You know how some people scrape the frosting off of their cake. Well, I never got that! Usually they’ll say it’s too sweet or heavy, but I suspect they’re just trying to be healthy. As someone who generally eats reasonably healthy and doesn’t have that much of a sweet tooth, I think the frosting is the best part of the cake! This is, if it’s good frosting. Sometimes the frosting on store-bought or bakery cakes tastes like shortening and sugar, and that doesn’t really do it for me. Chocolate buttercream frosting has always been my favorite, but for some reason I never bothered to make a vegan version until now, thinking it wouldn’t be as good as non-vegan frosting. Well guess what? This vegan chocolate frosting tastes just like the stuff I grew up eating.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The ingredients are pretty close to what you’d use in a conventional chocolate buttercream frosting, with a few notable differences. Here’s what you’ll need:
Vegan butter. If you’re familiar with the stuff, you probably saw that one coming. If you’re not familiar, you’re probably wondering what it is. Vegan butter is essentially margarine, but it’s dairy free. Regular old margarine usually has some dairy additives, so it’s not vegan. Look for products specifically labeled as “vegan.” Earth Balance, Miyoko’s and Melt are a few popular brands. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter also has a vegan product.Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety of non-dairy milk can be used to make vegan chocolate buttercream, the only exception being canned coconut milk. You’re best to use something that’s unsweetened and unflavored. Try almond milk, soy milk, or cashew milk. Bring it up to room temperature before using it in your frosting.Vanilla extract.Cocoa powder. Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.Organic powdered sugar. Using powdered sugar that’s organic is important here. Most refined sugar, at least in the U.S., is processed using animal bone char, so it’s not vegan. How do you find a sugar that’s vegan? Look for organic! Organic sugar is processed differently, and no animal bones are involved.
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make vegan chocolate frosting. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
You’ll want your vegan butter and milk at room temperature before you get started. If you forget to set your butter out, soften it up quickly using this method.Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat it at high speed with an electric mixer until it becomes creamy. You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer here — whichever you prefer!Next, beat in your non-dairy milk, vanilla, and salt.Now add the cocoa powder and start beating in the powdered sugar in batches. Continue adding powdered sugar until you’re happy with the taste and texture.
Try not to eat too much of your vegan chocolate frosting straight out of the bowl. Save some for the cake!
Shelf-Life & Storage
Store your leftover vegan chocolate buttercream frosting in an airtight container. It will keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or 2 months in the freezer. Tip: This recipe makes a big batch of frosting. Big enough to generously frost and stuff a two layer cake (spoiler: a recipe is on the way!). If you don’t need that much, you can cut back on the batch size, or just freeze the leftovers for later.
Vegan Cakes to Top with this Frosting
Vegan Chocolate CakeVegan Chocolate CupcakesVegan Coconut CakeVegan Vanilla CupcakesVegan Red Velvet CakeVegan Pound CakeVegan Sugar Cookies
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