This frosting is quick, it’s easy, it’s no-cook, and just so happens to be vegan. It’s American Buttercream’s less teeth-shatteringly sweet, more refined, and just as perfectly versatile meringue cousin. Dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free, it’s allergy friendly and you’ll love working with it. Plus, the flavor and texture will have everyone who tastes it in awe.
While American Buttercream may be the quickest and easiest of the buttercreams to make, many people find it to be sickeningly sweet because it’s the sugar that gives it structure and body – and it takes quite a lot. So what could we possibly do to it to make that not the case?
Enter aquafaba.
Aquafaba is legume (beans, lentils, soy, peas, etc.) cooking or canning liquid – and it is the vegan egg white replacement for perfect meringues. It can be used to make macarons and top meringue pies, and even perfect little meringue cookies and royal icing. And it gets treated just like egg whites do in all of the meringue recipes out there.
And there are some amazing recipes by amazing bloggers for vegan meringue buttercreams like this recipe by Gretchen’s Vegan Bakery which is DELICIOUS and AMAZING, but they all involve a pan on the stove and I’m honestly quite lazy and don’t like to dirty extra dishes or turn the stove on unless I absolutely have to. So I had an idea.
One day, while making my easy vegan buttercream, I wondered how I could lower the sugar amount but still maintain structure within the frosting.. And I’ve made enough aquafaba meringue to know it COULD provide structure, but was worried it might deflate if I added it to a bunch of fat. Fats and oils kill meringue faster than you can blink your eyes, in case you didn’t know. Plus, aquafaba meringue usually deflates over time unless it’s stablized with something like agar agar. If you don’t add a stabilizer, it starts to melt and get weepy, and NO ONE wants a soggy cake due to deflating meringue.
But I decided to give it a chance anyway, and I did it the lazy way; I just cracked open a can of beans and dumped the liquid straight into the buttercream.
AND IT WORKED. WONDERFULLY. PERFECTLY. MIRACULOUSLY.
It fluffs up gorgeously, provides a silky texture and beautiful sheen to the buttercream, and takes the place of a whole bunch of sugar so that the frosting is only about half as sweet as what my original American buttercream recipe is.
Even being a meringue buttercream, it’s still stable enough to go between cake layers or macarons and not squish or slide out everywhere.
It doesn’t deflate or weep, and colors and takes on flavors like a dream. And if you want a denser meringue, you can totally reduce your aquafaba down before adding it (I don’t because I’m happy with the way it is and I don’t want to dirty extra dishes).
If you want to check out some gorgeous cakes that use buttercream employing this method, check out @justsomethingfancy on Instagram – while she doesn’t use my exact recipe (because I’m just publishing it now, lol) she does add reduced aquafaba to her buttercream to make it lighter, fluffier, and less sweet.
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As far as butters go, take a look at my Easiest Vegan Buttercream Ever post to check out which ones work and how to make the ones that don’t bend to your will.
Tutorial Video:
So without further ado….
The Recipe
American Meringue Buttercream (vegan)
No thermometers, no cooking, no weighing, no timing, no fuss. The easiest meringue buttercream to ever exist - thanks to aquafaba. And it just so happens to be vegan. Smooth, pipeable, delicious, and super simple to make.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (4 sticks, 450g) vegan butter*, room temp
- 5 cups (550g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2ish c (125ml) aquafaba, room temperature**
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream your butter on low speed until lighter in color and smooth, then turn off mixer.
- Add all the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. Turn off mixer.
- Add in your vanilla and aquafaba and mix on medium high for five to ten minutes, until your preferred level of fluffiness has been achieved. Keep in mind that the fluffier it gets, the less weight the buttercream will be able to hold. I usually go about five minutes.
- Mix on low/stir speed for five minutes to get rid of bubbles.
Notes
* Country Crock plant butter sticks or equivalent. For more on vegan butters and how to make them work, check out my Easiest Vegan Buttercream Ever post (please note that Earth Balance and Miyoko’s are both too soft for this recipe alone. Use 50/50 butter and shortening if you’re unsure if your butter will work)
** I add my aquafaba straight from the can - no reducing. Feel free to reduce yours first if you want, though.
*** The perfect amount of aquafaba to use depends on your climate, your tastes, and your needs. If your buttercream feels too soft, reduce the aquafaba to about 1/3c and/or reduce whipping time. You can also add extra powdered sugar to stiffen it.
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What can you use for mixing if you don’t have a stand mixer?
