Friday, August 14, 2009

Dairy Free Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I made a batch of Bob's Red Mill Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes today so of course I had to top them with a delicious chocolate frosting too! Here is my go to chocolate frosting that is of course dairy free and wheat/gluten free.

This is the most decadent and wonderfully chocolate flavored dairy free frosting that I have tried. Plus it is super easy to make with just 4 ingredients!

DAIRY FREE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Ingredients
3/4 cup dairy-free spread
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Put the dairy-free spread in a bowl and sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder over it.
Add the vanilla extract and gradually work into the spread with a wooden spoon.
Then once it is well incorporated beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.
You might need to work up to 4 tsp of water into the frosting in order to get a soft consistency for spreading.

51 comments:

  1. What kind of dairy free spread do you use? I'm making a dairy free chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and have never made dairy free homemade frosting before. My email is heather.mook@gmail.com. Thanks!

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  2. I use SmartBalance or EarthBalance spreads. Just read the labels to make sure that they are indeed dairy and/or gluten free!

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  3. How long does the frosting keep for? Does it need to be refrigerated?

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  4. Thank you so much for this. I have a 3 year old who is lactose intolerant and this means he can finally have a chocolate birthday cake - like the shop ones!

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  5. This frosting keeps for almost a week refrigerated. When it gets warm it can try to separate and/or get extremely soft!

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  6. Is there a way to substitute stevia for the powdered sugar?

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  7. Brittany - I have never tried it with stevia. I really have no idea!! Stevia isn't something I use a lot of. If you try to make it this way please let me know :)

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  8. Does this turn out like actual buttercream? My boyfriends mother is allergic to eggs, soy, and dairy products, so i've tried to make a 'buttercream' that she could eat, but it turned out more like a glaze. I'm looking for something kind of fluffy, just like real buttercream. :) . My email is hannah4965@hotmail.com , if you can respond to that, it would be greatly appreciated :)

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  9. This is not like a glaze at all. It is very similar in texture and flavor to a true buttercream frosting. I have even been able to use a vanilla version of this frosting utilizing a dairy free stick instead of a spread to decorate cakes.

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  10. To turn it into fluffy frosting, you need to BEAT it, as in with a handheld electric mixer. If you try to do it with a spoon or something, you get gooey stuff. The spread should be cold, too, not room temp.

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  11. Elissssabeth - This recipe works really well as it is written. The directions do say to beat it with an electric mixer. And as I explained in another comment, this frosting gets very soft and tries to separate when it gets warm. So, yes it does need to be cold dairy free spread :) I do hope that you try it and enjoy it. This is my go to chocolate frosting!

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  12. We used this recipe at our eldest daughter's birthday party yesterday - she was 6. Our second girl has severe dairy, egg and seafood allergies and we delivered a food filled party where she could eat everything at it! None of the other kids, even the very fussy ones, turned down any of the food. We made individual Princess fairy cakes for each of the 22 party girls with this buttercream frosting and Disney sprinkles etc served on a pink cake stand (instead of a cake). They went down a treat so thank you for the recipe!!

    Nigel

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  13. Nigel - I am so glad that this worked out so beautifully for your daughters birthday! Thank you for trying my recipe.

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  14. Great recipe! I've been making dairy and egg free chocolate sponge cakes for my sons birthday for the 6 years... just with jam in the middle and a sugar glaze on top. This will transform what he used to call his 'Happy Cake'. I tried it on cupcakes today and its great. Thankfully now he can take egg which has been baked so slowly but surely his diet is getting a lot easier to cater for. Thank you! Nancy

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  15. Nancy, I am so glad that you liked the frosting. How wonderful to get to be a part of your son's next birthday! Thanks for sharing :)

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  16. Can I just say it tasted even better than I thought it would. I have recently been diagnosed allergic to dairy and I love chocolate, so I have been making a vegan chocolate cake with just powdered sugar on top, but now I can make my favorite frosting "Chocolate Buttercream". It tastes just like it. THANK YOU so much!

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  17. Thank you for posting! My daughter (severe milk allergy) will have her 3rd birthday next week, and I can't wait to use this frosting recipe for her cupcakes! Thanks!

