The Ultimate Dairy Free Buttercream Frosting
Giving up dairy when you are already gluten-free is so difficult to do. It’s so hard to find baked goods you can have. If you do find something gluten-free, usually the frosting is still made from butter. Or you find something that is vegan, therefore it’s dairy-free, but it’s not gluten-free. So I set out to make a create a great buttercream frosting that would not make me miss dairy and would not melt in 2 minutes off you cake or cupcake.
The key is to not use vegan butter. It runs too quickly, and you can’t actually use it to decorate a cake. What I have found to be the best base is dairy free shortening. I prefer Spectrum Vegetable Shortening. It’s certified gluten-free, organic, and fair trade. You can also find it at most grocery stores, and even Walmart.
I like to keep it simple, just using shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Not adding milk, even dairy-free milk means you don’t have to refrigerate it after making. I keep mine in an air-tight container in my pantry for about a week.
I have not tried freezing it yet, but I imagine you could, just let it defrost for a full day and not microwave it.
For vanilla, you can use pure vanilla extract, but I prefer vanilla bean paste. It adds in way more flavor, and I love seeing the vanilla bean specs to give your dessert an elevation. I like the Heilala brand that you can get on Amazon. And if the price tag seems too much, to give you some reassurance it took me about a year to go through the 2 oz jar. A little goes a long way. And if you are like, what is this crazy bean paste, keep it simple, use vanilla extract. It is still great.
Recipe:
1 ½ cups of shortening
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla bean paste or extract
Optional – pinch of salt for more sweetness
Directions:
Start off by sifting all the power sugar into a bowl.
Take the shortening, and put it in a stand mixer, mixing on low for about a minute. It should look like creamed butter.
Keeping the mixer on low, slowly add in sifted powdered sugar. ¼ at a time should do. You will have to pause a few times to scrap the sides of the bowl. I add the vanilla halfway through.
Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem like much frosting at first. It will double in volume as you add the powdered sugar. Once you get the all the powdered sugar added, check the taste. You can add more vanilla at this time if you like.
If you want a sweeter frosting, you can add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweet flavor. Then mix a little more and your frosting is ready to go.
You can divide to add food coloring, or place in an airtight container for up to a week.
Ultimate Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Need a dairy free or vegan buttercream, that is a delicious and doesn't have to be refrigerated? Then this is the recipe for you. It frosting actually stays stable, it's easy to use for pipping, and it's great for building on other flavors to it.
Stand Mixer
1 1/2 cup Vegetable shortening
3 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pinch Salt (Optional)
Start off by sifting all the power sugar into a bowl.
Take the shortening, and put it in a stand mixer, mixing on low for about a minute. It should look like creamed butter.
Keeping the mixer on low, slowly add in sifted powdered sugar. ¼ at a time should do. You will have to pause a few times to scrap the sides of the bowl. I add the vanilla halfway through.
Once at the sweetness and stiffness you like add any food coloring if needed.
Dessert
Baking, Buttercream, Cake, Dairy Free, Dessert, Frosting, Gluten Free, Icing, Vegan