FIRST:  A blog update!

I have changed my FeedBurner (RSS) after the switch from Chockohlawtay to DWB.  I know it’s a hassle, but if you could, please update your subscription by entering your email in the “Never Miss a Post!” section in the sidebar (or by clicking here).  I know, it’s annoying, I hate doing it too  ;)

SECOND:  The Red Velvet Cake recipe!

This is definitely an exciting recipe for me to share.  As embarrassing as it is, it took me nine trials to make a successful all-natural, healthy, nutritionally balanced Red Velvet Cake.  I’ve done the research, I’ve done the measuring, I’ve done the thinking, and I’ve definitely done the taste testing (where do you think all those batches went?!).  Thank goodness every trial was healthy, otherwise my hips would be hanging off the seat as I type this…

Anyways, making a healthy (and tasty) Red Velvet Cake took a lot more work than I thought.  The batter has to be acidic, the cake has to be moist, it has to taste sweet sweet sweet, and lastly, it has to look red.  Duh.  But to meet my standards, the recipe also has to be good for you, which is quite the contrary to this classic Southern recipe.  Here are the ingredients I had to swap:

  • AP Flour, Cake Flour  >  Whole Grain Flours
  • Oil, Butter, Shortening  >  Beet Puree, Non-Hydrogenated Shortening
  • Artificial Food Coloring  >  Natural Food Coloring
  • Eggs, Egg Yolks  >  Egg Whites
  • Buttermilk  >  Almond Milk
  • Sugar  >  Erythritol
That’s a lot of substituting to make, yes?  So, I guess we should start from the beginning:  Trial #1.
Take a deep breath…

Trial #1:

I based the recipe off my Citrus Pound Cake recipe, since that is the recipe my friends and family request me to make the most.  The texture was great, but had no flavor whatsoever.  The cake was red, but not burn-your-eyes-out red like the classic red velvet cakes.  The frosting was too thin and wasn’t very sweet.

Trial #2:
I improved some of the problems from Trial #1, but the cake tasted off.  I tried coloring it without food coloring by using beet puree but it turned more like a faded fuchsia.  There wasn’t enough cocoa and the cake was a little dry.

Trial #3:
I changed routes and decided to make Red Velvet Brownies rather than cake.  I based the recipe off my Lemony Peach Blondies, but it turned a Devil’s Food Cake color and tasted too much of chocolate to be a red velvet.

Trial #4:
I fixed some of the problems from Trial #3 but the brownies still had that Devil’s Food Cake color.  The brownies were extremely doughy, sticky and difficult to slice.  It had a less noticeable chocolate flavor, but now it had no flavor.

Trial #5:
This trial ended up being really doughy and sticky as well.  It was slightly cakey and had a great taste but the flavor was simply not that of a red velvet.  Unfortunately, it was an unappealing faded red-brown color.  Ugly, but tasty!

Trial #6:
This trial = DISASTER!  I doubled the recipe and baked the batter in cake pans rather than brownie pans.  The cake was soft, moist and delicious, yet a little on the dense side.  I tried using a different brand of food coloring but it turned the cake a hideous greyish-brown color.  While people liked the cake, no one really understood what the main flavor was.  I told them it was supposed to be a red velvet but ended up looking like chocolate.  Didn’t matter too much though, cake is cake.  And it’s healthy?  Okay, this cake is good cake!

Trial #7:
I quit it with the red and made this Orange Velvet Pumpkin Layer Cake.

Trial #8:

I did some more research on how to get a cake to turn red naturally.  It’s a science, not something I could guess on.  So when I sliced into this cake I thought I was going to see red.  Oh I saw red, just not in the freaking cake.  GAH!  I wanted to cry and throw my stand mixer out the window smush the cake with my hands.  I carved myself a slice and angrily shoved it in my face.  Oh.  My.  Gosh… it was delicious.  It was a bit dense, like the previous trial, but so damn good.

Trial #9:  (Finally, success!)
Before I even turned on the oven, I expected a baking failure that day.  I mean, I was let down 8 times already, my confidence in baking truncated with each failed trial… I expected less than post-worthy results that day.  To my surprise, though, things were looking up!  The batter was a bright fuchsia and turned more and more red as the cakes baked in the oven.  Good things do happen when you least expect them to.  I sliced the cake and my heart skipped a beat, I almost fainted.

FINALLY.  It was RED!  (Thank you baking gods)

I was so excited to take a bite that I ate a slice right off the cake stand.

This cake is absolutely delicious.  It’s sweet, it’s fluffy, it’s moist, it’s red.  Naturally red.  It’s nutritious, free of sugar, butter and all things artificial and manmade.  If you gave this to me when I was ten years old (you know, when I ate three Hershey bars a day and ate Pillsbury frosting out of the tub?), I would have eaten this without any complaints.  I would have eaten this with my hands (because who needs a fork?) in about 2 minutes flat.

