dairy free frosting

Here's my recipe for Blackberry Cashew Cream frosting. It's super delicious and fluffy enough for anyone who's used to buttercream. I used it on cupcakes for a friend's wedding and they were a total hit. You can sub any berry for the blackberries, or leave them out altogether if you want a plain vanilla frosting. I haven't tried adding chocolate, but I imagine some cocoa powder would work well.

Blackberry Cashew Cream Frosting
Makes about 3 cups

2 cups raw unsalted cashews
½ cup high-fat coconut milk
½ cup vanilla sugar
24 blackberries
¼ cup maple syrup

Arrange cashews in a deep bowl and fill the bowl with water till about 2 inches above the surface of the cashews. Soak 3 hours or more.

Drain water from cashews and put them in a food processor or blender. Pulse 5-6 times to break up the cashews, then push all the pieces back down towards the blades. Stir together coconut milk, vanilla sugar, and maple syrup. While blending on medium speed, pour this mixture in a steady stream into the cashews. Stop once midway through to push cashew pieces back down towards the blades. When all the liquid is gone, add the blackberries while the food processor continues to run. Keep blending, stopping every now and then to push larger pieces back down, about 5-10 minutes. You want the cream to be silky smooth without any bits of nuts detectable in the texture.

Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pushing it onto the surface of the frosting. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before using.

I prefer margarine to oil for taste purposes. And it's cheaper (coconut oil can get EXPENSIVE!!!) and taste better to me. But I don't use a lot of oils except in a frying pan to prevent sticking/add a little flavor. But for baking, margarine works so much better than oil.

People allergic to dairy are allergic to more than just whey, lactose, and casein. Trust me, it's a laundry list. But the short version would be the obvious stuff like milk, cream, butter, etc. Then the less obvious stuff: lactic acid, lactose, casein, caseinate, whey, other dairy proteins and then the byproducts as well. I've been dealing with this for 8 years, and reading ingredient lists takes forever. We're faster now and labels are easier to read, but we still have to be super careful. A dairy allergy is very complex, trust me. And not a lot of fun, either.

Now I'm wondering why margarine would be a better butter sub than coconut oil

that makes sense. In the recipe above, aightball specifies butter and then adds Fleischman's sticks parenthetically. I assumed those sticks are butter and hence my confusion.

Yes, butter can be irritating to someone with a dairy allergy! There are three main things in dairy that someone can be allergic or "sensitive" to: whey, lactose, and casein. If you are cooking for someone with a dairy allergy, unless they specify to you that they may have or not have a certain type of dairy, you should assume that they can not have ANY form of dairy, including butter.

The "butter" that Aightball is referring to is not butter at all, but a butter-like spread or margarine..I believe.

Aightball - I don't know anything about dairy allergies - I'm just curious - is butter not irritating to those with dairy allergy? Is it the solid form that is OK? Thanks!

You might want to consider a 7 minute frosting, no butter involved and it's fluffy and delicious and IMHO great on a chocolate cake. http://www.marthastewart.com/353563/seven-minute-frosting

I guess to me, frosting is no good unless it's sweet. At job #1, we offer two kinds of icing: more sweet and less sweet. People always ask my recommendation: more sweet. What's the point of cake if the icing isn't super sweet?

I haven't made this as a frosting (yet) but I have made it as a truffle and it is out of this world; rave reviews from everyone, including someone who "hates coconut." I am sharing it because two days ago when I made truffles from it I declared, "this would be an amazing frosting!"

It is very simple, and actually very healthy! This is the recipe I posted here for the truffles: http://wholefoodsmarketcooking.com/recipes/14015_satsuma_orange_matcha_chocolate_truffles

Just leave out the orange and green tea but follow the same directions...heat coconut cream, pour it over the chocolate, wait one minute, stir, add in honey (agave or other liquid sweetener would work too), vanilla and then let cool. For frosting I would let it cool on the counter until it starts to turn a little thicker, probably around 30 minutes and then pour it over and spread it around the cake.

It only has a hint of coconut flavor; not really even detectable if you don't know that is what it is. It is so smooth and decadent. I hope this helps!

Generally, I hate icing because they're cloyingly sweet... that was until babycakes! Best icing ever! The only one I eat! They even sell 'shots' of icing and have a happy hour!

(They have two cookbooks but) the basic premise is agave, a touch of lemon juice, vanilla extract, and finally emulsify with room temperature coconut oil. (Emulsification is important for final consistency). Then refrigerate until it solidifies. Spread on cake.

For chocolate, it's the same process; you're basically going for vegan chocolate ganache. Coconut oil, agave, and (raw--because of all the wonderful nutrients of theobroama cacao--just kidding regular will work too) cacao powder.

Now I'm hungry!

I am also allergic to dairy, and this the best frosting I've found so far! I'll give you the doubled recipe because you won't have enough otherwise.

2 c. butter (Fleishman's unsalted sticks are best)
3 t. vanilla
salt (optional)
10 c. powdered sugar
4-6 T. rice milk (water won't work with this)

Cream butter, vanilla, and salt. Add sugar 1 c. at a time, beating on medium speed. Add milk 1 T at a time and beat on high until blended.

I recommend using as little milk as possible. Start with 1 and work up to 4. You shouldn't need more than 5 T, but it all depends on the day. I also recommend, once everything is blended, crank your mixer up (I use a stand mixer) and let it whip for a couple of minutes. Makes a huge difference. You can also add cocoa for chocolate frosting or add food coloring for colors.

What cake recipe did you use? Just curious as I'm still looking for a non-dry chocolate cake =).