Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
Rich, moist, and sinfully delicious, this Eggless Red Velvet Cupcake recipe is an absolute show-stopper, and you will never regret choosing this velvety-textured treat when planning a dessert for your party or get-together. These vegan cupcakes have drool-worthy vanilla-chocolaty perfection in every bite.
Its deep red color and perfect sweetness will satisfy your taste buds, and its brilliance will enchant your dessert-loving soul!
If you love eggless red velvet cupcakes as much as we do, then you are in for a treat. This vegan, vibrant, and flavorful dessert, topped with swirls of creamy frosting, will brighten up any occasion and spread cheerfulness just like its vibrant hue.
Do bake these beauties to blend with your Valentine’s Day theme, and trust me, these cupcakes will be a visual treat that’s hard to resist!
Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
Red Velvet Cakes and Cupcakes are loved worldwide for their heavenly deliciousness. Everyone loves cupcakes (kids and adults alike), as these little bites of happiness are a great alternative to a massive slice of cake (for the health-conscious).
Moreover, these individual cupcakes are every cake lover’s dream dessert as they are portion-sized, and can be enjoyed guilt-free.
These eggless red velvet cupcakes are so simple to make with a tender-light crumb made with your everyday pantry staples and a velvety cream cheese frosting that will completely woo you.
The red food color is a significant game changer that lends these sweet stunners their unique name and identity!
Reasons You’ll ♡ Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
Even if you are not a pro at baking, I can assure you that you will love making these little charming marvels, and every step of baking will be as enjoyable as every blissful bite you eat, plus —
- It has a beautiful flavor
- Is tender and moist
- Luscious and tangy cream cheese frosting is a cherry on top
- Scalable recipe and easily customizable too, and
- A complete crowd-pleaser recipe!
It also makes a great gifting option during celebrations and events. Being versatile, these eggless red velvet cupcakes can be experimented with different flavors and frostings, and you can decorate them in your own unique ways!
As a bonus, these yummy cupcakes can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or frozen for later.
Eggless Red Velvet Ingredient List
All-purpose flour — This is the main ingredient that renders structure to the recipe. An alteration in the measurement may not give the desired results; therefore, be sure to measure the flour correctly so you don’t end up with a dry cake.
Cornstarch — The addition of cornstarch makes the cake tender and lighter in texture as it helps retain moisture, which results in a finer crumb. It stabilizes the cake’s structure by preventing the batter from getting dense.
Sugar — Added primarily for sweetness, it also adds moisture and a tender crumb, enhancing the cake’s overall flavor.
Baking soda and baking powder — These leavening agents give the cake the best rise by providing the required aeration and a beautiful, tender texture after baking.
Unsweetened cocoa powder — It adds the signature hint of cocoa color to these cupcakes. This ingredient renders the chocolatey or brown color of the cupcakes and the drool-worthy flavor.
Salt — The flavor neutralizer! Be sure not to leave out the salt, or you’ll have a bland cake.
Vanilla extract — Adds a blissful flavor and a subtle aroma to the eggless red velvet cupcakes.
Milk + vinegar — Buttermilk made of milk and vinegar contributes to these cupcakes’ lovely moisture and tenderness. Vinegar adds a little extra acid that activates the baking soda and helps brighten the red hue. Also, it contributes a subtle tang to the red velvet cupcakes.
Vegan butter — Makes these cupcakes supremely moist and creates a delicate texture.
Red food coloring — Concentrated gel food coloring gives these cupcakes their signature deep red color, making them look irresistible. You can use any good food color, but Wilton gel Red food color works the best. As a substitute to food color natural Beets powder works great too!
Cream cheese — Always use ingredients at room temperature as they mix uniformly and incorporate evenly into the batter. Here, you can start with room-temperature cream cheese for the best results. If the cream cheese is cold, you’ll have a lumpy frosting.
Unsalted butter — Use softened butter at room temperature before making the frosting. If cold, the frosting will be lumpy. If melted, the frosting will be runny.
Powdered sugar — Helps to sweeten the frosting. Powdered sugar blends evenly and thickens the frosting.
