This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is perfectly sweet, luxuriously rich and creamy, and unbelievably healthy! It’s also refined sugar free and requires just 6 simple ingredients! Perfect for using as a frosting for my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake!
Why make buttercream frosting using sweet potatoes?
A lot of vegan buttercream recipes I’ve seen rely on ingredients like cashews, coconut whipped cream or avocado, but I wanted to try to make something without using any of these.
Cashew nuts, or any other nuts are deliciously rich and creamy when blended, but to make buttercream out of them you’d have to use huge quantities, and nuts are pretty expensive.
Coconut whipped cream is delicious but I feel like it’s too light and fluffy to pass as a buttercream substitute.
I tried an avocado chocolate cheesecake recipe and it didn’t work out that well because I could still taste the avocado, and I didn’t want another sweet guacamole situation on my hands, so I made sure to steer well clear of that.
Enter sweet potatoes! I just knew sweet potatoes were the solution because I absolutely love using them in new and inventive ways (check out my vegan chocolate sweet potato ice cream, vegan chocolate sweet potato milkshake and matcha sweet potato mochi).
Because of their naturally creamy texture and high sugar content, sweet potatoes make a great alternative. Unlike avocados, their indistinctive taste means they’re great to use as a basis for different flavours.
Unlike nuts, they’re wallet-friendly, and the texture ends up a lot thicker than coconut whipped cream. As a bonus, it also means that this vegan chocolate buttercream frosting is nut-free, unlike a lot of other vegan buttercream frosting recipes!
I got the inspiration to use sweet potatoes for different dessert recipes because they’re used in a lot of traditional Japanese sweet snacks and desserts.
This Vegan Chocolate Sweet Potato Buttercream Frosting is easily spreadable, luxuriously smooth and velvety, but is secretly healthy and nutritious. It’s also gluten-free, refined sugar free, paleo-friendly and oil-free optional.
How to make this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place all the ingredients into a food processor.
- Whizz until completely smooth.
Tip: You will have to mix it around a few times.
Tip: Best left to cool before using as a frosting.
Ways to use this Frosting:
- As a frosting for layer cakes like my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake.
- As a frosting for cupcakes like my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes.
- Spread on toast.
- Spread on Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes or Gluten-Free Vegan Crepes.
- Eat it with a spoon like a chocolate mousse.
- As a frosting for my Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake!
More sweet potato desserts:
- Chocolate Sweet Potato Milkshake
- Chocolate Sweet Potato Ice Cream
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
- Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Ice Cream
- Matcha Sweet Potato Mochi
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.
To see how to make this Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream, check out this 30-second video here:
Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 400 g (7 oz) sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil *
Instructions
- Cook sweet potatoes by boiling, steaming or roasting them until very soft and tender
- Discard any skins, and add to a food processor along with all other ingredients
- Whizz until completely smooth. Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary – add more maple syrup for sweetness, more salt for saltiness, more cocoa powder for chocolate flavour etc
- Leave to cool before using as a cake frosting
- Keeps for up to a few days in the fridge
Video
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and 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.
Arlene
This truly is delicious! I made it for my birthday cake thinking that I would have to try to like it, but it’s better than the cake!!
Rhian Williams
Aw amazing, thank you so much! So glad you like it!
Susan Deogracias
I have not made it yet. I want to use the frosting to decorate a 3D bear cake with stars. Does it hold up to piping? Can you make it with sweet potatoes instead of yams to get a whiter color to tint? If so, would you still sweeten with maple syrup?
Rhian Williams
Yes it should be ok to pipe! I would recommend placing the frosting into a piping bag and then keeping it in the fridge for about an hour for it it to firm up before piping. You can use yams instead of sweet potatoes and yes maple syrup is still ok. Yams would probably help the frosting to stay firmer too.
Peggy
Great recipe! My brownies came out dry so I added this and it livened them right up! I had a little left over so blended in some almond milk and a frozen banana for a delicious milkshake!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it!
Marilyn Winberg
I think having a place to save recipes is a great idea!!!!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Janmarie
This is delicious, and pipes beautifully! I just need to see how it holds up in the heat, which has been the downfall of every other vegan frosting I’ve tried. I have high hopes, since sweet potato should not melt. 🙂
Thank you!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! Yes it holds up quite well in heat I think, because the sweet potato doesn’t melt!