November 14, 2013

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe


I was thinking the other day that I haven't made a cupcake recipe for quite some time now. Jerome had bought these cute little muffin cups for me and I was so excited to use them... so I decided, what could be better than a delicious vegan red velvet cupcake with a creamy cream cheese frosting? I find making cupcakes really therapeutic and relaxing. I love to put music on and have fun cooking and decorating the cupcakes... and sometimes dancing too hehe. While I am busy making the cupcakes, Jerome is always hovering close by with a fork and plate in hand waiting eagerly to eat one. We don't make cupcakes and naughty desserts very often so he sometimes gets a little bit excited and wants to eat them all. So, I try and get as many in the freezer as I can before they reach Jerome's lovely mouth hehe. On that note, all of our cupcakes freeze really well... we like to freeze them and give them to family and friends at a future date. These cupcakes are delicious, decadent and absolutely impressive... especially with the bright red colour. I have written in the tips at the bottom of this post about red food colouring and the beetroot juice alternative. They have a light chocolate flavour due to the cocoa content... if you would rather a more rich and dense mudcake-like cupcake then you can always add some melted dark chocolate to the batter. Well, I hope you all enjoy these as much as we do... I will give you a medal if you can stop at one! :)

This recipe uses the Australian metric system.
So, 1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 20ml and so on.


makes: 8
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes


Cupcake batter:
   1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
   2 teaspoons baking powder
   pinch salt
   1/4 cup cocoa powder
   ½ cup white sugar
   1/4 cup plain-flavoured oil
   ¾ cup Soy Milky Lite
   1 teaspoon vanilla essence
   ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
   2 teaspoon natural vegan red colouring

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting*:
   200g icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
   30g margarine
   50g vegan cream cheese



  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (365 °F) and line 8 cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Stir until combined.
  3. Add in the oil, soy milk, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and red food colouring. Beat for a couple of minutes or so until smooth without lumps.
  4. Divide the mixture between 8 cupcake liners. 
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or so until risen and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when touched.
  6. Take out of the oven and cool completely.
  7. Make the vegan cream cheese frosting by adding the icing sugar, margarine and cream cheese to a bowl and beating until smooth.
  8. Pipe or spread the frosting on to the cupcakes. 
  9. Serve immediately or store for up to three days. Enjoy! 


  • *The cream cheese frosting is delicious! I use toffuti cream cheese that is available from Coles. If you cannot find a vegan cream cheese or would not like to use it, feel free to use just a plain vegan butter cream recipe like our one here
  • You can purchase natural red food colouring online, from the supermarket or from your local health food store. Just make sure that it is vegan and not made from crushed beetles... eeeek! As an alternative, you could use concentrated beetroot juice for that red colour!
  • This recipe uses the Australian metric system. So, 1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 20ml and so on.
  • I decorated the cupcakes with coloured sugar. In a small bowl, I added a tablespoon of sugar and a drop of red food colouring and stirred until combined. I then sprinkled the sugar on to the tops of the cupcakes and stored the rest of the sugar for future use.
  • The cupcakes have a nice light chocolatey taste from the cocoa but if you are looking for a more dense cupcake with a rich chocolate flavour then you could always add some melted dark chocolate to the batter. This will make it extra chocolatey, more rich and more like a mud cake.


The nutrition information above is an approximate guideline. 


29 comments :

  1. These look wonderful (like everything else on here!). Do you have any tips on how to get the icing looking as good as it does in the photo? I never seem to be able to. Can't wait to try these!

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    1. Hi Natasha! You could always try watching some piping tutorials on youtube. That really helped me when I was first starting out. One tip I always tell others is that you don't need to do it in one continuous spiral. You could always pipe the bottom layer and stop, then add the middle layer and then add the top layer in three different motions. This is a great way to get used to the piping bag :)

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  2. Do these need to be stored in the fridge? Thanks! :)

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    1. Hello! I didn't need to store mine in the fridge. However, if you live in a very hot climate you may need to :)

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  3. Do you think I could substitute the soy milk with coconut milk?

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  4. Made these yesterday for an engagement party and they turned out so well. Everyone loved them. They were beautiful and fluffy. Thank you so much.

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    1. Oh I am so glad that you and your friends enjoyed them :)

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  5. hi would it work to use almond milk?

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  6. Can you use this as a cake?

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    1. Hi there! I haven't tried it as a cake. You may need to adjust the rising components as if you do it as a cake, it will be a lot heavier and may not rise :)

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  7. Hi it looks great and simple. Can i use white vinegar instead of apple cider?

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  8. hi dear... can i use full cream milk?

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    1. Hi there! Yes, you can use any type of vegan milk substitute :)

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  9. So pretty and moist - just beautiful, but they're chocolatey looking, not red velvety looking. :( I added 2 tablespoons liquefied beet root powder, and they're still dark chocolate looking... Can't wait to bake them again so I can try different measurements to see if they come out more red. Thanks for this AMAZING vegan delicious recipe!!

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    1. Hi Ashlee! Yes maybe try more next time... I just used vegan red colouring so it easily went red... hope it works out for you next time :)

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    2. I know this was asked ages ago but just as a note, I've read on another recipe that you shouldn't use Dutch process cocoa as the colour is too dark. So that may have been the problem for Ashlee.

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  10. Madison, this recipe is amazing! My cakes/cupcakes have always turned out dense and the domes on the tops would tend to collapse after removing them from the oven. However, when I used your recipe, they turned out spongy/fluffy and the domes did not sink in much! They were also really delicious. The best cupcakes I've ever baked. Thank you for this recipe! I plan to try out more of your vegan recipes.

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  11. These are adorable! They make me smile! :) Of course, they look delicious too!!

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  12. I am far from a baker or cook of any sort but I did a test run of these yesterday and they turned out perfect. I am so happy I found your site as I am going to use cupcakes to ask my future bridesmaids to be my bridesmaids and as my best friend is vegan I didn't want her missing out. These are the best and so easy. Thank you :D

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  13. Madison, thank you so much for this recipe. I baked these and my kids & hubby loved them. The icing is ridiculously amazing too. On another note, you wouldn't by any chance have a Soy Condensed milk recipe on hand?

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    1. Oh yay! I am so so glad. I don't have one sorry... but I can look into it for you!

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  14. Can I just double the recipe to make more - 8 wouldn't be enough for my work team!!!

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