the time. Put a handful of ice cubes in a small baking tin, or make a small box out of aluminum foil. Place it in the lowest rack, just before you begin baking the cake. It works beautifully. This works for any other cake as well. What happens on doing this? The moisture from the melting ice, helps the cake bake evenly, resulting in a flat top. 4. Some more tips... Never open the oven door during baking (as tempted as you may be), for at least the first 30 minutes. Opening the oven door, lets some of the heat out, lowering the temperature inside, which may cause the cake to collapse. 5. To measure the flour, never scoop the flour out directly, you will end up with more flour than called for as it ends up being tightly packed. Always spoon the flour into the cup until it overflows, then level it off with a knife. 6. Do not over mix wet and dry ingredients.