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  18. So glad to hear that this recipe is working for you all :) And Happy Birthday to your daughter!

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  19. Very excited to try this for my son's upcoming 3rd birthday! He has autism and has trouble processing gluten, dairy, and soy...poor little guy's tummy gets so tied up in knots if he has any, and it effects his clarity and his ability to engage with us or his therapists. He loves Bob the builder and I wanted to make him a real cake with some cute little Bob the Builder cake toppers...not just a plain, unfrosted cake. Cant wait to try this!!! Oh and btw, King Arthur Flour has an amazing line of gluten free baking mixes where you add your own milk, eggs, and oil/butter/spreads...so it makes it so easy to substitute for any additional sensitivities! We have given away boxes of their pancake mix, served guests their cookie mix line, and the brownies and pizza crust (which by the way can be made thin or pan crust)....everyone loves them...even those fussy eaters! Just thought you might want to try it and see how you like it too! Thanks again for this recipe...I will let you know how he likes it!

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  20. Spacey jc - I can't wait to hear how he likes his birthday cake! I will look for those King Arthur Flour mixes to try. I haven't seen them around here yet.

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  21. Whole foods sells Spectrum shortening that is egg, wheat, dairy, nut and soy free, its palm oil. It will work beautifully in this recipe, theynhave it in plain or butter flavors.

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  22. Whole foods sells Spectrum shortening that is egg, wheat, dairy, nut and soy free, its palm oil. It will work beautifully in this recipe, theynhave it in plain or butter flavors.

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  23. I made this frosting today using Blue Bonnet Light Margarine and had the issue of the frosting being VERY liquid and runny even with additional powdered sugar. So, I would not attempt to make this frosting with this brand of dairy free butter alternative!! I have never had a problem with the Best Life Brand Butter Alternative sticks or the Earth Balance Brand Butter Alternative sticks, however.
    On a positive note, I added a tsp of instant coffee to make a Mocha Frosting and the flavor was awesome!!

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  24. I make a vanilla dairy free buttercream using a recipe similar to this and I used Saffola Oil sticks, I find it in the dairy isle and works wonderfully. I like it especially for baking because it comes in stick form so I can measure it out easily. I'm about to try this chocolate recipe, thanks for posting!

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  25. Good morning, I'm a mother of three who status home and makes :) I have a difficult order to make that is dairy, and nut free so this recipe is perfect because I have to do one layer chocolate and one layer vanilla so I was wondering if I could get the recipe for the vanilla version too. Please email it to me or a link at suziekilby@gmail.com

    Thank you soo much.
    Suzie

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  26. I made your buttercream to top the gluten free cupcakes I made my mom for mother's day. I topped them off with Enjoy Life dairy free chocolate chips. My entire family (who are not dairy or gluten free) were fighting for the extra cupcakes. Traditional desserts were pushed to the side!! Requests have been made for birthdays and father's day!! THANK YOU, this has made two chocolate cupcake lovers very happy!
    I used Becel Margarine(salt free version)and the Betty Crocker GF Devil's Food Cake mix.

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  27. Good morning, I'm a mother of three who status home and makes :) I have a difficult order to make that is dairy, and nut free so this recipe is perfect because I have to do one layer chocolate and one layer vanilla so I was wondering if I could get the recipe for the vanilla version too. Please email it to me or a link at suziekilby@gmail.com

    Thank you soo much.
    Suzie

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  28. Good morning, I'm a mother of three who status home and makes :) I have a difficult order to make that is dairy, and nut free so this recipe is perfect because I have to do one layer chocolate and one layer vanilla so I was wondering if I could get the recipe for the vanilla version too. Please email it to me or a link at suziekilby@gmail.com

    Thank you soo much.
    Suzie

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  29. Okay, so this was ridiculously good! I had trouble being patient with mixing it with the wooden spoon (I kept getting the sugar/cocoa mix everywhere), so I just used my fingers instead to get it mixed well prior to beating it. It worked out fabulously. And because it's spread based, I put it on the cake while the cake was warm and it slightly melted into the top of the cake and made it super moist. Amazing recipe, and thank you so much for posting! My son is off the top 8 allergens, so for him to be able to have cake AND frosting...let's just say he was the happiest pumpkin I've seen!

