Red Velvet Cake and Cupcakes (non dairy)

Dairy Free Red Velvet cupcake with Swiss Meringue Frosting

Dairy Free Red Velvet Cake Batter

This was one grand experiment.  I love red velvet.  When I developed a dairy allergy, I couldn't eat or make it anymore.  For years, I longed for them, until I worked in the Chelsea section on Manhattan.  There is a wonderful vegan restaurant and bakery called Blossom.  They make a fantastic vegan red velvet cupcake.  On nice days, I would walk over on my lunch break and buy one (or a few...). 

Well, when I stopped working in Chelsea, red velvet eluded me again. You see, I can replicate buttermilk by adding vinegar and/or lemon juice to coconut milk, but for red velvet, lemon juice alters the flavor and there is already vinegar in the recipe, so adding more throws off the balance. 

  Until... I began making coconut milk Kefir at home.  The kefir acts almost the same way as buttermilk does in recipes, so it gave me the freedom to make a red velvet confection at home.  

Some friends invited me to a Pot Luck, so I had the means and the opportunity to make it.

The next step was to locate a recipe to conform.  I chose one from Sally's Baking Addiction.  It was a nice base that was relatively easy to convert by replacing the buttermilk with kefir at a 1:1 ratio.  I made a double batch - thinking that it would only produce 12 cupcakes.  Well, I got 24 cupcakes and two 8" rounds from doubling that recipe.  

Now, how do I frost them?  One option would be to make the cream cheese frosting with soy-based cream cheese, but I wanted something more interesting than that.  

For the cupcakes, I wanted something light and airy - so I made a seven-minute swiss meringue frosting  by Gale Gand. 

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For the cake, I decided to attempt an Italian Meringue buttercream, replacing the butter with Earth Balance Buttery Baking Sticks.