This Vegan Buttercream Frosting is silky-smooth, luxuriously creamy and super versatile. It's perfect for frosting cakes, cupcakes and cookies!
I've experimented with lots of different types of vegan frosting recipes, from cream cheese frosting made using coconut whipped cream to chocolate frosting and peanut butter frosting made using sweet potatoes, but for a plain buttercream frosting there's nothing better than blended cashews, as they become melt-in-your-mouth silky and have the most neutral flavour.
Why you'll love this Vegan Buttercream Frosting:
- it's undetectably vegan
- it's rich and creamy
- it's melt-in-your-mouth
- it's velvety
- it has a neutral flavour
- it's easily spreadable
- it's super easy to make
- it's gluten-free
- it's refined sugar free
- it's oil-free
- it's paleo
- it's easily customisable
- it's perfect for cakes, cupcakes and cookies!
How to make this Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place soaked cashew nuts, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla in a food processor.
Tip: Make sure the cashew nuts are soaked to make them easier to blend. Soak them overnight in cold water or in boiling water for at least 15 minutes.
- Whizz until completely smooth.
Tip: You will have to mix it around a few times to make it easier to blend up.
- Taste and adjust flavour if necessary, adding more maple syrup for sweetness.
- The blending process will make the buttercream warm, so it's best left to cool before using to frost cakes.
How long does this Vegan Buttercream Frosting keep for?
This Buttercream Frosting keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, rice milk, oat milk etc
- you can use any type of sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
Ways you can adapt this Vegan Buttercream Frosting recipe
There are lots of different ingredients you can add to this buttercream frosting to flavour it for different types of cake:
- cocoa powder
- matcha powder
- beetroot powder
- orange extract, orange zest or marmalade
- lemon zest
- lemon juice for a cheesecake flavour
- cocoa butter for a white chocolate flavour
- strawberry, raspberry, cherry or blueberry jam.
Tip: Add any of the above to the food processor with all the other ingredients before blending.
Ways to use this Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Tip: To spread this buttercream over a sponge layer cake or cupcakes, use a palette knife for frosting.
This Vegan Buttercream Frosting can be used for anything from frosting layer cakes...
...to cupcakes...
...and even cookies!
More vegan dessert recipes:
- Strawberry Trifle
- Madeleines
- Chocolate Truffles
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Mousse
- Cream Cheese Frosting
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or sub water or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Drain soaked cashews and add to a food processor along with all the other ingredients
- Whizz until completely smooth - you will have to mix it around a few times to make it easier to blend up
- Taste and adjust flavour if necessary, adding more maple syrup if you wish
- The blending process will make the buttercream warm, so it's best left to cool before using to frost cakes
- Keeps covered in the fridge for a few days
Notes
- cocoa powder
- matcha powder
- beetroot powder
- orange extract, orange zest or marmalade
- lemon zest
- lemon juice for a cheesecake flavour
- cocoa butter for a white chocolate flavour
- strawberry, raspberry, cherry or blueberry jam.
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog - thank you.
Karik
Thanks for the recipe. May I ask can this cream using for frosting the whole outside cake with using scrape to smooth the cake and can this cream consistency suitable for piping?
Rhian Williams
Yes you can use it to coat the outside of a cake. It should be ok for piping if you keep it in the fridge overnight after making it (so it can firm up).
Brianne Lynn
Hi, I notice some browning / oxidation on the cashew buttercream after some time in the fridge. Do you also get that and how can you prevent it?
Rhian Williams
I only ever keep this in the fridge for up to a few days, but a bit of browning can happen during that time. Are you keeping it covered? If you are and the browning is still happening, you could try sealing the top with cling film, which may help!
Wanni
I loved this frosting a lot! It's so easy to make and yet so delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe and I definitely recommend others to try!:)
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Erin
Hello there, just wondering if you have tried to use this for piping like flowers. Thank you
Rhian Williams
Hello yes that should work, I'd definitely recommend keeping it in the fridge for several hours to firm up first to make sure it's firm enough for piping. And to make it a bit firmer you can add some coconut oil or cacao butter when blending. I hope that helps!