You can use a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl. 🙂
I would like to use this recipe cover a chocolate log and then freeze the entire thing. Do you think the icing would be ok when it thaws out?
Hi, Amanda!
I freeze this frosting all the time, both before covering and after covering cakes with it and have never had a problem. 🙂
Thank you Megan, that’s great 😊
What decorator tip did you use in your beautiful white cupcakes?
Hi, JI! I used a Wilton 2D on these. 🙂
I love it! It’s great vegan people can actually enjoy treats like this!But could the sugar be reduced more,5 cups still seems a lot?
You can definitely reduce the sugar more – but your buttercream won’t be firm enough to go between your cake layers or macaron cookies.
Maybe I missed where its posted, how do I store this?
I totally forgot to add that! I’ll put it in the post tomorrow – but store this in a covered bowl in the fridge for up to ten days.
When would you add color and flavor—during the final slow mixing?
Hi, Beth! Yes, I add it during the final mixing – that way the color and flavor don’t get diluted by the air we beat into the frosting and it’s easier to judge how much needs to be added.
Mine was liquid too 🙁 I added 2 extra cups of powdered sugar and it is now just a very expensive bowl of liquid. I haven’t had any issues with other icing recipes, maybe aquafaba just doesn’t like me.
Oh no!! Did you get a chance to watch the video? It should whip up within a minute or two after adding it.
Hi.
I’m in Australia and we have 2 types of icing sugar. Does your powdered sugar contain constarch/cornflour, or is it just straight sugar?
Thanks!
Hi, Melissa!
The powdered sugars (confectioner’s sugar) I use contain either corn or tapioca starch – depending on if I’m using organic or not.
Here in the States, pure icing sugar isn’t really a widely available thing – but I know lots of folks who use their own and have used it in recipes with no problems!
Just blitz granulated sugar in a vitamix or similar and it will make powdered sugar
I don’t know what I did wrong, but mine just became liquid….
Oh no!!
At what stage did it turn into liquid? What butter did you use? What type of sugar?
How much cocoa powder would I need to make chocolate buttercream?
Hi, Jackie! I usually start with two tablespoons of cocoa powder mixed with just enough water to make a paste, then mix that paste in. Then I repeat that process until I’ve achieved my desired level of chocolatiness. 🙂
Most baked goods taste better when left to get to room temperature. Will the icing hold up? My past experiences with aquafaba is that it tends to get runny and sticky.
Hi! The cakes I’ve made with this have held up extremely well at room temperature and a bit above. The wedding cake pictured in the post held up at an outdoor wedding when it was 85°F without any issues. 🙂
Hi there! Can I use powdered form of sweetener (like erithritol) and put agar or (gelatin for non vegans?) to hold shape – it would be needed in a sugarfree cake in layers and frosting as well.
Thank you.
Hi, Evelyn! I really hesitate to give a flat out “yes” here, because then the new recipe is absolutely nothing like this one. Lol.
That said, confectioner’s erythritol will work in this recipe. No need for agar or gelatin to keep it stable, either. 🙂
This was a disappointment. Everything was going well until I added the aquafaba. I must have blended it for 20 minutes and nothing but goop. It was really sad to lose so much vegan butter and organic powdered sugar.
Wow, that sounds terrible! I’m so sorry that happened. What kind of butter did you use?
This is my go to buttercream. It could not possibly be any easier. Even when I overfilled my mixer with a double batch and split half on the floor, it came out beautifully. We absolutely love it and put it on everything. Thanks!
For those having trouble with the buttercream getting to liquid or curdling after adding the aquafaba, I suggest you add the aquafaba little by little, letting it incorporate each time. I had the same issue the first time I did it, my buttercream just curdled after adding the aquafaba. Had to mix for about 15 minutes, for it to get together. By then, it was just too fluffy.
I did it again, adding the aquafaba little by little, and it was perfect! And it’s so versatile, I love it.
Great tip, thanks for sharing!
Have you tried to make different flavor variations with thus base?
Yes! I’ve made it chocolate, espresso, lavender, chili lime, lemon, and mandarin flavor so far. 🙂
Is this buttercream shelf stable or does it require refrigeration?
I recommend putting it in the fridge to extend its life, but it’s good at room temp for at least 3-5 days.
Can you use real butter?
It will work, yes.
Would this recipe work if I am using the Earth Balance Vegan butter sticks? It is the only vegan butter I can find in my area
Hi! Yes it can work, but the buttercream will be quite soft and melt at warm temperatures. You can add a little extra powdered sugar to give it some additional structure, but it’ll still be pretty soft.