Dairy Free, Soy Free Sugar Free Icing (Dye free too!)
If there’s one thing that I have really struggled with this past year, it has been to come up with a realistic, healthy, tasty dairy and soy free icing. Something that could hold up to piping on a cake. Something that was pretty to look at, and tasted good. Something that didn’t make me miss that creamy dairy feeling in my mouth. Something that made ‘regular’ people WISH they knew the secret to the fabulous confection they were eating because its so much BETTER than what they’d ever tasted before.
I’ve spent the greater part of this last year trying to figure it out. I tried recipes from GF Goddess. They were good, but I wanted something pink and fruity and multi layerd in its flavour. I tried the frosting from Elana’s Pantry- I sucked at making it- I kept getting it wrong and it wouldn’t turn out. I experimented with grinding cashews and mixing them with honey (good, but, lets face it, not icing).
So I gave up for a while. Until I figured I’d throw some leftover fruit puree into the blender with some organic non-hydrogenated palm oil. Hold on one second, I thought. I’m on to something here.
Experimenting came quickly and crazily as I put myself to the test and made icing form my best buddy’s little one, who needed a dairy and soy free birthday cake. Funny what you’ll do for love, eh? I stressed about it all week. I avoided the kitchen. I sweated over disappointing a 3 year old. I stressed about not being able to deliver all these grandiose promises I made. I felt guilty for saying I “could TOTALLY pull it off no worries!” . Seriously, you just can’t let down your best friend and her little one and especially not at a big family dinner.
I was so worried I woke up at 5 am and started a frantic blendering blitz. And I discovered something.
Its all about ratio.
Fabulous Dairy-Free, Sugar Free Icing
MyRealFoodLife.com
Several key ingredients:
1- 1 cup of organic non hydrogenated palm oil (spectrum organics sells it online I think) (You could also do this with organic virgin coconut oil, but its more expensive) warmed so its like soft butter. (Live in Ottawa? You can get it in bulk super cheap at Pantry Plus in Orleans).
2- 1/4 cup of cooked-down fruit of your choice for colour and flavour. It needs to be super thick. Usually about 3 cups of fruit will cook down to 2/3 cup, or less. You want it a super thick, jammy consistency. If there are seeds or thick skins, try to remove before cooking (like for peaches!), or just when the fruits are softened try to strain the mix while its runny (like raspberry seeds or grape skins), and then return to the pot and keep cooking. Add more of the mix to thin the icing out / intensify the colour or less to keep it thick. Don’t add sugar to the fruit while you cook it- you want that tart punch. It makes the icing phenomenal. Fruit going a bit brownish? Try adding 1/8 tsp citric acid to preserve the colour. If you don’t have time to cook fruit, cheat- try using jams instead.
3- 1/4 cup of liquid sweetener- honey, agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or any other kind you prefer. My favorite is honey. If its not sweet enough you can add more. If you want the icing to remain thick, try adding in a few drops of stevia instead, or perhaps soak and puree some dried fruit to add- like prunes for a chocolate icing, etc…
4- Extracts for flavour depth- I like usually to use 2 tsp vanilla plus 1/4 tsp almond extract (almond doesn’t match all the fruits though, so if you aren’t sure, stick to vanilla…). Play! There’s fun ones like chocolate extract, coffee extract, rum extract, coconut extract, mint extract… the possibilities are endless… Oh heck, I just thought- for an ‘adult’ icing, what about a few tablespoons of different flavoured liqueurs? Amaretto (almond), Cointreau (orange), Frangelico (hazelnut), Galliano (vanilla), Limoncello (lemon), Sambuca (licorice), Anisette (anise), Maraschino(cherry) heck, even Marsala or a good ice wine or Port! (uh… I’m feeling my Italian roots coming out here lol)
5- Two or three tbsp of nut or seed butter to give it that dairy-like texture in your mouth and help emulsify the mix (I like macadamia nut butter because its thin and light coloured, cashew butter is also quite dairy-like. For nut free, try 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter. Tahini may be too strong). NOTE: this is not a ‘necessary’ ingredient. If you can’t do nuts or seeds, its perfectly fine to omit this part.
