Homemade icing - help!

[RascalsMom]

I tried to make cupcakes for a coworkers birthday, and some for my fiancé. They turned out great, but the icing ruined them. I made a second batch of icing and it turned out even worse, and I hate wasting food and money - I'm on a tight budget.

I made the following recipe from "vegan cupcakes take over the world":
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup soy milk

This batch turned out liquid! It was fluffy at first - when it was just the shortening and margarine. But as I added everything else, it got more and more like soup!

So I tried again, leaving out the milk. This time after I adds the sugar and vanilla, it got liquid-y again - but worse! It almost seemed to separate, and has oily parts and like harder parts in a pool of oily parts. It's awful

I'm really discouraged because this happened the last time I tried to make icing - and that was a few years ago. I've never tried since because it went so bad, and it was worse this time.

 

[KLS52]

I never had luck with that recipe. First, I don't like using shortening at all and I don't use any milk. I either use all Earth Balance for a "buttercream" icing or half EB and half tofutti cream cheese. It makes an awesome icing. My coworkers flip for my cupcakes.

 

[Renee1]

I would skip the recipe from vctotw. Shortening does not make nice frosting - ever. The vanilla extract is causing the shortening to, um, curdle (for lack of a better word). I have a perfect starting recipe for frosting, but it's not with me. I'll definitely grab it when I can, though.

You're going to want to beat the margarine (or coconut oil, but that's definitely more costly) for waaaaay longer than seems necessary, then slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla, but probably only a teaspoon for a small batch like the one above. Beat again for longer than seems necessary. Then, add non-dairy milk, but only 1 tablespoon at a time, and only if you want a different texture than the one you have after the vanilla is added.

Edit: Also, depends on the margarine you're using, but a spreadable one really isn't suitable and won't give the best results.

 

[ledboots]

I love this but it's thinner than regular cake icing. http://www.veganbaking.net/cake-decorating/icings/675-vanilla-icing

 

[Everleigh]

This coconut oil frosting from Chef Chloe looks good. http://chefchloe.com/sweets/fluffy-coconut-cupcakes.html

 

[SummerRain]

How strange, this recipe always works for me really well (and I just chuck it all in a mixer).

It sounds like something in the vanilla essence (presumably the alcohol) is breaking down something in your shortening/margarine (since it was fluffy before sugar and vanilla), but I'm not enough to a chemist to know what, perhaps it's something in the US margarine/shortening but not the UK. You could try it with vanilla pods instead of essence? Or a different, non-alcohol based flavouring (chocolate?).

Or just try a different recipe, to avoid another disaster. I really like the one with chocolate and silken tofu.

 

[RascalsMom]

Thank you everyone

 

[shyvas]

I can't really give you any advise as I never use sugar for making 'butter' cream frosting. However there does seem
to be a faire amount of sugar an milk which would make this a bit liquid. Did you put it into the fridge to set ?

I have found a link where there are many reviews concerning this recipe and prehaps they could help you ?

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10856-vegan-fluffy-buttercream-frosting

The following recipe is a basic and very easy one. You can subsitute the butter with non dairy spread.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/basicbuttericing_73263

 

[Renee1]

This coconut oil frosting from Chef Chloe looks good. http://chefchloe.com/sweets/fluffy-coconut-cupcakes.html

It's soooooo good, but quite costly. That entire recipe is awesome, though.

 

[Calliegirl]

I used one of Chef Chloe's recipes and it came out perfect the first time. The second time I made it, it kept separating, no matter what I tried. I thought the separating had to do with the heat or humidity of the kitchen.