Our good friend Nico is lactose intolerant so I have been experimenting the last few months with making dairy free cupcakes. I found that cupcakes are easy to make dairy free, but I had trouble getting the icing just right. I am not a fan of fake butters and I found that the icing always tasted off when I used them. This may explain why I only lasted a few weeks during my vegan phase in college. Anyways, I finally nailed the icing and just in time for our Valentine's Day party. The trick is using coconut oil, which I love as much as butter. If coconut oil isn't your thing and you don't need a dairy free or vegan icing, feel free to substitute with butter.
Vegan Strawberry Icing
4 tbsps coconut oil, room temperature
4 cups icing sugar
5 tbsps strawberry juice*
*I freeze strawberries every summer and when I thaw them there is a lot of juice in the bag and that's what I used for my icing. You can also blend strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, ect and strain the juice.
Directions:
- Beat the coconut oil for a few minutes.
- Add 2 cups of icing sugar and slowly add the strawberry juice while beating.
- Add the remaining 2 cups of icing sugar.
- The icing will be on the thicker side which makes it great for using in an icing bag for decorating.
- Decorate your cupcakes and enjoy!
