Vegan Caramel Buttercream frosting made with an easy caramel sauce.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, vegan
Keyword buttercream, caramel
Prep Time 45 minutesminutes
Cook Time 0 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 12servings
Calories 100kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Vegan Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut cream
Vegan Caramel Buttercream
1/2cupvegan butteror shortening, or a combo of both
2cupspowdered sugar
1/4cupvegan caramel saucerecipe above*
1/2teaspoonvanilla
1-3teaspoonsnon-dairy milkif needed
Instructions
Vegan Caramel Sauce
Place sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat.
Stir sugar constantly until it melts.
Make sure to stir non-stop, so the sugar has a chance to melt evenly.
When you see the very last beat of sugar melting, quickly remove pan from the heat and immediately pour coconut oil and coconut cream in the pan.
Be very careful doing this step, because the mixture will splatter all over the place, and it will be HOT!
Stay safe and try to use a larger pan, and a long spoon to stir, so you don’t get burned.
Some of the sugar will crystalize once you add the coconut oil and coconut cream in.
Return mixture to the heat, keep stirring and cooking mixture for 1-2 minutes.
Never stop stirring. Stir and cook over medium-low heat until all the sugar has re-melted and mixture is thick and smooth.
If you would like to make salted caramel, add 1/2 teaspoon, or more to taste, at this point.
Remove to a heat-proof bowl.
Let it cool completely before using.
Caramel Storage
Any leftover caramel sauce can be stored in the fridge for 15-20 days.
Simply re-heat it gently before using.
Vegan Caramel Buttercream
Place vegan butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cream butter at medium-high speed for 1 minute.
Add sifted powdered sugar. Cream to combine for another minute.
Add cooled down, room temperature caramel sauce. Again, cream at medium speed to combine. The caramel sauce needs to be at exactly room temperature for this.
If mixture seems too stiff, add a bit of non-dairy milk or water. And by a bit I mean 1 teaspoon at a time, always mixing in between before adding any more.
Add vanilla.
If buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar.
If it seems too stiff, add more milk or water to make it smooth, one teaspoon at a time.
Notes
The Caramel sauce needs to be at room temperature to be added to the buttercream frosting. If the caramel is even slightly warm, it will melt the butter. And if the caramel is cold, you won’t be able to incorporate it to the butter, and your buttercream will be lumpy and messy. The caramel needs to be exactly at room temperature. To make it salted caramel, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the caramel sauce right before removing it from the heat. You can also add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the caramel buttercream instead.This recipe makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes, but if you are going to frost a 8" cake, I would double the recipe.