Easy Vegan: Red Velvet Cupcakes

One of my favorite things in all the land is red velvet anything.  Cupcakes, cake, cookies, you name it.  If it’s red velvet I have probably tried it.  Except for red velvet oreos, which we can’t get here in CanadaLand, but which I am determined to try.  They are conveniently vegan!

Anyway, since going vegan, I have to make most baked goods myself, because it can be difficult to find reliably vegan baking.  Sometimes though, I don’t want to go to all the fuss of making things from scratch, so fortunately there is a super shortcut you can take to get delicious baked goods, fast and easy!

Many boxed cake and cupcake mixes are accidentally vegan.  I suggest checking your local supermarket, but I use Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix.  Read labels, do some Google checking, and then buy up a stockpile of boxed mixes for cake emergencies.  Or for last-minute guests, bake sales, or BFF-needs-cheering-up.  Also great for potlucks, especially mini cupcakes!

So preheat your oven (follow the instructions on your cake mix box) and dump the mix into a bowl.  Whisk in 12 oz (or one standard size can) of club soda until there are no lumps.  Pour into cake or cupcake tin. Bake.  That’s it.  Literally.  You will have the fluffiest, lightest, most delicious vegan cake ever.

For even MORE slack-baking, I used Betty Crocker whipped cream cheese frosting.  These cupcakes were effortless, and the kids raved about them.  After icing them I put them in the fridge which seemed to make them a bit sturdier (less squishy? more dense?) which made them even more awesome.  No eggs or dairy required!