Buttercream should always be gluten-free, so fret not that you didn’t see it in the title. I always feel awkward labelling things that are naturally gluten-free as such and I’m relearning to preface everything I post here with “vegan”. I mean, you tell someone you’re eating a burger and their mouths drop – like, obviously I’m eating a vegan burger, yeah. All that nonsense aside, let’s talk about buttercream. You may have heard that it’s berry season? So let’s make strawberry buttercream!
I’ve tried strawberry buttercream with fresh strawberries, with my homemade preserves and now I’ve landed on the winner: frozen and thawed strawberries! I spent a day in the kitchen attempting to hone some of my self-taught cake decorating skills and this is the glorious result of that!
I made a three layer vanilla cake using my carefully crafted vegan vanilla cake (x), but this frosting would also be aces with a lemon or chocolate cake, too!
Strawberry Buttercream
Enough for a three-layer cake
1/2 cup thawed frozen strawberries
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups non-dairy margarine, softened
~1 kg icing sugar
1 tablespoon high-quality vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons non-dairy milk, if needed
In a small bowl, sprinkle the granulated sugar over the frozen strawberries and set aide to thaw. Once they’re thawed, using a hand or stand mixer, whip the margarine for a long time, about 3 or 4 minutes. You want the margarine to be light, airy and significantly lighter in colour than when you started. Add a half cup of icing sugar and mix until combined. Add the vanilla, more icing sugar and beat until combined. Now, squish the strawberries until no large pieces remain. I used my hands. It was fun. Add the squished strawberries, and the remaining icing sugar in small batches. Thin with small amounts of non-dairy milk, as needed and wanted. Taste as you go, as every frosting needs a little more or less sugar and milk. Pipe onto cake, cupcakes or directly into your mouth.
