As promised, today I bring you a simple recipe for chocolate buttercream that uses unrefined sugar. It’s very delicious and creamy and my daughter literally wanted to lick it off her Spiced Pumpkin Cupcake. Who wants hydrogenated fake frosting? It doesn’t taste good and it’s certainly not good for you! But this recipe is a much healthier recipe as well as tasting great.
This recipe makes enough for one single nine inch cake or to frost about 12-15 cupcakes.
And did I mention that it’s very easy and quick to make? What more could you ask for?
If you would like a dairy free frosting, than use my chocolate ganache recipe. I generally whip a couple of tablespoons of dairy free milk or water into it to make it more spreadable.
Simple Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 cup of butter, softened (grass fed is best for health and it tastes amazing too)
1/3 cup of cocoa powder, not dutch
3/4 cup of powdered unrefined sugar
Dash of unrefined salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Add all of the ingredients to a bowl. Blend using a hand mixer or a bowl mixer, until everything is smooth.
2. Use right away to frost. If you have beaten it for a while, it may have gotten too soft to frost well. Put in the refrigerator to harden slightly. You can also use it in a piping bag. I find that even with the powdered unrefined sugar that there can be small crystals of sugar in the frosting. If you frost and then leave the cupcakes in the refrigerator for a while, the sugar will dissolve more in the frosting.
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Sounds delightful! I’ve never thought of using chocolate butter cream on a pumpkin cake, I normaly use vanilla. Great idea!
Can I subs anything in for the butter? I’m dairy free. Is normal powdered sugar ok since I don’t want to run to the store?
Hannah
Sorry never mind:) I’ll make the ganache! Thanks for the great recipes!
Thanks, I love that you showed us how to make the powdered sugar. I used my food processor today and it didn’t work as well as probably the spice grinder. I think it was to large a container.
why not dutch?
I’ve wondered that myself. Is there a heath benefit, or is it for the consistency and flavor?
That was my question too. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased anything but Dutch cocoa powder.
Dutch process cocoa is processed differently from regular cocoa to make it milder and less acidic. You can’t use it in baking recipes that rely on the acidity of natural cocoa to activate baking soda, you can only use it in baking recipes that call for baking powder.
It also has fewer flavonols than other cocoa processes, which may be why regular cocoa is preferred to Dutch here. Here’s more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_process_chocolate
Icing is a challenging one when not wanting to use refined sugars. Great post.
I’ve made butter cream frosting without first powdering the rapadura. I find that if I beat it enough (since I use a touch of milk in mine) the sugar dissolves anyway and as you say, you can always refrigerate it if it gets too soft. And now you’ve got me in the mood for cupcakes with chocolate icing!
Oh yum! I will definitely be trying this one out! I never have much luck with “healthy” icings but this look like a good one. Thanks!
I’ve never seen unrefined powdered sugar at my local markets or bulk store. Where do I find it?
Nevermind. I’m reading in my google reader, and I hadn’t scrolled to the previous post yet. 😉
Why is dutch cocoa not good to use? Thank you!
is it really just 3/4 cup of sugar? most buttercream recipes call for 3-4 cups!
by unrefined sugar do you mean “sugar in the raw”? Have you tried using coconut sugar and making into powdered sugar? I imagine it would have a similar effect. I may have to try making it with coconut sugar and coconut oil. I am allergic to dairy.
Thank you for so many great recipes. <3
This is so delicious! Powdering coconut sugar was super simple, and tastes incredible. I also tried sucanat, but my hubby and I liked the way the coconut sugar one came out better 🙂 thank you for this!
Great! So glad it worked for you. 🙂