Sprinkles Cupcakes is now offering Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes, and you’ve got to try them.

What is “red velvet”?

A red velvet cake is what pastry chefs like to call an “almost chocolate cake.” It is a dark red in color, usually prepared as a layer cake with cream cheese, chocolate or vanilla frosting. Common ingredients are buttermilk, butter, flour, cocoa, vinegar and (to enhance the color saturation) beetroot or red food coloring. Red velvet cake was a signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City during the 1920s. According to an urban legend, a woman once asked for the recipe for the cake and was billed an inordinate amount for the request!

What makes Sprinkles’ red velvet cupcakes vegan?

Traditional dairy products are substituted with vegan-friendly ingredients, including the following: all natural soymilk, tofu cream cheese (for that delicious Southern-style frosting), and pure coconut oil. The coconut oil does wonders for this decadent dessert.

What local treats pair well with red velvet?

Lux Coffeebar’s Soy Cappaccino, Sweet Republic’s Belgium Chocolate Ice Cream, The Grateful Spoon’s Pistachio Gelato or Smeeks’ Homemade Salted Caramels

Signed, sealed, delivered… They’re yours!

At the Scottsdale Sprinkles location. A: 4501 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 P: (480) 970-4321

But, wait, what if I want to try them at home?

Babycakes, New York City chef Erin McKenna’s much-loved ”mostly-gluten-free and mostly-sugar-free” pastry cookbook, boasts the most impressive vegan red velvet cake recipe I have come across.

Grocery List: .5 cup rice milk, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 3.25 cups whole spelt flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 4 teaspoons baking powder, .5 teaspons baking soda, 2 teaspoons salt, 2/3 cup coconut oil, 1.25 cups agave nectar, 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract, 5 tablespoons of natural red food coloring

Directions: Set your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 basic 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Combine the rice milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl, don’t stir and set a side. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The batter will be thick. Using a plastic spatula, add the rice milk and vinegar mixture and mix until just combined. Then, add food coloring by the tablespoon. Pour evenly, about 1/3 cup batter into each cupcake cup, and bake on the center rack for 24 minutes. Don’t forget the toothpick test!

Photo Credit: Meghan Luther

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