Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion for an oversized single slice of vegan red velvet cake!
I am a fan of That Holiday, but I realize not everyone is. The past few V-days have been good to me.
My freshman year I received flowers from a secret admirer. One year my ex-boyfriend conspired with my roommate to cook me an amazing candlelit dinner and chocolate cake (which was especially impressive given that I didn’t know he could make anything but ramen). Another year, a bunch of girlfriends and I pitched in for a monstrous chocolate cake and split it 12 ways. And the first year Erik and I started dating, I was working late on V-day—teaching my baking class—and came back to find my dorm room strewn with rose petals, cute signs, chocolate, a little homemade heart-shaped cookie and Erik waiting to take me to dinner.
Anyway, the recipe:
I made this cake three times. The first recipe I tried used a 1:1 ratio of flour to sugar. The cake came out with a pocked, sticky top with crunchy edges that stuck so badly to the pan that it was almost impossible to salvage. But I still tried because I hate wasting food. But after frosting it with a whipped cream/Greek yogurt frosting, it became clear that all the sprinkles in the world couldn’t save the precarious lean. It couldn’t be shown to the world.
So I tried again, this time lining the bottom with ungreased parchment paper (tip: always grease your parchment paper. Unless you’re making cookies). The second cake came out cemented to the parchment paper. Both the first and second batches of cake became cake balls.
With the third cake, I finally listened to my instincts and reduced the amount of sugar. Sure enough, the pockmarked, sticky top disappeared and final cake came out perfectly sweet, smooth and flat.
Or so it seemed. I didn’t bother trimming the top, but upon stacking the cake wedges, the gentle leeaan of the cake made it apparent that the layers weren’t quite flat.
Notes
The cake itself is vegan, but the 3-ingredient Greek yogurt frosting I’ve listed below is not. The one downside to the Greek yogurt frosting (aside from the fact that it doesn’t taste like a sugary buttercream, I suppose) is that it’s not really thick enough to spread in thick layers between the cake–but you can always serve the cake with extra frosting.
If you want a stiffer or sweeter frosting, use your favorite frosting. This cake isn’t too too sweet so if you have some really sweet leftover cream cheese frosting lying around for example, this is an excellent application for it.
To assemble a layer cake slice, it’s simply a matter of baking 1 thin round of cake, slicing it into six equal wedges, and stacking + frosting the wedges. Try this technique with any of your favorite cake recipes!
A single slice of red velvet cake
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Greek yogurt frosting
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the almond milk, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.
- In another small bowl, sift the dry ingredients together until thoroughly incorporated.
- Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour into the greased pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the top looks firm and dry around the edges; nothing should jiggle. Let cool completely, then cut into six equal wedges.
- If making the Greek yogurt frosting, simply stir all ingredients together. Stack and frost cake wedges with your desired frosting.
- For a chocolate drizzle on top, melt a few tablespoons of chocolate chips in the microwave (in 30 second-or-less increments–be careful not to scorch your chocolate!). Once smooth, dip a fork in the melted chocolate and shake it over the cake to create a deliciously haphazard drizzle. Top with
- Top with sprinkles and serve with extra frosting if desired!
Kaylie @ Skinny Muffin
Ugh. Yum. I think I just gained 5lb by looking at that. Want. It. Anyway.
erika
Lol well good thing you can afford it since you’re so healthy and fit! 😉
Kathy Patalsky
great recipe! and the yogurt frosting could easily be veganized with a coconut or soy yogurt I am guessing. Some coconut yogurts are now made in “greek yogurt” flavors!
Happy to share this on FindingVegan!
erika
Thank you Kathy!! Yes, that sounds fabulous–I didn’t know there are coconut greek yogurts now!
Richa
gorgeous slice and such a fantastic idea to cut up that cake and layer it:)
erika
Thank you Richa! 🙂
Jennifer/MealDiva
Beautiful! I love everything about this your post –especially how you shared that you made the cake three times! Things like that happen to me all of the time! 🙂 It turned out great looking! 🙂
erika
Thanks Jennifer! I know, aren’t baking fails the worst? I can’t bring myself to throw them out most of the time either, so I end up with a lot of bags in the freezer!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I’ve been absent for awhile and have missed reading your posts! I so enjoyed reading this one!! Love the leaning cakes (been there!) and love the recap of some great V-days you’ve had. So, so nice. But cracked up on the comparison of cakes and relationships LOL!
Bam's Kitchen
So many layers… pretty amazing. I also love that it is egg free and milk free. Happy Valentines day to you.
Joanne
What a beauty!! I love that it makes one HUGE slice. Perfect for sharing….or NOT sharing, as the case may be 😛
Katie (The Muffin Myth)
I love your single slices cakes! Sometimes healthy eating is all about portion control and it’s so much better to have just that one slice of cake. If I had an entire cake sitting around there would be trouble with a capital T! But wait – I’ve never, not even once, greased my parchment paper. Maybe I’m using an especially non-stick brand? Who knows! Anyways, enjoy your cake!
Selena @ thenutritiouskitchen.com
Oh my goodness this cake is BEAUTIFUL! I am not even a huge red velvet fan but I so want to try this! It looks so delicious and I can’t believe how healthy the ingredients are! I’m a huge fan of greek yogurt “frosting” so no problem there. Can’t wait to try this 🙂