6- A blender, and a personal touch. Scoop in a bit of your cooked fruit mixture, blend, taste. See if you like it. Adjust to please your tastebuds. If you find your icing is too runny (even after putting in the freezer for a bit or fridge) and you don’t want to add more fat, try sprinkling in a tbsp of agar agar powder and blending well- it may swell and hold it together (I haven’t tried it yet, but i think it would be a great option).
7- For decorating, cool the icing to prevent melting. Its that simple.
Now, here’s the magic.
Use the ratios above for fruit, fat, nut butters, extracts, and sweeteners. Try these different fruits for for colours and flavours:
Pink icing- try 2 cups strawberries cooked down till they’re super thick or less- about 1/2 cup. Puree them. Add a spoonful at a time of the strawberries to the fat mix till you get the colour/flavour you like. Can’t do strawberries? What about raspberries? Cherries? Think red fruits, and options start to open up. Hey, what about beets?
Flesh colour – Cook down peaches as much as you can. No peaches? Try some mangoes. Think yellow fruits.
Orange- What about some orange zest or cooked down orange juice? Maybe a papaya? What about shredded carrots?
Green- I’m wondering if I could pull off kiwi, … oh- this just in- Sarah suggested using Spirulina powder. Brilliant!!! Add a little mint extract and bam. Great idea!
Purple- Cook and strain some dark grapes- Concord grapes would be fabulous. A little more work, because you would have to grind out the seeds and skins at a certain point. What about blueberries or blackberries? Delicious.
White icing- Put in a bit more nut butter and keep out the fruit. Or, maybe add a little coconut cream, and coconut or almond extract? .
Chocolate icing- Here’s a secret. For depth, add in about 2tbsp cooked puree of raspberries and blueberries first (you’d start with a cup of the fruit cooked down to 2tbsp), then add in 2-3 heaping tbsp of cocoa powder… and maybe mix the fruit puree with a little espresso, or even pour in some melted unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate. Seriously, the chocolate combination with fruit is killer. (don’t forget the extracts and nut butter and sweeteners!)
Give me a shout if you need help with yours- myrealfoodlifeatgmaildotcom. I so want you to experience this terrific stuff !
Guys. Its a beautiful thing. Check out the cake below- everything except the green icing, was made with the examples above. Isn’t that terrific? And yup. My BF had a happy 3 year old. … OH! btw- I can’t take credit for the super piping job- I made the icing but a certain BF brother in law was the pro decorator. :)
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Comments are closed.
Hi
My son is gluten/dairy/egg/nuts/seeds free (allergies). He is also highly salicylates sensitive. and the only fruit he can have is pear. So my question is will this icing work with rice bran oil and pear?
I am no baker on top of it so try to make a everything free and flavour free cake that would taste reasonable, seems almost impossible to me. But will try for my son’s sake. he is turning 5 and has never had cake due to his allergies and food intolerance.
Thanks
yay!! Tracey you made my day! i’m so happy it worked out- if there is anything at all you’d like a recipe for, you just let me know and i’ll do the research :D i’m so glad to help. :D
alea
thank you thank you thank you! It was my daughter’s birthday on Wednesday and although there are plenty of gluten, egg, dairy, soya free cake recipes online, this is the only icing recipe that was anywhere near suitable for my gluten, egg, dairy, soya and sugar free daughter. I used maple syrup, raspberries and coconut oil for the substitutes, the icing was tastey and looked like traditional icing! Being able to make a traditional looking cake for my teenager was important to me. Thank you!!!
Hi Denise! i just found a great tip on making naturally blu icing, I’ll post the link here for you- seems to work pretty well! http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/natural-blue-food-coloring-dye-just-in-time-for-easter/
Thanks so much for sharing your experiment! Those icing colors are gorgeous. Any ideas on how to make blue?
Hi there Briel!
