Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
As I was shopping in the local supermarket, a new item caught my eye. I am in a very challenging phase of engaging in the Pescatarian lifestyle. The challenge is I am allergic to shellfish so that limits my options of protein intake so I may have to keep poultry as a once in a blue moon option along with protein shakes. I learned later on this year that I am allergic to dairy. Country Crock listened to its audience and came out with plant-based butter and honey I love it. It’s delicious, rich, buttery, and not salty no pun intended. This is a win-win. It was on sale so I grabbed quite a few and I should’ve gone back to the supermarket to clean house. It’s dairy-free, plant-based, and tastes superb! It does not get any better than this ladies and gentlemen. So, I decided to make some buttercream with it and the reviews were very very positive. I piped my buttercream onto my gourmet cupcakes along with fresh pineapples and strawberries. It was a hit. It gets better! I used it in my milk chocolate buttercream recipe and topped it with caramel sauce and sea salt. I took these to work for my staff and colleagues. Baby! I was getting reviews for 5 days straight.
Here’s the small downfall of this plant-based butter, caramel sauce ends up breaking down the buttercream causing it to slightly liquefy as it’s concentrated. At the same time, I was traveling via train on a hot day however the train was cool. My suggestion is to add 1 tablespoon of Meringue powder in place of 1 teaspoon of Meringue powder if you are going to use a chocolate or caramel sauce. My staff popped those cupcakes in the refrigerator to firm up and voila it was greatness.
Ingredients:
2 sticks of country crock plant-based butter
4-6 cups of organic confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon of Meringue powder
2 tablespoons of organic vanilla
5 tablespoons of water (you may need more), coconut heavy cream, or Starbucks Dairy Free Caramel Macchiato creamer
Equipment:
Tabletop or handheld mixer
Mixing/glass bowl
Directions:
In your mixing bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, one stick of butter, meringue powder, and water mixing on medium. After one minute, add in the next stick of butter and vanilla mix on high. With a spatula, spread on your cakes or cupcakes or add to a piping bag using Wilton tip 1M to pipe beautiful rosettes.
