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Home » Baking & Desserts » Vegan Baking » Vegan Vanilla Buttercream

15 April 2018

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream

Vegan vanilla buttercream that is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious.

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Vegan vanilla buttercream that is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious.

A couple of weeks ago I shared my recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes. At the time I promised I would also share my vegan vanilla buttercream to top them with, so here it is!

This buttercream is perfectly smooth and really easy to make. It follows a very similar recipe to my original vanilla buttercream with the butter simply being replaced with a dairy-free alternative (I use a combination of soft margarine and baking block). When I make buttercream I also tend to use a little milk to help get the consistency just right for piping. For this buttercream I’ve used almond milk as a replacement, but you could also use any other dairy-free milk if you need to avoid nuts too.

Vegan vanilla buttercream that is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious.


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Vegan Vanilla Buttercream

5 from 2 votes
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Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
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INGREDIENTS

Metric - US Cups/Ounces
  • 125 g dairy-free margarine - I use Pure Sunflower
  • 125 g baking block - I use Stork - soft at room temperature
  • 500 g icing sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • Approx. 1 tbsp dairy-free milk - I use almond milk

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Cut the baking block (125g) into cubes (about 1″). Put into a bowl with the dairy-free margarine (125g) and beat until soft (either by hand or with an electric mixer on a low speed).
  • Sift the icing sugar (500g) and then beat it into the margarine/baking block – I prefer to add the sugar a couple of spoonfuls at a time as this makes it easier to combine and minimises the amount of sugar that flies out all over the kitchen.
  • Add the vanilla extract (½ tsp) and mix until fully combined.
  • You want your icing to be a spreadable consistency (take a look at my recipe for vanilla buttercream for more about this). If it's a little too stiff then add the dairy-free milk (no more than ½tsp at a time) until it is your desired consistency. Beat in each addition of dairy-free milk fully before adding more.
  • Now your buttercream is ready to use.

NOTES

This recipe makes enough for 12 cupcakes or to cover and fill a 2-layer 20cm round cake.
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of the page to let others know what you thought.
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 298kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 4mg | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 770IU | Calcium: 3mg

Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.


Vegan vanilla buttercream that is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious.

Free From/Suitable For…

The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.

  • Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
  • Gluten-Free
  • Egg-Free
  • Dairy-Free
  • Tree Nut-Free (avoid using almond milk to get the buttercream to the right consistency)
  • Peanut-Free
  • Sesame-Free
  • Soya-Free
  • Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
  • Lupin-Free

Vegan vanilla buttercream that is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mandy says

    April 20, 2021 at 4:15 pm

    Hi Charlotte – can you advise how I can get that lovely silky texture please? I have tried several times (haven’t tried your recipe yet) and I seem to get a raggedy/fluffy edge on my roses. Any idea what I am doing wrong please?
    Thanks for your help

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 21, 2021 at 12:23 pm

      It sounds as though the buttercream is a little too stiff. Try adding a little plant-based milk to the buttercream to soften it a little. Make sure you add no more than 1 tsp at a time so that it doesn’t split and beat in each addition thoroughly before adding more. The consistency should be like soft butter – imagine spreading it on a slice of bread. If it would spread easily without tearing the bread then that’s the perfect consistency.

      Another possibility is that you’ve beaten the buttercream on too high a speed. I use an electric mixer but I keep the speed low. If you use a higher speed you add air bubbles into the buttercream which can then give the appearance of a less smooth buttercream.

  2. Loz says

    April 12, 2021 at 11:39 am

    Hiya,

    just curious as to why you use combination of soft margarine and baking block? Would you get a firmer coat/crust if you just use baking block?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 12, 2021 at 12:35 pm

      I prefer the texture and flavour using the combination. You should get a firmer buttercream if you just use baking block.

  3. Ronel says

    July 11, 2020 at 2:59 pm

    Hi Charlotte

    My grand-daughter is vegan and I really want to try my hand at these cupcakes for her birthday next week. As I am in South Africa, Stork block is not available in our shops, any alternative to the stork block?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      July 13, 2020 at 7:53 am

      Any solid vegetable oil block is fine. If you really can’t get hold of it, then you can substitute it with vegan margarine. However, you will find that you buttercream is softer.

  4. Michaela Cunningham says

    July 04, 2020 at 11:58 am

    Hi can you help me? I’m new to veganism so sorry if this is a daft question but does icing sugar not have dried eggs in it?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      July 05, 2020 at 10:11 am

      No, icing sugar (in the UK – if you’re in a different country then things may vary) doesn’t contain egg. Royal icing sugar does, but that’s not what’s used here.

  5. Carolyn says

    June 10, 2020 at 6:40 pm

    Hi Charlotte ,

    Will thins buttercream hold under fondant?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      June 11, 2020 at 12:03 pm

      Yes. If you have a look at my vegan vanilla cake you can see I’ve used it successfully under fondant on that cake.

