Frosting is one of my favorite foods; in fact, I consider it an actual food group. After all, what is a cupcake without frosting? It’s nothing!
Lately I have been stymied when it comes to the frosting creation process. Yes, I have my delicious Vegan Chocolate Frosting recipe, however, I have been lacking in the white frosting department. For me this has presented hardship because chocolate frosting just doesn’t work with Carrot Cake and lemon cake. Besides, who wants to use just one frosting recipe on top of all of their baked delicacies?!
Yes, I do admit, making frosting without butter and sugar is quite a challenge. Though for me challenge is the name of the game. So lately, I have been on a conquest for white frosting.
Sixteen batches later, I have a delicious coconut frosting that my many taste testers approve of. Unfortunately, my most important taster is traveling this week, so I confess, I don’t have the ultimate seal of approval. However, I think it is still good enough to share with all of you.
Coconut Cream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup agave nectar or honey
- pinch celtic sea salt
- 5 teaspoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1¼ cup coconut oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk, agave and salt, simmer for 10 minutes
- In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water to form a smooth paste
- Pour arrowroot mixture into saucepan
- Whisk vigorously to combine, then bring to a boil, briefly, until shiny
- Remove pot from heat and very gradually blend in coconut oil with a hand blender
- Allow pot to cool for 10 minutes
- Place pot in refrigerator for 45-120 minutes, until frosting solidifies and turns white
- Remove from refrigerator and blend again with a hand blender, until fluffy
- Spread over cake or cupcakes
Equipment
This frosting will be great on the carrot cake which I am in the process of creating for ~M, one of my favorite readers. She finished school this month and I will post the recipe in honor of her graduation.
On another note, you may have noticed that I recently added a feature to the side bar of this site. It is a survey which polls readers as to which recipe they would like me to whip up next. Check it out and post your vote –for Chocolate Cupcakes, Mango Chicken or Candy Bars.
Kelly Madigan says
Hi Elana,
I hope this message finds you well.
My son’s grade two class is making gingerbread houses using Graham crackers tomorrow. I am hoping to substitute with at the very least gf options. I am wondering how this frosting would sit at room temperature. Would it hold a little house together?
Elana says
Hi Kelly, I haven’t used any of my frostings to build a gingerbread house so can’t say that they will be effective for this. My White Chocolate Buttercream is more “stiff” so has a better chance of working than the Coconut Cream Frosting:
https://elanaspantry.com/white-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
If you do experiment I hope you’ll stop back by to let me know how it turned out!
Elana
Sophia says
This sounds yummy. Could I make this frosting ahead of time and leave in the fridge for one or two days before using it on corrupt cake? Thanks!
Elana says
Sophia, I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you do please let us know how it goes :-)
MamaSita says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I adjusted it based on what I had and used no mixer. It worked so well I was able to frost a 4-layer cake (recipe doubled). I used (for one recipe) 1 c. coconut milk (canned but only the solid part) and 1/2 c. maple syrup, pinch of salt. I used tapioca flour instead of arrowroot and used more–2 T? I put it in a sifter and added it to the pan while whisking (emitting the water). I melted 1 c. coconut oil and drizzled it into the pan slowly while whisking. It combined beautifully without separating. I poured it off into a bowl to cool it more rapidly and put it in the fridge for one hour. The color (light brown) had lightened a bit except in the middle. I hand whisked it and it was smooth and exactly the right texture to ice my cake.
Elana says
So glad you enjoyed this frosting!
Jen says
This icing turned out perfect. I used canned coconut milk and only 1/2 cup of agave. It was still very sweet. I substituted arrowroot with tapioca starch. It spread over my cake well and looked great. It was a huge hit! Next I am going to try adding some blueberries.
Elana says
Jen, so glad to hear the icing was perfect!
Steph says
READ THE REVIEWS – THEY ARE REALLY USEFUL. I used Coconut milk (carton) rather than canned coconut milk so maybe that is where I went wrong, it also curdled! Even after cooling in the fridge it still made a type of frosting! I would say its quite sweet so you don’t need as much honey, I actually used maple syrup. I made this for a second time still using coconut milk (rather canned coconut milk) and despite getting a layer of coconut oil on the top of a caramel type layer as others have found it still made a very buttery caramelly type frosting. However, it is a little too greasy for me, maybe I need to try the canned coconut milk.
Elana says
Hi Steph, thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad the frosting worked out for you and I think you’ll love it when you make it with the recommended ingredients!
Judith says
Elena,
For those following the SCD, would coconut flour work in place of the arrowroot? Same ratio? TIA Judith
Elana says
Judith, I haven’t tried that so not sure.
Kelsey says
I just made the carrot cake along with this frosting and it is delicious! I must say there were times I wasn’t sure this frosting was going to work out.
I used full fat canned coconut milk (using the solid portion – works out to be about 1 cup) along with raw honey to hopefully give it a firm texture. I could see how using other coconut milk would not work out. Once I brought it to a boil for about 2 minutes I removed from heat and added 1 tsp of vanilla and started whisking in the coconut oil (melted). I let the kitchen aid go to town for a few minutes but every time I stopped it I could see the oil start to separate. Eventually I just said enough and stuck it in the fridge overnight.
The next day, there was a hard layer of coconut oil on top and a kind of gooey honey/milk mixture below. I broke it into pieces with a spoon and then let it sit out for 30 min or so. Then, I again let the kitchen aid go to town on it. Once the mixture was a little more incorporated as to not splatter out of the bowl, I cranked it up to 10 and let it go for probably 20 minutes. Slowly it became more and more like frosting. I bet if I went another 10 it would have looked like the picture above but the cake was smelling too good I just couldn’t wait any longer. It tastes like a light whipped honey…amazing!
Next time I might not use quite as much or maybe a more mild honey. Hope this helps! Enjoy that fluffy goodness :)
Kristen says
i added a package of cream cheese to this recipe and it was perfect for carrot cake muffins!
Veronica says
Hi, I want to know if I can use yuca flour instead of arrowroot? We don´t have it in Costa Rica. Thanks!
Robin O says
I’ve cooked and baked for years and consider myself adept in the kitchen. I tried to make this recipe yesterday. What a disaster. I followed the directions carefully and mine ended up a goopy brown mess with chunks of hard white coconut oil, all of which I tried to whip into a frothy icing at the end. Suffice to say, it didn’t work at all.
However, I did make the carrot cake per the matching recipe to his icing, and the cake turned out to be fabulous.
I’m wondering what, if anything, I did wrong. Any thoughts ?
Danielle Ballweg says
did you try to blend it like the recipe said? It does separate and chunk up when cooling and then you have to blend again
giulia says
Hi. Great recipe will definitely have to try it. Was just wondering, could you use Maple Syrup instead of honey and agave nectar. Thank you.