I’m so thrilled you put together a chocolate version! That must be delicious :D
So for the vanilla version, if memory serves correctly, for vanilla i use the organic palm shortening, macadamia nut butter or home made cashew butter, vanilla (vanilla bean is even better), a little almond extract, and honey. In order for it to not be too runny, i put it in the freeze for a little bit before piping it… Hope that helps? Let me know how it goes! :)
alea
Hello! I have been playing with your recipe for awhile now and made a great chocolate version with your inspiration. I am having serious difficulty with a vanilla frosting and wanted to ask you how you made your white frosting. Mine is WAAAy to runny when I try to make white frosting.
Also, I wanted to ask: Is it palm shortening you are using or something else? I switched to that because it it cheaper but it is not as firm as the coconut oil and I was wondering if that is why I am having difficulties?
Many thanks!
Hi Ashley!
I’ve had some luck cooking peaches and mango til they are really thick, jam consistency for yellow. I bet a pinch of tumeric would be great! Asfor nut butters- if yo uare nut free it might be better to just omit them- i’m not sure if the fibre and starchiness of beans will blend with the other ingredients, but you never know – might be worth a shot! if you can have coconut, yo ucould also try coconut butter? best of luck! alea
Hey I just came across this post and I think I’ll try it out soon. I have family that needs dairy free so whenever we get together I need creative thinking for desserts. Anyway, some people asked if there was any non nut butters and what do you know….coconut butter! simply put a ton of shredded, non sweetened, organic coconut into a food processor and turn it on…and leave it, leave, leave it, until it becomes “buttery”. Add water if necessary. So yummy.
This recipe looks great! I’m wondering if you have done yellow frosting? I’m looking for a bright yellow, as my son wants a Wolverine mask cake for his birthday… I was thinking of trying your variation for white, and using turmeric? I also cant use nuts, would some type of beans work ok?
Thanks!
yay!!! great stuff stephanie! what flavour did you make :) ?
I LOVE it! I used this recipe in my most recent round of cupcakes (http://thenuttygarbanzo.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/chocolate-bean-cupcakes-gluten-sugar-dairy-and-nut-free.html) and it was a HUGE hit in our house. Thank you!
I LOVE it! I used it for my most recent round of cupcakes (http://thenuttygarbanzo.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/chocolate-bean-cupcakes-gluten-sugar-dairy-and-nut-free.html) and it was a HUGE hit in our house! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!
Cassidy- i’m SO glad that i could help!! I love the recipe . my favorite is the strawberry with adding lemon juice. awesome. Oh- hey, if you are looking to experiment, also check out http://www.dietdessertndogs.com and http://www.thespunkycoconut.com they both have dairy/soy/sugar free icing recipes and I’ve heard they are fantastic :D its always good to have options! :)
Yeeeaaahhhhh!!! I’ve been looking and experimenting forever trying to find a thick icing that will hold up and isn’t packed full of powdered sugar and food coloring!!!! We’re having a kids party next week and I’m going to use your icing on for cupcakes – I’m so excited! Thank you so much :)
Is there a substitute for the nut/seed butters? I can’t handle anything made from nuts and seeds but I’d really like to try this recipe.
oh my goodness. Sara, you are a totally GENIUS!! I must add that to the post… terrific!! I bet with a little mint extract, it would be reallllly cool for christmas or spring themed desserts. wow. spirulina. brilliant. !
For the green you should try spirulina powder. I have used it and it totally works without an after taste!
haha it was the only way i could make myself do it! :) i work best under pressure lol
xo
I didn’t know you sweated so hard for these – at least not at the last minute like that :-)
She/We loved them – No one was disappointed, even the carnivores couldn’t get over the flavours in these. Thank you so much for your love and devotion.
Wow- thank you so much Ricki! That is high praise coming from someone i admire so much :) I find the flavours of the fruits really do something special to the icing… I had some frozen peaches i used for the flesh colour of the strawberry shortcake themed cake below, and they were packed with citric acid to keep the flavour . They gave this wonderfully tart flavour that was so perfectly ballanced with the fat of the icing that its almost like the icing is a separate dessert of its own!
It’s beautiful! I love all the colors you created–so pretty! And I bet the fruits also impart a little bit of their individual flavors. Congrats on getting the formula down! :)