Silky smooth, decadently creamy, sweet, and tangy Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting. Quick and easy to make, and perfect for frosting your vegan cakes and cupcakes. It even holds its shape when piped!
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Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting! We're talking silky, creamy, buttery, tangy, decadent, and 100% as delicious as any non-vegan version.
It can hold its own when sandwiched between cake layers (hello Vegan Hummingbird Cake 😍), and won't squirt out the sides. It can even be piped!
Mel x
Ingredients
Here is what you need at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes:
- Vegan cream cheese - I've tried many vegan cream cheese brands when making this recipe and Tofutti creates a WAY better-textured frosting than any other I have tried. As much as I love Violife, I do not recommend using their cream cheese for this recipe. It does not give good results and your frosting will be grainy and sloppy.
- Vegan butter - The firmer the vegan butter you use, the firmer your frosting will be so make sure you use one appropriate to your needs. They vary in texture from very hard to very soft like margarine. If you're topping a single-layer cake like my banana cake then a softer, looser frosting is fine, but if you're sandwiching a cake or piping a cupcake you need your frosting to be firmer. This means you need to choose your butter variety accordingly. My favourites are Earth Balance or Miyokos.
- Powdered/icing sugar - A lot of powdered sugar is necessary to create a stable frosting with a good, thick texture. My favourite brand of vegan powdered sugar is Wholesome Sweeteners.
- Arrowroot or cornstarch - Unlike non-vegan cream cheese and butter, vegan versions contain a lot of water. This can make for a really loose frosting. Arrowroot or cornstarch helps to absorb some of the moisture and firms the frosting. This means it will be sturdier for piping and won't squirt out the sides of your cake when you add the top layer.
How To Make Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Can't wait to make this soup? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen. I recommend watching my recipe video if you're more of a visual learner:
1- Beat the butter with a handheld mixer or stand mixer, until soft and fluffy.
2- Add the cream cheese and beat again until well incorporated.
3- Add the vanilla and salt and then gradually add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, beating on low between each addition.
4- Once it's all added turn up to medium-high and beat until thick, smooth, and creamy.
Success Tip
It's important not to over-beat the cream cheese. When over-beaten it can become runny and once you hit that stage it's impossible to bring it back. Even adding more and more powdered sugar doesn't help much to thicken it. I start this recipe by beating the vegan butter on its own then introducing the cream cheese once the butter is soft and fluffy. That helps avoid the cream cheese being beaten too much.
How To Use Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Frosting
Ways to use this vegan frosting recipe include:
- Slathered on hot vegan cinnamon rolls or strawberry rolls.
- Piping onto desserts, cupcakes, cookies, or birthday cakes.
- And for frosting cakes like this:
Flavour Variations
Vegan cream cheese frosting recipe tastes super delicious and works with just about any flavour so feel free to have some fun!
However, it is really important to not add any extra liquid. In this recipe, there is 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. That is all the liquid that can go in there. You can swap the extract for another flavour if you want to, but you shouldn't add more than 1 teaspoon of liquid in total.
Any other flavourings that you add need to go in as powder, for example, cocoa powder for chocolate cream cheese frosting or ground freeze-dried strawberries for strawberry cream cheese frosting.
Some ideas are:
- Use chilled vegan brown butter instead of regular vegan butter for a more complex flavour.
- Lemon, coconut, almond, or coffee extract instead of vanilla.
- Chai, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice.
- Cocoa powder
- Ground-up freeze-dried fruit.
Go forth and slather it on everything!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can pipe with this cream cheese frosting. I recommend filling the piping bag with the frosting, and then popping it in the fridge for 30 minutes before you attempt piping. You might also need to return it to the fridge during piping if it's particularly warm in your kitchen or if you have warm hands.
Recipe
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 8 oz (227 g) vegan cream cheese , straight from the fridge (Don't use Violife cream cheese - see post for details)
- ½ cup (110 g) vegan butter
- 4 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract , do not use more
- 4 to 5 cups (500 to 625 g) powdered sugar , (icing sugar in the UK)
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add the vegan butter to a large bowl and beat it with an electric mixer on a medium high speed until soft and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and beat again until combined and smooth but don't over-beat. As soon as it's combined stop.
- Now add the arrowroot/cornstarch, salt, vanilla, and about 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat on low speed for about 20 seconds until the powdered sugar has stopped flying around, then add another 2 cups. Beat again on low until it's mostly combined then turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until smooth and creamy, scraping down the edges with a spatula as needed to get any dry powdered sugar off the sides and into the mix.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar to thicken as needed. Using it all makes the frosting much easier to handle, spread and pipe.
- As soon as it's nice and smooth stop. It's important not to over-beat.
- Do not be tempted to add any more liquid to the frosting at any stage because it will become too runny. Once done, cover the bowl and put in the fridge until needed.
NOTES
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Travis says
Was great. I used myokos butter and a new cream cheese made from mushroom fungi. I can't recall the name but I found it at Sprouts Farmers Market. Blue and white container.
Only change, I used only 2 cups powdered sugar. It was the perfect amount. Not too sweet and kept that tangy flavor.
Nicki says
Do you have cream cheese brands to suggest for success like you did with the butter?
Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
The one I use to make this is Tofutti. It's texture is nice and thick which is good and it's silky smooth. It does a great job in this recipe.
Patricia Giannelia says
Hi made it yesterday, and it was great. The only problem I had was getting enough flavour - it seems that once the sugar is added, the "tang" of the cream cheese disappears. I did not have lemon extract but tried with orange; it was good, but not the same. Would it be possible to achieve it by adding apple cider vinegar as your flavouring?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes I think a bit of ACV would make it tangier.
Brieana says
According to 86eats, the secret for tang is saeurkraut liquid!