Oh wait, that’s what I did as a twenty year old…

Print
Red Velvet Cake with a Special Vanilla Frosting

Yield: two 8 inch cake layers

Ingredients

    Cake:
  • 244g (1 cup) Roasted Beet Puree (see instructions) + 1 tbs Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 183g (3/4 cup) Egg Whites (I used cartoned egg whites)
  • 96g (1/2 cup) Granulated Erythritol (or dry sweetener of choice)
  • 14g (1 tbs) Grapeseed Oil (or any other neutral oil)
  • 2 tsp Stevia Extract
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Butter Extract
  • 120g (1 cup) Oat Flour
  • 120g (3/4 cup) Brown Rice Flour
  • 32g (1/4 cup) Arrowroot Starch (other starches may work)
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 15g (3 tbs) Regular Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
  • 4 tbs Natural Red Food Coloring (I used Natures Flavors)
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tbs White Vinegar
    • Frosting:
  • 12g (1 tbs) Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (I used Spectrum Organics)
  • 1/3 cup Light Coconut Milk, canned
  • 1/2 tsp Stevia Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Butter Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
  • 1/8 tsp Salt
  • 140g (1 cup + 3 tbs) Powdered Erythritol
  • 50 (2 scoops + 1 tbs) Vanilla Brown Rice Protein Powder (I used SunWarrior)

Instructions

    For the Roasted Beets:
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Rinse and gently scrub 3 fist-sized beets (I left about 1" of the root stems attached), then wrap in foil. Place beets on a pan and roast for 60 minutes, or until tender.
  3. Unwrap the beets, let cool slightly, scrape off the skin, chop into chunks and puree in a blender. Measure 1 cup of the beets, stir in the lemon juice and set aside.
    4. For the Cake:
  4. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray two 8" cake pans with cooking spray (I also lined the pans with 8" parchment paper circles)
  5. In a stand mixer bowl, add the beet puree, almond milk, egg whites, erythritol, oil, stevia and extracts. Mix on low.
  6. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the oat flour, brown rice flour, starch, baking powder and salt, set aside.
  7. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and food coloring, add to the stand mixer.
  8. With mixer still running, add the dry ingredients.
  9. In a small bowl, add the baking soda and add the vinegar. It will fizz. Stir the mixture and pour into the stand mixer bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for about 10 seconds.
  10. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for ~30 minutes, or until center is firm when tapped. Flip cakes onto a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
    11. For the Frosting:
  11. In a deep bowl, stir together the melted shortening, coconut milk, extracts, lemon juice and salt.
  12. Stir in the powdered erythritol, then stir in the protein powder.
  13. Frost the cake, slice and serve (frost cake the day you serve it)

Notes

This recipe is: sugar free, low fat, high fiber, high protein, gluten free!

In Trial #1 I used India Tree's red food coloring, but they are super expensive for such small bottles. I use Natures Flavors because they give you more quantity for less $$. If you find yourself using a lot of red food coloring for other baked goods or kitchen tasks, I would suggest getting a large bottle of the red food coloring. I buy these 8oz bottles.

http://dessertswithbenefits.com/red-velvet-cake-with-vanilla-frosting/

I made a nutrition label for this recipe and couldn’t believe the stats.  I wanted to know how it compared to the real thing, so I decided to compare the label of an authentic red velvet cake recipe to mine.
The original recipe‘s nutrition label is on the left,  my nutrition label is on the right:
Let’s see who wins, shaaalll we?
   
I win.  Hehe.
But seriously, though, can you believe the difference?  While both cakes look and taste almost exactly the same, they are polar opposites from the nutrition standpoint.  The original cake soars passed the halfway point for your daily allowance of fat, contains far too much unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol, and oh my gosh, ONE SLICE has virtually 1/4 cup of sugar!  I just fainted.
Don’t worry though, my Red Velvet Cake came to the rescue.  With only 7g of healthy fats, zero cholesterol, 4g of fiber, no refined sugar and 11g of protein, you are pretty much guaranteed a well-balanced breakfast, I mean meal (but who are we kidding, this is so good you will eat this for breakfast…  I did…)
Anywaysss, this cake is magnificent.  Both a success and accomplishment that were a long time coming.  Nine trials long, but totally worth every hour spent researching (and eating).
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Labels: Beets, Brown-Rice-Flour, Brown-Rice-Protein, Cakes-and-Cupcakes, Chocolate, Coconut-Milk, Egg-Whites, Erythritol, Gluten-Free, High-Fiber, High-Protein, Icings-Frostings-and-Spreads, Low-Fat, Nutrition-Label, Oat-Flour, Sugar-Free

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Comments (20)

  1. Sonia! The Healthy Foodie: February 1, 2013

    YOU DID IT!!!!

    You finally came up with the perfect red velvet cake recipe. I’m almost jealous. It looks so amazing too! (So does trial #8… I say you should’ve posted that one too!)

    I think I’m gonna have to give this one a try… seriously, it just looks perfect in every way. I want a piece right now!

    Pinning! :)

    Oh, btw, congrats on the new look and name. Love it! Absolutely love it! :)

  2. Amanda @ The Taste Tester: February 1, 2013

    OH. MY. GOSH. Ten tries, you’re a trooper. I would have given up. I need to show this to my baking friend. She has been trying to dye red velvet cake naturally for a while now. By the way, it looks just incredible.

