“I” is for Icing

Yup.  That’s right.  I went there.  My “I” food this week is ICING, as in “frosting”.  Yummy, vegan icing.  Oh, and vegan cupcakes too (had to have something to “hold” the vegan icing, right?)

Does this “I” food fit my criteria?  Let see.

• New food or recipe I’ve never made before? It’s a new recipe for me so, Check.
• Healthy?  Somewhat (see below).  Check.
• Vegan?  Sure is. Check.

DIL had the day off work so she came over to help me with my vegan icing experiment.  I chose TWO different icing recipes, one was intended to be a bit healthier than the other but I’m not sure it turned out that way.  I also picked TWO different cupcake recipes.  In this case, one recipe is definitely healthier.  I put DIL in charge of one of the cupcake recipes and one of the icing recipes.  I made the other.  Here is what we made.

Cupcake/Icing #1 on RIGHT; Cupcake/Icing #2 on LEFT

Cupcake Recipe #1: Vegan Cupcakes from AllRecipes.com.

For this recipe, DIL used all-purpose flour and organic white sugar.  Instead of milk and butter, she used unsweetened almond milk and coconut oil.  (Click on the link above for the full recipe.)  These cupcakes were iced with…

Vegan Icing Recipe #1: “Best Frosting Ever” from VegWeb.com.

There are four ingredients to this icing recipe:  vegan margarine (Earth Balance), powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and strawberry jam.  DIL ended up added a little unsweetened almond milk to thin it out to “icing” consistency.

Cupcake Recipe #2: “Single Lady Cupcake” from Chocolate Covered Katie.  I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while.  Today seemed the perfect time.  Katie gives ingredient portions for a single cupcake.  Isn’t that cool?  But, since I wanted 6 people to try the 2 different icing recipes, I turned Katie’s directions for one, into directions for 6.

This recipe includes: whole-wheat pastry flour, applesauce, unsweetened almond milk, and just a little sugar.  These cupcakes are healthier than the first recipe.

Icing Recipe #2: Vegan “Cheesecake Icing” also from CCK.

This icing recipe uses silken tofu, vegan cream cheese (Tofutti) and a dash of cinnamon.  Katie uses only a small amount of sweetener in hers, but I found myself adding quite a bit of powdered sugar just to get a consistency that I could spread on the cupcakes.  Not sure what went wrong here cause Katie’s recipe looks light and fluffy.  Mine, not so much.  Hey, it’s the taste that counts, right?

Of course I had to turn this into a “taste test” between the two recipes.  So… how did it all taste?

1. All 6 taste-testers enjoyed both recipes (icing and cupcakes).
2. Half of us slightly preferred recipe #1, and half slightly preferred recipe #2.
3. Cupcake recipe #1 was closer in texture to a regular, non-vegan cupcake. Recipe #2 was a bit denser in texture.  Those of us who prefer a denser cake, preferred recipe #2.
4. Since the icing recipes were not intended to taste exactly the same, taste preference came down to who liked the subtle strawberry taste of recipe #1 vs. those who preferred the subtle cinnamon taste of recipe #2.

I proclaim that all these recipes are a hit.  I would make any of them again.  Personally, I prefer the recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie.  My taste buds tend to go for the heartier, denser texture of that cupcake.  GF summed it up best saying, “Recipe #2 is like a really delicious muffin.”  Yes.  “Really delicious” indeed.

Have you ever made vegan icing/frosting or vegan cupcakes?  Do you have a recipe you love?