Basic cooked buttercream frosting

I've been struggling to create a frosting that reminded me of the cakes my mom used to make. Rich, buttery, barely sweet. This is a veganized version of cooked, buttercream frosting. It whips up light and fluffy, and sets to a creamy, smooth finish. It's subtly sweet and perfect for cakes and cupcakes.

1 tbs. cornstarch
1/2 c. soy milk
1/2 c. Earth Balance buttery spread, room temp
1/2 c. unrefined cane sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. extract of choice, optional
2 tbs. powdered sugar, optional

Whisk together the cornstarch and milk until the lumps are all gone. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until thickened (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Cream butter and sugar together with a stand or hand mixer for 3-5 minutes, then add extracts. Continue to beat while adding cooled milk mixture, a little at a time, until fully incorporated, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary. Beat for 2-3 more minutes until light and fluffy. Powdered sugar may be added at this time to increase sweetness, if desired.

Recipe will frost 12 cupcakes. It is not as stable as shortening-style frostings, so refrigerate your treats if it's warm!

Variations: Any combination of extracts may used for the 2 tsp. to customize your frosting. I haven't used nut milks, but they would probably work. For extra decadence, I'd imagine flavored Silk creamers would be especially tasty. Brown sugar may also be substituted for a caramel-like flavor.


Double shot mocha cupcakes with hazelnut-mocha frosting. (Brown sugar, 1 tsp. hazelnut, 1/2 tsp. coffee, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extracts.) Cupcakes modified from VCTOTW.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this recipe. I was wondering if it would work with soy milk and didn't want to experiment so I was really pleased when I found that you had tried it. It worked out really well and I have already passed it on to a friend (with credit to you).

Anonymous said...

Wonderful...

I just made a regular buttercream with soy milk but I wanted to try a cooked version since I heard it was less sweet. I'll try this next time I make a cake.

Gracias,

Hannah

Anonymous said...

I just attempted this frosting and ended up with a really good tasting glob of something that moves like it is alive while I am mixing it :)

I'm sure I did something obviously wrong since I am prone to doing that, but any troubleshooting would be welcome!

-Jessica

A said...

Hello,
I was wondering if you have tried a chocolate variation on this buttercream. I'm trying to figure out how much chocolate/cocoa powder to use and how to do the substitution.
Thanks for any insight you can give!