  3. Sara: February 1, 2013

    Wow!!! It looks wonderful!! I need an occasion to make this ^^
    Do you think I could puree canned beets if I’m lazy? Would that work, or are roasted beets necessary?

  4. angela @ canned time: February 1, 2013

    Wow Jessica. Thats so much work you did and one perfect cake =-O.
    I love the color and Im sure it tastes as good as it looks!

  5. Sarah Jane @ The Fit Cookie: February 2, 2013

    Your cake looks beautiful! You did a wonderful job making this one healthy with beet puree – I need to try this sometime :)

  6. Pipsa: February 2, 2013

    Mmm, this looks so divine! The colour is so intense, it looks totally fab!

    Btw, do you make your nut butters with this: http://astore.amazon.com/chockohlawtay-20/detail/B000YA8R6U (I found it in the Desserts with Benefits Amazon page)? Would you recommend it for making nut butters?

  7. dessertswithbenefits: February 2, 2013

    Yes, I make all my nut butters with that food processor. I love the small size and small price tag, but it takes a few minutes longer to turn the nut into a nut butter than a larger food processor. You have to scrape down the sides of the bowl more often, too, but it’s not a huge deal. If you are a nut butter freak, I would suggest a slightly larger processor, but if you use it mostly for small kitchen projects and the occasional nut butter, it’s perfect :)
    (Also, the type of nut makes a difference. Softer nuts like walnuts are super easy to butterize, but dryer nuts like hazelnuts take a bit longer)
    Hope I helped!

  8. Annie @ Natural Sweet Recipes: February 2, 2013

    Wow, your site looks amazing!! I love the new design and name change. This cake looks absolutely fabulous! Thanks for going through all those trials… 9, holy cow. I think I would have given up after the 3rd! I’m so glad you kept going. This will be the perfect cake for Valentines!

  9. Pipsa: February 3, 2013

    Thank you so much for answering my questions :-) It sounds like that food processor would suit my food-processing needs and my small kitchen perfectly!

  10. Sarah: February 3, 2013

    This is awesome! I can’t wait to try this – I’m just recently trying to eat gluten-free to help manage my chronic headaches, but I love cake so much – Now I can have cake!

  11. dessertswithbenefits: February 3, 2013

    Aww, I’m so sorry gluten does that to you! Well, I hope you enjoy the headache-free cake :)

  12. dessertswithbenefits: February 4, 2013

    I used canned beets in one of the trials and it didn’t give off as bright a red color as the freshly roasted beets, probably because the color is diluted in the water the beets are canned in… however, you can give it a try because the recipe provided is more likely to retain the red color because of its acidity. If you try it, let me know how it turns out! Fingers crossed :)

  13. Peter @Feed Your Soul: February 8, 2013

    It is amazing what you can do with these alternative ingredients. this cake looks so beautiful that I featured it on my Friday Five Valentine sweets addition over @ Feed Your Soul – http://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/friday-five-valentines-issue.html

  14. Natasha: February 15, 2013

    Can you recommend a different sweetener, I don’t have erythritol. can I use granulated stevia?
    Also I will be using coconut oil instead of vege shortening for the frosting. Any recommendations for a sub for the powdered erythritol?
    Thanks, I LOVE YOUR SITE!!!!!

  15. dessertswithbenefits: February 15, 2013

    You can use any dry sweetener to replace the erythritol, as long as it’s a 1:1 ratio replacement for sugar. Any powdered sweetener can replace the powdered erythritol. Good luck I hope you like the recipe!!

  16. GieBie: February 17, 2013

    I thought the beets would lend their color to the cake batter. So, did the color “rust” in the heat of baking? Is the added natural food coloring what made the difference in last attempt?
    can’t wait to make this for my nieces, thanks for all your effort & sharing :D

  17. Sara: February 17, 2013

    So, I made this today! I used canned beets and substituted coconut milk for the food coloring because I wasn’t particularly interested in the red color. I rather expected this to be somewhat of a dud because I didn’t really follow the recipe to a T, but it is SO AMAZINGLY GOOD. I couldn’t believe it, it tastes like a sugar-butter-flour cake, quite like the chocolate cake my mom used to make. THANK YOU, JESSICA! Your 9 trials have not been in vain! I can’t wait to eat this all up so I can make it again!!!!!

  18. dessertswithbenefits: February 18, 2013

    The color actually got better with baking, probably due to the batter’s acidity. The batter was bright fuschia and turned red. There was no discoloring from the baking pan (I got that in my previous trials, where the center was a little red but the outside just brown) which was awesome. I think the food coloring is what made this a red velvet… the beets alone are just hot pink… super hot pink lol.
    I hope you and your nieces LOVE the recipe!
    -Jess :)

  19. dessertswithbenefits: February 18, 2013

    Oh yayyy I’m so glad the cake turned out well for you! After 9 trials I think I’m too spent to make any more adjustments to the recipe, so I’m glad your venture turned out so great! Thanks for sharing your results :)
    -Jess

  20. Vanilla Bean Pods: February 18, 2013

    Hi,

    This is a fantastic recipe, and great fun to make with the kids. Thanks so much for posting it.

    All the best, Alex

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