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  30. Hi there, to make this in vanilla - what sub would I use for the cocoa? Vanilla extract? Thank you :) jnlising@gmail.com

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  31. For vanilla just use more powdered sugar and up the vanilla to be as strongly flavored as you would like :)

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  32. Sooooooooo delicious!! I live in Canada and used BECEL 64% less calories and 67% less fat (than regular) margarine because it is dairy & soy free and has no pea protein (unlike earth balance)...my child has a peanut/legume allergy (as well as allergies to dairy and soy). I did not have to add any water at all to the icing because the water content in the BECEL margarine is high at 68%.
    *I chose to forgo the wooden spoon and went directly to the electric beaters...a little dusty but nothing a wipe down with the kitchen cloth couldn't handle (lol). :)
    SIMPLY DELICIOUS!!
    THANK YOU!!

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  33. So glad to hear that you liked it! And that you were able to find a margarine that worked for your families allergy needs :)

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  34. Thank you thank you thank you:-) I can't bake, but my boy has numerous allergies, do I have to bake his cakes, this recipe was easy enough for me and well and truly works, one very happy boy, and mum.:-)

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  35. So happy to hear that it worked well for your family :)

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  36. Will be using this next week on my son's Birthday cake. He only likes chocolate cake and one of his friends is lactose intolerant, so thank you!

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  37. Karen - I hope everyone at the party enjoys it!

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  38. This frosting is AMAZING. I just whipped some up for my daughter's 10th birthday. I gave her a secret taste and she is SOOO excited!! Thank you for sharing this!

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  39. Deirdre - So glad to hear that your family loved the frosting!! Happy Birthday to your daughter :)

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  40. My 4 year old niece was just diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy and so for my daughter's 2nd birthday party, I wanted to make sure she didn't feel left out especially when it came down to the cupcakes! I searched the internet and came across your recipe. Made it tonight using the Earth Balance buttery spread and I have to admit, when I had all the powdered sugar and cocoa powder on top of that little bit of spread, I was unsure about whether or not it would all incorporate. But sure enough, it all did, and then I used the mixer and the 4 tsp of water, and this frosting is absolutely AMAZING! Can't wait to frost my dairy-free ice cream cone cupcakes! Thank you so much!!!

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  41. Alesia - While I am sorry to hear that your niece has a dairy allergy I am happy to hear that your family has an answer as to what was causing her misery. So happy to hear that this recipe was able to help you make her feel included in the celebration! Thank you for trying my recipe :)

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  42. Followed the recipe exactly and was amazed with this frosting! I'm so excited that my two year old grandson can actually eat his birthday cupcakes this year. Kudos for this amazing gluten/diary free recipe. YUMMY!!!

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  43. So glad to hear that your grandson was able to eat his cake :) Love that the recipe worked out so well for you as well!

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  44. Delicious!! Thank you for sharing! :) I am off dairy and soy while nursing my baby because of his intolerances and needed to make a cake for my hubby's birthday - he won't have a clue this isn't real buttercream! :)

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    1. So glad to hear that this worked well for your family! Happy Birthday to your Hubby!

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  45. Can you use Penzy's natural high fat cocoa?

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    Replies
    1. I believe you should be able to use any type of cocoa powder that you like.

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  46. Stephanie, this looks amazing. I am going to be making some GF chocolate muffins tomorrow for my daughter's bday party at her preschool. She specifically asked chocolate icing! :) So here I am. Is this recipe enough for a dozen? Should I double it for 24 cupcakes? Let me know! Thanks in advance!

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    1. It depends on how much frosting you like on your cupcakes/muffins. I have frosted 2 dozen cupcakes with this amount of frosting but it isn't a super thick layer. I would suggest starting with one batch and if needed make a second batch. This recipe gets difficult to work with when you double it!

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  47. Stephanie - Have you ever tried the frosting using coconut oil?

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  48. I have had some success with using some coconut oil, but I haven't tried it with all coconut oil.

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I love getting comments so please let me know what you think!