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

FAQs

What is the best vegan butter substitute for frosting? ›

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.

Also known as simple buttercream, American buttercream is the sweetest and easiest type of buttercream to whip up. All you have to do is beat butter until it's light and fluffy, then mix in powdered sugar (a 1:2 ratio is a safe bet), maybe some vanilla, and a splash of milk or cream.

In conclusion, there are many alternatives to buttercream frosting that you can use to ice your cake. Ganache, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream frosting, fondant, and meringue frosting are all excellent options that are easy to make and delicious to taste.

It's essential to sieve your icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar) before adding to the softened butter, so do this first. Then you're going to add little by little to the vegan buttercream frosting, beating between additions. This again stops the buttercream from splitting or becoming grainy.

Country Crock^® Plant Butter is suitable for vegan diets. Upfield defines “vegan” as food products that are made with no animal-derived ingredients.

Too much sugar or not enough liquid can cause the buttercream to break or become too gritty. Using room temperature or softened butter, can also help create a smoother texture.

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.

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.

To me nothing beats good old royal icing. Egg whites and confectioner's sugar beaten together, a dash of lemon juice as a stabilizer. It's quick and easy to make, holds its shape beautifully and if it dries out you can always add water to revive it. Perfectly white, easy to color and easy to clean, too.

What is the hardest buttercream to make? ›

Italian Meringue Buttercream

This is considered one of the very difficult methods for making buttercream because the sugar syrup must be cooked to a specific temperature and then, while piping hot, poured into the whipped egg whites.

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

Frosting usually has a thick and fluffy consistency and is used to coat all sections of a cake. Icing features a much thinner consistency and is more commonly used for glazing and decorating baked goods in detail.

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.

Heavy cream, whipping cream, double cream, half and half, or any kind of milk (whole, 2%, coconut, etc.) will all work for this recipe. If using milk, start with less as it is thinner and you will not need as much to reach the right consistency. A hand mixer or stand mixer will work for this recipe.

Ghee. While not necessarily healthier than regular butter, ghee (clarified butter) has grown in popularity as an alternative, which makes intuitive sense because it offers a deep buttery taste and texture.

Unrefined coconut oil (which is solid at room temperature) can add the thickness that butter would, and canola oil works in recipes with liquid sugars (think agave) or solid fats, such as groundnuts or chocolates in cakes. Vegan shortening works well with cookies and pie crusts.

Heavy Cream

Try thickening it with a bit of heavy whipping cream. You can add up to ¼ cup of heavy cream, depending on how much you need to thicken it. Then whip the frosting until it fluffs up. Heavy cream also works if the recipe instructs you to heat the frosting.

Anchor Spreadable Blend of Butter & Rapeseed Oil Spread

This looks soft and shiny, like margarine, but it tastes like cheap butter.