Chocolate Frosting

By popular request!  I have duplicated my dairy-free chocolate frosting experiment, and better yet, this time I actually wrote down the recipe.

I should point out here that you needn’t feel compelled to use this recipe, or indeed, any recipe I write exactly as written.  All of my recipes are tested and designed to work with 1 or 2% cow milk equally as well as soy milk, or vice versa.  So frequently, I won’t specify explicitly… because in most of these recipes, the taste difference is so small, it truly doesn’t matter.

When it comes to using oil, it’s a bit of a different story.  Right now, I have four different types of oil on hand that I like to use depending on the situation: extra virgin olive and coconut oils, a light olive oil, and a refined coconut oil.  I keep two different types of each for two reasons… virgin has oomph, and light/refined does not.  In some situations, you don’t really want the flavor of the oil to weigh in.  This is one such recipe, unlike the coconut buttercream frosting recipe.

The beauty of from-scratch is that you can fully customize the taste of the end result.  This frosting will be semi-sweet as is.  If you want to make it sweeter, just alternate adding icing sugar in 1/4 cup increments and small drizzles of milk/oil until you get the balance and texture you’re looking for.

Use the recipe as is for frosting up to 2 doz. cupcakes (~2 cups of frosting).  Double quantity for a sheet cake or layer cake. 

• 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar
• 1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa
• 1/3 cup plain soy milk
• 1/3 cup oil (vegetable, light olive oil, or melted refined coconut)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix 1 cup icing sugar, cocoa, milk, oil, and vanilla in a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Scrape sides of bowl to get icing sugar in.  Gradually add remaining icing sugar and continue mixing at medium speed until the sugar is fully blended.

If you do not have a spreadable, thick frosting-like consistency at this point, add icing sugar in small increments until desired texture is achieved.  If you overshoot, add a little more milk.