    • Carolyn says

      June 12, 2020 at 6:16 am

      Great thank you.

      How long does it last in the fridge be for use?

    • Charlotte Oates says

      June 12, 2020 at 11:39 am

      It’ll be fine for about a week in the fridge. If you’d like to store it for longer then it can be frozen. If you chill or freeze it then make sure you allow it to come up to room temperature before you use it or it will become too stiff.

  6. Roxanne Doran says

    April 21, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    Hi do you no when you say 2 tsp of chai is that it before or after crushed?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 22, 2020 at 10:59 am

      Before

  7. Kelly says

    February 02, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    5 stars
    Great vanilla buttercream. It’s delicious.

    Reply
  8. Denise wilkinson says

    November 19, 2019 at 7:32 am

    Hi Charlotte I’am going to make a large 21birthday cake ( number tins )so just wondered if you could help me with the quantity mixture for the vegan cake mix please and also I don’t have a spice grinder for chia seeds would a rolling pin work?
    Kind regards Denise wilkinson

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 19, 2019 at 12:45 pm

      It depends on the size of the tins 🙂

      I haven’t tested this cake in different sizes of tins yet so I’m not 100% sure it would work. It’s something on my list to do, but I wouldn’t want to say it would and then find it didn’t rise as expected.

      In terms of the chia seeds. You could grind them with a wooden rolling pin but you’ll probably find that they’re not as fine as if you’d used a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Make sure you pass the ground seeds through a sieve so remove any larger pieces.

    • Denise says

      November 19, 2019 at 1:31 pm

      Thank you Charlotte I’ll defo have ago at cup cakes

  9. Janice says

    March 02, 2019 at 8:48 am

    5 stars
    This recipe worked perfectly, thank you.

    Reply
  10. Charlotte says

    February 15, 2019 at 8:36 pm

    Hi, just tried making this and colouring it with red gel food colouring. Complete disaster…the colour won’t take properly giving a grainy/slimy look to it. Any idea why this would be?! Thanks

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 16, 2019 at 9:21 am

      I can’t think why that would have happened as I’ve never had any problems. Which brand of colouring did you use? How much did you add?

      Do you have a hand blender? It might be worth trying to give the buttercream a quick blitz with that if you have one as I find that it’s can even out slightly grainy buttercream.

    • Nb says

      April 30, 2019 at 2:51 am

      Which brand of colouring would be suitable?

    • Charlotte Oates says

      May 01, 2019 at 9:59 am

      I use Sugaflair gel colours which I believe are suitable for vegans, although it’s worth checking their website to make sure.

  11. ceri says

    December 19, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    Stork isn’t dairy free it had buttermilk in it!!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      December 20, 2018 at 9:26 am

      Stork spread has buttermilk. I’m referring to Stork Baking Block which is dairy-free. I’ll add a note to hopefully make that clearer. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254263443?sc_cmp=ppc*GHS+-+Grocery+-+New*PX+%7C+Shopping+GSC+%7C+All+Products+%2B+Tesco+Brand*Fresh+Food+-+DTS*PRODUCT_GROUP254263443*&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-faw54qu3wIVrLvtCh2u9QlQEAQYAiABEgIwtvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

  12. Morag McLaren says

    October 03, 2018 at 4:11 pm

    Can this be made into one cake, or just cupcakes?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 06, 2018 at 7:08 pm

      As the sponge is soft, it doesn’t really work as a bit cake – sorry. I’m working on perfecting a “stronger” sponge at the moment which hopefully I’ll be able to share soon.

  13. Gemma says

    September 09, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    I’m not used to vegan baking so please forgive my ignorance but is it really double the quantity of icing sugar compared to fats? I know in standard buttercream it’s usually about the same. Hoping to use soon for my daughter’s party where some vegans are attending.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      September 10, 2018 at 9:37 am

      In many buttercream recipes I’ve read it’s standard to use 2:1 but you can go down to 1:1 if you want (recipes do vary quite a bit). If you prefer your buttercream less sweet then you can make this with 1:1, it will still work well.

    • Gemma says

      September 10, 2018 at 2:07 pm

      I felt rather stupid after posting my comment as then I realised I was comparing to a chocolate buttercream recipe. Sorry. Small children make my brain turn to mush!

    • Charlotte Oates says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:37 am

      I have small children, I completely understand

  14. Kate - gluten free alchemist says

    May 11, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    I have to say, I do struggle with dairy free butter creams….. they don’t always taste that good. This one looks pretty creamy though! x

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      May 12, 2018 at 10:53 am

      I think a lot of the flavour come from the “butter” that you choose so it’s down to finding one you like the flavour of.

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