Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake (Vegan)

Red velvet cheesecake cake - can't decide between red velvet cake or cheesecake? Get the best of both worlds with this incredible vegan red velvet cheesecake cake!

A layer of soft, moist, fluffy red velvet cake is topped with a rich, creamy, light, no-bake white chocolate cheesecake and decorated with cake crumbs. It is easy to make and perfect for Valentine's day!

This vegan red velvet cheesecake cake is so good that it even converted my cheesecake hating husband. The light, moist red velvet cake works so well with the creamy white chocolate cheesecake! It is rich and indulgent, yet feels very light to eat.

The base is a layer of classic vegan red velvet cake, but instead of the usual cream cheese frosting, I topped it with a layer of no-bake vegan white chocolate cheesecake. I think that this combination is even better than a classic red velvet, and it is easy to make too!

Ingredient Details:

For the cake:

Red gel food colouring: You need to make sure that you use bake stable gel food colouring. A lot of the food colourings that you can buy from supermarkets are not bake stable and your cake will fade and turn brown as it cooks.

I use Rainbow Dust ProGel colours which are vegan friendly (as far as I can tell). In red.

Not all food colourings are vegan friendly as they may use cochineal, so you will need to check the specific brand to make sure that it is safe.

Plant milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.

Non-dairy yogurt: I love using plant yogurt in vegan cakes, it is a great egg replacer and keeps the cake moist as well as adding flavour. Regular red velvet cake is often made with buttermilk and yogurt is a good replacement for that as well as the egg.

Either soy or coconut yogurt will work, ideally unsweetened. I haven't tested any substitutes for the yogurt I'm afraid but you could probably get away with just using more milk instead.

Vegan butter: Either block or spreadable is fine but don’t use a ‘light’ variety. I used Flora plant butter.

Olive oil: I like to use olive oil but you can swap it for another neutral oil (but not coconut oil) if you prefer.

Sugar: Caster or granulated sugar is best. Do not use sweeteners, brown sugar or liquid sugars instead.

Baking powder and soda: Make sure that you use both, they are not interchangeable.

Plain flour and cornflour: Regular plain (all-purpose) flour with a bit of cornflour (cornstarch) added gives the crumb a nice texture. You can swap the cornflour for an equal weight of plain flour if you don't have any, but I do recommend using it if you can.

Cocoa powder: I use dutch processed. For those of you in the UK, that is just regular cocoa powder.

Vanilla extract: Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.

Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise and give it a light texture as well as the slightly tangy flavour that red velvet should have. I use either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. You can also use lemon juice instead.

For the cheesecake:

Cream cheese: Make sure that you use a vegan cream cheese with a firmish texture and that you like the flavour of. I use Philadelphia vegan cream cheese. Do not use a low fat variety!

Vegan whipping cream: I use Oatly whippable or Elmlea plant double cream.

If you aren't in the UK then you need to use a cream that can be whipped, not a pouring cream. It may work with coconut cream but please note that I haven't tested it.

Vegan white chocolate: This not only flavours and sweetens the cheesecake but also helps it to set. I use this one which is perfect for melting and baking with.

Lemon Juice: Vegan cream cheese tends to be less 'tangy' than dairy cream cheese so adding a bit of lemon juice replaces that classic tang.

Icing sugar: The white chocolate provides most of the sweetness but I add a teeny bit of extra icing (powdered) sugar which also helps to stabilise the cream when you whip it.

How To Make Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: To make the cake, whisk the wet ingredients together in a large bowl and sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir gently with a balloon whisk until it is just starting to combine but is still lumpy.

Step 2: Add about ¼ teaspoon of red gel food colouring and continue to stir until no dry lumps remain, adding more food colouring if needed to achieve a deep red colour.

Step 3: Pour into a lined 20 cm/8 in round springform cake tin and bake for 30 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 4: Trim the top of the cooled cake to level it and crumble the trimmings into a bowl, set aside to use later.

Step 5: Melt the white chocolate and half of the cream cheese together, set aside to cool until just warm.

Step 6: Whisk together the remaining cream cheese and the icing sugar until free from lumps. Add the whipping cream and whisk with an electric mixer until it thickens and forms soft peaks.

Step 7: Add the lemon juice, vanilla and white chocolate mixture to the cream, stir gently with a balloon whisk until fully combined, try not to knock out too much air.

Step 8: Place the cake layer into a 20 cm/8 in springform tin lined with acetate or a double layer of baking paper that comes above the top of the tin. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top, spread it level and refrigerate until set.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

Be careful not to over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough, just stir it by hand with a balloon whisk (not an electric mixer) until no dry lumps remain.

You ideally need to use a 20 cm/8 in springform cake tin to make this red velvet cheesecake cake so that it is easy to remove from the tin. A loose bottomed one would be second choice. Make sure that you line both the base and sides of the tin with baking parchment so that the cheesecake doesn't stick to the tin.

To assemble the cheesecake, I line the sides of the tin with acetate as it peels off easily, a double layer of baking paper will also work though.

The cheesecake will need at least 4 hours in the fridge to set, possibly longer, and the cake must be completely cold before adding the cheesecake so make sure that you factor this in and give yourself enough time.

FAQ's:

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