Vegan Buttercream Frosting (Only 4 Ingredients) - Easy Vegan Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is vegan buttercream frosting made of? ›

The two main differences between traditional and dairy-free buttercream frosting are: The dairy butter is replaced with vegan butter. The whipping cream or milk is replaced with non-dairy milk.

If you're not adding enough sugar, your buttercream won't be stable enough to hold its shape for long. If you're adding a little plant-based milk to thin the buttercream when frosting a cake, you might be adding too much of it, again, making it too unstable.

Beat together butter, shortening, and vanilla with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy. Blend in confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk; continue mixing until icing is light and fluffy. Store icing covered until ready to use.

American buttercream is deliciously creamy, super sweet, and incredibly fluffy, and by far the easiest buttercream to master. It's just a matter of beating softened butter until it's fluffy, adding powdered sugar, cream, and a little vanilla and whipping it all together. No cooking required!

Shortening or coconut oil (for vegan option) are often used in frostings instead of butter when the result desired is a very white frosting (since butter has a yellow tint) and both can also be used as a substitute in cake.

That's right - you NEED the vegan butter to be room temperature before you start working with it. If you've ever made vegan buttercream and it's split or gone grainy, this is most likely the reason why. Get it nice and soft, then whack your vegan butter in the stand mixer and beat like crazy until smooth.

After baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, slather the layers in Dolly Parton's Creamy Buttercream Frosting (which is — in fact — vegan), and sprinkle with sweetened coconut flakes. So simple!

To thicken vegan icing, you can use a combination of maple syrup, coconut cream and cornstarch. Start by adding 1/4 cup of cornstarch to 1/4 cup of maple syrup in a small pot on medium heat. Stir until it becomes a thick paste and then add in 1/2 cup of coconut cream. Continue to stir until it becomes thick and smooth.

Most vegan butters are actually mostly water – so when they're room temperature, they are EXTREMELY soft.

Usually 2 parts cold water is mixed with 1 part cornstarch until an opaque mixture is formed. For example, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cool water to thicken about 2 cups of hot liquid. More slurry can be added for a thicker sauce.

What is the difference between buttercream frosting and buttercream icing? ›

The best way to distinguish frosting from buttercream is through the ingredients. While both contain powdered sugar, fat, flavouring and sometimes milk or water, frosting does not contain any butter whatsoever. Instead, frosting is usually made with shortening or cream cheese.

Classically there are four main types of buttercream: Italian, German, French & Swiss.

Icing recipes typically combine powdered sugar and liquid (like water, milk or juice) whereas buttercream frosting is made by creaming together butter, sugar and a little bit of milk to make the frosting fluffy, smooth and perfectly spreadable.

If you want the creamiest tastiest buttercream, then use a good grade AA butter. My favorite is Cabot. You could even use European butter which has a higher butterfat content. Unsalted butter is also important.

What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.

SHOULD I USE SALTED OR UNSALTED BUTTER FOR ICING? Choose unsalted butter for a celebration cake. Salted is good for cupcakes.