Vanilla extract — For an enticing flavor and aroma!
Eggless Red Velvet Cake Tips and Variations
Sifting is essential — Sifting makes the dry ingredients lighter and airier, resulting in a softer and fluffier cake. Sifting is also necessary for the accurate measurement of the ingredients. So, ensure there are no lumps of baking soda or cocoa powder and the ingredients are thoroughly sifted.
For the moistness that stays — Butter adds incredible moisture to the batter, making the cupcakes remain moist for longer. However, you can substitute vegetable oil for butter if you prefer.
Buttermilk for the fantastic texture — Please do not skip adding the buttermilk. Buttermilk helps the cupcakes achieve the incomparably tender texture that makes them so blissfully yummy. The acidic property of the buttermilk helps combine the baking soda and cocoa powder, giving it rise and texture.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your buttermilk substitute easily by following these steps: Combine 1 cup milk at room temperature with 1 and ¼ teaspoon of white vinegar. Stir together and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can now use this fresh buttermilk as directed in the recipe below.
Do not skip vinegar — When combined with the leaving agents (baking soda and baking powder), vinegar starts a chemical reaction that helps the eggless cupcakes rise. This chemical reaction together produces carbon dioxide bubbles, which render the cupcakes the feather-like texture they are loved for. Be rest assured, you won’t taste the vinegar in this recipe.
For the love of chocolate flavor — Want it more chocolatey? Add more cocoa powder! You can add up to 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder if you prefer a slightly intense chocolaty flavor. But these would make darker cupcakes.
Do not replace milk/vegan milk — Since this is an egg-free cake, do not substitute milk/vegan milk, as it plays an essential role in the success of this recipe.
A quick baking hack — Never over-mix the cake batter, as this causes the gluten in the flour to overdevelop, leading to dense cupcakes. So, when combining the wet and dry ingredients, mix them just enough.
Are you planning for a whole cake? Well, this delicious recipe easily converts into an entire cake. It can be doubled to yield two 8-inch cake layers (bake time: 25- 30 minutes) or a 9x 13-inch cake (bake time: about 30 minutes).
For top-notch frosting — Before decorating your eggless red velvet cupcakes with beautiful frostings, ensure they have cooled completely. If they are still warm, the frosting will slide off them.
For frosting, use Room-temperature dairy — Starting the frosting with cream cheese and butter at room temperature is imperative. Cold cream cheese and butter is a one-way ticket to a lumpy frosting, so avoid it. It is best to plan and allow the ingredients to soften at room temperature ahead of time.
Substitute — You can bake this eggless red velvet cake with wheat flour. But I would suggest you use half of the wheat flour and half white flour as wheat flour is denser than the all-purpose flour.
Key to achieving the perfect color — These eggless red velvet cupcakes are so-called because of their deep red color that comes from the added food color. To get their signature red color, make sure to add the right amount of cocoa powder and red food color to create the color magic.
Let me know what you think!
Are you impressed by these gorgeous beauties and drooling over their pretty color and the beautiful cheese frosting?
Then why not just make a few?
Let’s gather the handful of ingredients that are needed and begin with the baking venture.
Should you make these Eggless Red velvet cupcakes, please let me know your thoughts by sharing your comment below.
And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.
Are you craving more? Try our other eggless cupcakes -
Follow the step-by-step instructions below to make the best Eggless Red Velvet cupcake recipe
Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1¼ cups All purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon Wilton gel Red food color or Beetroot color (liquid)
WET INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup Unsalted vegan butter
- 1 cup Vegan Milk
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1¼ cup Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
FOR FROSTING
- 8 oz Cream Cheese softened (plant-based)
- ½ cup Soften Vegan Butter
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
PRE- PREPARATIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line your muffin pans with 12 cupcake liners. Set it aside.
- Combine milk and vinegar in a cup.
- Stir and set it aside for 5 to 10 minutes until it curdles.
MAKING RED VELVET CUPCAKES
- Whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Sift them to remove lumps of flour and cocoa powder.
- Mix and set it aside.
