Red Velvet Brownies, Yes Indeed

I love red velvet anything. And when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew that the hours of rambling spent on that site was not for naught. I'll make a vegan version in the days ahead but I tried the original and they were pretty darn good.

Red Velvet Brownies:

INGREDIENTS:
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 oz. red food coloring
2 t. vanilla extract, divided
1/2 C. unsalted butter (I used margarine)
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 C. flour
1/4 t. salt

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 pan.

In a small bowl, stir together cocoa powder, food coloring, and 1 t. vanilla into paste with no lumps of cocoa.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in remaining vanilla. Add cocoa mixture and beat for two minutes until batter is uniform color. Slowly add flour and salt and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined.

Pour into pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool before frosting and serve.

The recipe calls for a white chocolate buttercream. I used a vegan cream cheese frosting.

I found the recipe here: Smells Like Home

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

If you hadn't heard, I'm addicted to anything red velvet nowadays. So for my birthday I decided to make a red velvet cake. I asked my mom for her recipe but discovered that it contained shortening. The only shortening I found in my pantry was made from vegetable oils and meat fats; not something this vegetarian wanted in her birthday cake. I searched for vegan recipe online and found this one. It turned out perfectly delicious.

Vegan Red Velvet Cake with Buttercream Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

For Cake Batter:
3 1/2 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. cocoa powder
2 C. nondairy milk (soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, or oat)
2/3 C. canola oil
3 T. red food coloring
2 T. distilled white vinegar
2 t. vanilla extract

For Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 C. nondairy, nonhydrogenated butter (such as Earth Balance), at room temperature
3 C. powdered sugar
3 T. nondairy milk (soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, or oat) or water
1 t. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease one 9x13-inch pan (or two 8-inch round cake pans).

To make the batter, in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Create a well in the center, and add milk, oil, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined.

Bake for about 35 minutes. When the cakes pull away from the side of the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean, they are ready. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, with an electric mixer, cream butter until it is smooth and begins to fluff. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add powdered sugar and milk. Add vanilla to finish and mix.

***The use of dairy milk and/or butter in the recipe will work but negates the vegan part.

This recipe comes from The Daily Green; find it here.