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Cake frosted with vegan chocolate buttercream frosting on a white cake stand.
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4.95 from 19 votes

Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Vegan chocolate buttercream frosting that is rich, velvety, silky and smooth with maximum chocolate flavor. The best thing on cakes or cupcakes!
Prep Time10 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Dessert, How To
Cuisine: American, Vegan
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 12
Calories: 286kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Add the vegan butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat it for a couple of minutes until very creamy.
  • Gradually add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder until properly mixed in with the butter. Then add the vanilla and slowly add the non-dairy milk, only as much as needed to get to the right consistency. If you end up with frosting too thin then add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more non-dairy milk a drop or two at a time until you reach the right consistency.
  • Lastly, add the instant espresso powder (if using) and mix in.
  • Keep the frosting at room temperature and then spread onto your cake or pipe onto cupcakes.

Notes

  1. The amount of non-dairy milk you need will depend on how thick you want your frosting to be, but also on the water content of the vegan butter you use. So add it in slowly and carefully and only as much as you need. If you are using a very firm vegan butter (stick type) you may even need a little more.
  2. We used soy milk but any non-dairy milk will work fine.
  3. This recipe makes enough to generously frost a three layer 8-inch cake or a two layer 9-inch cake. It will also pipe frosting onto around 12-24 cupcakes depending on how generously you pipe it.
  4. Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week. It is also freezer friendly so if you have more than you need, feel free to freeze it. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.2g | Protein: 1.1g | Fat: 15.3g | Saturated Fat: 6.2g | Sodium: 89mg | Fiber: 1.9g | Sugar: 34.3g