- Using a whisk or balloon attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Add vanilla essence to this mix.Add the red food coloring and milk + vinegar combo (buttermilk) to the mixing bowl.Mix in the dry ingredients.
- Mix until just combined; do not over-mix the batter. Keep scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Evenly distribute the batter between 12 cupcake liners. Fill each liner about halfway full.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Once baked, remove the pan from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in pans for 2 minutes before removing them from their cavity. Set them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Soft and velvety cupcakes are ready.
FROSTING
- Using an electric mixer, beat the vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt on low speed until smooth.
- Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Transfer cream cheese frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a nozzle and pipe a swirl onto each cupcake. Garnish with a few crumbles of red velvet cupcakes (crumble up one of the extra cupcakes) and enjoy!
VIDEO
RECIPE NOTES
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of food colors are suitable for these red velvet cupcakes? Red food color is the most appropriate, and this recipe uses the same. You can achieve the right level of red color by using any of the following:- Liquid food color- 1 tablespoon
- Gel food color- 1 teaspoon
Can i bake these cupcakes in microwave n how much time is needed
Chetna, I have not tried this recipe in a microwave. This is something you have to experiment on your own. Good luck!
Thanks ruchi
I tried this recipe & I have couple of questions.
1. My cupcake was dense . is that okay ? if not then what the solution.
2. I have used regular sugar that comes in big bazar kinds is that okay or do i have to make it in powdered form before mixing it with butter.
3. My cup cake top layer was a bit hard. Dont know why.
Thanks
Thanks for trying the recipe Tanya. These cupcakes turn out very light and fluffy. If they turned out dense then the possible reasons are -
1. Over-mixing of batter. Over-mixing results in dense and chewy textured cupcakes. Mix the batter until all the ingredients are well blended.
2.This recipe calls for creaming of butter and sugar. Granulated sugar (the one you have used) is much more difficult to cream as compared to superfine sugar because of its large crystal size. This could be a possible reason why the cupcakes turned dense. Creaming butter & sugar incorporates air in a batter. That’s what make a cupcake light and fluffy.
3. Couple of reasons for cupcakes to become hard on top – If your oven temperature is too hot or if the cupcakes were placed too close to the heating element.
Hope this answer your query!
Thanks Ruchi!! 🙂 will try to again.
Awesome. Thanks!
Hi Ruchi,
I tried this recipe, it came out really well. My only concern is that my cupcakes didn't rise enough and we're not very fluffy. Should I add a little bit more baking soda next time?
Thanks. 🙂
Thanks for trying the recipe Shreya! Sorry to hear that your cupcakes did not turn out the way you had imagined.
Possible reason could be outdated baking powder and baking soda. Test the leavening agents by putting a teaspoon of baking powder in warm water and baking soda in vinegar. Stir. It should bubble, if not - they are outdated and use a fresh pack.
Please give it a try again as it’s important for me that you enjoy the cupcakes the same way as I do and many others who have successfully made it.
Hi ruchi,
Just wanted to know is it cake flour or normal maida.is it ok not to use cornflour in this recipe.n can I use half milk n half buttermilk in this instead of all milk or buttermilk.thanks in advance
Rashmi, I have used maida for this recipe.
The recipe states milk or buttermilk. Use either one of those. If you plan to substitute half n half for milk then use this ratio - 1/2 cup water and 1 cup of half n half to match the consistency of whole milk.
Thanks!
Hi,
I just wanted to know if vinegar is required in the recipe when am using buttermilk?
And since I use convection mode in my microven do you suggest to bake these at a comparatively lower temperature.?
Thank you
Kia, for a moist crumb I use buttermilk.
Combination of vinegar and buttermilk makes the batter slightly acidic which results in moist cakes. The more the acid in a cake the more tender the cake will be.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature only if it off by few degrees.
Thanks!
Hi, I made this recipe yesterday itself and was a superhit among my frnds n family..dey just loved it...only the issue dat hapnd is my cupcake was bit sticky n too moist..may I know y dey became like dat?
Also can v skip vinegar?
