Vegan Buttercream

Vegan buttercream can be a hard one to get right. If you use margarine you will have to add a lot more icing sugar making the buttercream sickly sweet. If you use pure vegetable fat the texture is better but there is no flavour. I have perfected this recipe for over six years while I have been making vegan cakes and selling them. Read on to find out how to make different flavours and how much to make for cupcakes and a cake.

For this recipe you will need some specific types of vegan butter alternatives. This will give the buttercream the right balance of texture and flavour and not make it too sweet. Let me explain what specific types of vegetable fat I use with some examples of the exact products I use in the UK.

Vegan Margarine – This is a vegetable fat spread and as the name suggests, it is easily spreadable. My favourite to use in the UK in Morrisons Savers Spread which is clearly marked vegan.

Baking Block – This is like a margarine but comes in a solid block and is less easily spread. I use Sainsbury’s own brand which they have confirmed to me is vegan but you can also use Stork which is marked vegan on the packaging.

Trex – Trex is a specific brand of vegetable fat that combines RSPO certified palm oil and rapeseed oil.

For this vegan buttercream recipe it is important that the baking block is soft before you beat it to prevent there being little flecks of vegetable fat in your buttercream. In the summer I usually just leave it out on the side for a couple of hours. When it is not so warm out I like to put it in an oven that has cooled slightly after being on. This works well because if I’m making buttercream I have probably just baked a cake or cupcakes anyway. Don’t put it in a hot oven or else it will completely melt and make a mess!

This recipe is very versatile. If you want to flavour your buttercream simply replace the vanilla extract with the flavouring of your choice. To make chocolate buttercream add 6 tbsp cocoa powder.

This recipe will make enough icing to fill and decorate an 8 inch 3 layer cake. For 12 cupcakes you will need about 1/3 of this recipe.

You can use this recipe on my vegan and gluten free chocolate cupcakes recipe.

Vegan Buttercream

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 250g Baking Block

• 125g Trex

• 125g Vegan Margarine

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 1kg Icing Sugar

Directions

• Beat the softened Baking Block with a hand or stand mixer until smooth.
• Add in the Trex, vegan margarine and vanilla extract and beat again until well combined and smooth.
• Sieve in half of the icing sugar and carefully mix in.
• Sieve in the other half of the icing sugar and mix until there are not butter streaks left.