Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

by Steph Sunshine at StephSunshine.com

Yield24 servings

Prep Time25 minutes

Cook Timen/a

Total Time25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), softened
  • 3/8 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked
  • 3/8 cup water
  • 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 to 4 cup vegan powdered (icing/confectioner's) sugar

Instructions

  1. Set vegan butter out in advance to soften. Soak cashews in water for 2 hours (or boil for 10 minutes) before blending, if not using a high-speed blender. Combine cashews and water and blend until creamy, about 2-4 minutes. Remove cashew cream from blender and measure out 1/4 cup to use in the frosting.

  2. With an electric mixer (stand mixer or hand mixer), mix vegan butter and 1/4 cup of cashew cream from previous step until well combined. Add lemon juice, vanilla, nutritional yeast, and salt and mix well.

  3. Sift powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl. Slowly mix in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. If your frosting becomes too dry, you can add a dash of the remaining cashew cream or some non-dairy milk. Turn your mixer up to medium-high speed to whip the frosting for a minute or two.

  4. Use an icing spatula or piping bag to spread or pipe frosting onto your cake or cupcakes. Garnish with cinnamon or walnuts. Enjoy!

Notes & Hints

You will likely have some cashew cream left over, you can keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for use in other recipes.

I've put a range for the powdered sugar measurement; start with less sugar and add more if needed. If you're planning to pipe a lot of frosting onto cupcakes, you'll probably need to add the additional powdered sugar to stiffen it up a bit.

Storage: Keep unused frosting in an airtight container with plastic wrap over the frosting for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Return to room temperature before piping or spreading.

StephSunshine