SJ, thanks for the feedback, glad you liked the cupcakes. Regarding the cupcakes being sticky -
1. Did you do the toothpick test and did it come out clean?
2. Was it a sticky top? If so, sticky top could be because of humidity.
Vinegar is a must for this recipe. It's an acid that reacts with baking soda during baking and help a cake/cupcake to rise.
Hope this helps!
Ya I did the toothpick taste n dey came out clean...also some of them became very moist as I allowed to cool them...
Do we have to cool them under the fan or at there own in room temperature?
Also I guess, it may be because I think I added more milk that's y they became soggy..can that b d reason ?
SJ, yes that's the reason. This cupcake recipe already have enough liquid (1.5 cup milk and 1/2 cup water). Adding more liquid (milk) will mess up the end result.
Hey dear ruchi plz share d reciepe for red velvet cake?? Or v cn use d same batter for cake also?
Sanjona, you can bake a cake with this recipe! Baking time will vary, it will take longer to bake a cake.
Plz tell d baking time for a cake???
Nd ny adition to b done??
Sanjona, keep the same temperature and nothing changes in the recipe. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Happy baking!
Can you use lime juice instead of lemonjuice/vinegar? 🙂
Yes lime juice can be used as a substitute.
I want to make only 6 cupcakes then how to make 3rd portion of whole recipes of 18 pieces
E.g. 2.5 cup maida - 3rd portion ?
1/2 tsp baking soda - ?
1/8 salt ?
1.5 tab red color ?
And many more ingredients. .
Hemina, you can reduce the recipe to half (9 cupcakes) but reducing it to 6 cupcakes may mess up the whole recipe.
Hi ruchi
For how many days i can store without freeze this cupcakes?
Neha, you can make and store these cupcakes for 2 days in your refrigerator.
Hi ruchi, I tried this recipe last week and it was a massive hit.
I had a question, how far ahead in advance can I bake these cup cakes?
Thanks again for the brilliant recipe
dee
Thanks for trying the recipe Deepti. You can make the cupcakes a day in advance. Glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Nice recepie
Thank you!
Oh it's good!! I used fresh beet for the colour instead. Turned out great ☺️ thx for sharing...
Pleasure is all mine. Thanks for sharing your experience with me. Glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
hi radha can u share for this recipe how u used beetroot in juice form or minced. thanks
Thanks for stopping by Ruchi. To use beetroot juice for this recipe - grate a beetroot, squeeze out its juice, measure and use it in the recipe.
Hi if I want to make 6 cupcakes can the ingredients be halved.
Yes! Avi, below the ingredient list reduce the "change serving size to 6" and it will calculate the recipe for you!
Hi which sugar did u use in this regular powder or castor?
Reena, its granulated sugar.
How can i measure 2/3 cup
Kirti, 2/3 cup equals 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoon.
Hello, if unsalted butter isn't available . Which oil is used .
Pragya, any mild- flavored vegetable oil would work for this recipe.
can i make use of butter paper instead of cupcakes liners....
Thanks for stopping by Sejal. Yes, you can use butter paper/parchment paper instead of liners. Make sure your grease them lightly to avoid sticking. Happy Baking!
Hey!! Can I know the conversion of cups into grams please
Thanks for stopping by Aditi! Please visit this link for conversions - https://www.ruchiskitchen.com/conversion-chart-grams-liters-gallons-cups-ounces/
Aditi, recipe has been updated in grams too. Thanks for your patience.
1 cup- 200 gm
1/2 cup- 100 gm
1/4 cup 50 gm
Thanks for helping Suman, that's so sweet of you dear! I would like to clarify one thing here - the measurements that you have provided are for volume measurements (ML). So 1 cup of milk in volume measurement is 8 fluid ounce or 240 ml.
Metric conversions uses grams and kilograms to measure weight. So 1 cup of flour equals 120 -130 grams (depending on the flour). Same way 1/2 cup equals 60 gms and 1/4 cup equals 30 grams.
Hi ruchi can i use respbarry red liquid color n in how much quantity.
Yes, you can! Use the exact amount that is mentioned in the recipe. Happy Baking!