Red Velvet Cake with Raspberry Frosting Trial: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free

Red velvet cake is one of my favorite flavors. Part of that is probably due to the fact that it’s not that common (although if you look at pinterest lately, it’s everywhere from fudge to whoopie pies). So when I saw a recipe for Joseph-safe red velvet cupcakes at Your Vegan Girlfriend, I knew I had to try it. And since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I figured that was the perfect excuse. However, I needed a frosting to go with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t know a good way to make a Joseph-safe cream cheese frosting, which is traditional. But then I remembered a raspberry whipped frosting I’d made for a red velvet cake years ago, and decided to go with something similar, using a recipe from Gluten-Free and Vegan Holidays as a base.

The Changes

These recipes are already Joseph-safe. But since he can tolerate eggs in baked goods, I added those back in to the red velvet cake. Also, instead of making cupcakes, I made a two level cake. I also thought that since I was using gel food coloring instead of the drops, I could get away with reducing the amount.

As for the frosting, the original recipe was for a blackberry frosting, so I just swapped in raspberries instead.

The Method

Whisk together dry ingredients (gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).

Combine vinegar and coconut milk. Allow to sit until it starts to curdle (should be ready by the time you are ready to add to the batter).

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, shortening, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mine took a couple of minutes.

Add food coloring and stir until evenly colored. I started with 1 teaspoon of food coloring, but when it still looked a bit pale, I added more (without measuring) but I believe it was around 1/2 teaspoon extra.

Add a little bit of the flour mixture. When that’s incorporated, add a little bit of the coconut/vinegar mixture. Repeat until all flour and milk has been added. I did four iterations.

Pour the cake batter into two greased cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. The instructions say to combine all ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy (starting at low speed then moving to high). However after a couple of minutes of beating, there were still chunks of coconut oil. So, I thought it would be a good idea to put it in the microwave to make the oil softer so it could be beaten. However after I did that, the frosting started to separate into white bits suspended in a red liquid. Adding more sugar helped a little, sticking it in the fridge for a bit helped more. I didn’t get it as completely incorporated as I wanted. Nor did the frosting develop soft or stiff peaks like whipping cream does. I suspect the reason it didn’t stiffen like in the pictures was because I was too generous with the amount of raspberries, though I’m sure the microwaving could have affected things too.

To assemble the cake, trim the top off of one of the cakes so that it’s flat on top. Top it with frosting, then the other cake. Frost the entire thing. With the consistency of my frosting, I let it drip down the sides rather than using a spatula to slap it on.

Red Velvet Cake with Raspberry Frosting

Adapted from The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook and Gluten-Free and Vegan Holidays

Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free

Cake Ingredients

• 2 3⁄4 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour*
• 1⁄4 cup  cocoa powder
• 3⁄4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups coconut milk
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 3⁄4 cup palm oil shortening
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoon gel red food coloring (add more for a more ruby color)

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut oil
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raspberries (mine were frozen and not thawed. I recommend thawing first)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two cake pans with shortening, then dust with cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine coconut milk and vinegar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Add food coloring and mix until incorporated.

Add flour a little bit at a time to the egg mixture, alternating with coconut milk mixture. Wait until it is fully mixed in before moving to the next iteration.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for at least ten minutes in the pans before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, prepare frosting. Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer. Start on low until combined, then increase the speed to high until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

To assemble cake, trim the top off one of the cakes so that it is flat. Put this cake on a plate/cake server. Top with frosting. Place the other cake on top of the frosting. Spread frosting over the entire cake and down the sides.

*To make your own flour mix, follow these instructions from King Arthur: Whisk together 6 cups (32 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature.

Makes one 9″, two-layer cake.

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This recipe is featured in my cookbook The Best of the Rice of Life: Over 70 Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Nut-free Recipes available now in print (Amazon, Create Space) and e-book (Kindle, iBooks, nook, Kobo and Smashwords).

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What I Thought

I was disappointed with how the cake looked. The vibrant frosting isn’t particularly appetizing, and the cake itself was more brown with pink highlights than true red velvet. Still, it tasted good. My husband said that “It’s not bad for Joseph-safe food.” My daughter enjoys eating it, frosting first. Joseph took awhile before he ate an entire piece of cake. I believe this is mostly due to him engorging himself during dinner shortly before, rather than not liking the cake itself. So with some adjustments (especially to the frosting), I’d do it again

Shared on Allergy-Friendly Friday, Gluten-free Wednesday and Allergy-free Wednesday