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.
Lisa says
Hi,
I want to make this frosting for vanilla and carrot cakes. I was wondering if the frosting is a coconut tasting frosting or does it taste more like white frosting?
Thank you!
Phred says
I’m wondering… does it have to be coconut oil and milk?
I’m going to try with almond milk and walnut oil.
Michael says
Hi,
Thanks for your recipe. I can’t wait to try. Do you think it’s possible to substitute coconut milk and coconut oil with soymilk/rice milk with other type of oil, like grapeseed oil? Thanks!
Kelley says
Elana – Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I’ve never made a ‘sugar-free’ dessert before so I was REALLY skeptical of how it would taste. I NEVER imagined it would be so yummy!
Just a little note for anyone who makes this recipe… just as Elana says, make sure you let the mixture come to a boil after adding the arrowroot. If you don’t, you’ll be very unhappy with the gloppy mess that results – it will separate in the freezer and it’s impossible to get it to come back together! Also, I found that I could use 12-14 oz. of coconut milk and just 2/3 cup of agave and it was PLENTY sweet! Finally, I got the best results by letting the mixture cool almost completely (at room temp.) before adding the grapeseed oil (which you HAVE to do VERY gradually).
I am SUPER happy with the results!
Thanks again!!
Kelley says
Does anyone know approximately how many cups this recipe yields? I’m going to do a ‘dry run’ later today for my daughter’s first birthday (which is on Friday) but thought I’d see if I could get a quick answer before starting! Thanks!
Cheryl says
I was hoping someone could tell me if this icing has a strong coconut flavor. I am making a birthday cake for my niece and not sure she really likes coconut. I did try your cream cheese icing and it was wonderful. Would you say this icing tastes more like white icing or truly coconut flavor? I truly appreciate your recipes and contacted Barnes and Noble to get your cookbook so I could make the cake on the front cover of your book but the party is Saturday and it will take 3 days to order in. I will be purchasing it anyway. Thanks so much!
Making of a Montessori Mum says
thank you thank you! M girl turns 2 next week and I wanted to find a frosting just like this. She and her 3 little party friends are going to put the frosting on themselves. I will do a practice run making it this week. Thanks so much!!!
Rayelle says
This frosting looks so good! I tried it last night but it didn’t turn out right. I used Bex’s version with the honey and butter added. My frosting didn’t get fluffy and wonderful, though I was going at it for 3-4 minutes with the hand blender. Perhaps it needed to be blended longer?
It sat in the freezer for an hour before I started blending. The blender itself was getting warm as I worked though, and I’m sure that affected the temp of the frosting. Any ideas? I really want to give it another try.
Also, my can of coconut milk was separated (as I expected). The top half was totally solid, and then the water was in the bottom. I just kind of broke it up the best I could before measuring. Should I have blended the whole can first…meaning, do you think the ratio of solids to liquid in the coconut milk is a serious factor here?
So many questions, sorry about that. I just found your blog and I love it, and want everything to turn out as well as it does for you!
Steven says
I botched the icing somehow…. I made a beautiful carrot cake last night and go the icing ready today. However, after removing the icing from the freezer and starting to blend we found lots of gummy pieces all throughout. It was rubbery and hard, just mixed in. I’m not exactly sure what I did wrong… did I get something too hot or mix at the wrong time? I’m not a seasoned baker so any insight from the group would be awesome. In the time crunch I went for cream cheese frosting instead, not on my Paleo plan, but I’ll cheat for today.
BTW, love the recipes and the site!
Jami says
I actually had the exact same problem…I think it was the arrowroot. Not sure if when I dropped it in I didn’t mix it well enough?? When I added the water to the arrowroot it was pretty hard and not very pasty…anyone else have any suggestions?
Kati says
Yep, same problem.
Elana says
Elana,
I found your website through a search for “cupcakes” at the Supernatural Recipe search engine. Boy was I surprised when my name popped up in the first entry! As you must know, there aren’t a lot of Elanas around.
Anyway, from one healthy food loving Elana to another, thanks for posting all of these great-sounding recipes! Looking forward to trying some out!
Sincerely,
Elana K