This buttercream not only has an addictive spicy kick, but its tangy sweetness will have you looking for new and creative combinations and vehicles for getting it from bowl to mouth. It’s dairy-free, vegan, soy-free as long as you use the recommended ingredients, and I won’t tell anyone if you accidentally make a double batch.
Best coupled with fruit flavored confections, it uses fresh key lime juice in place of your usual cream or milk as well as the vanilla in American buttercream. I like to add yellow coloring to mine, since I most often pair it with mango smoothie cake for my famous Mangonada Cake and Mangonada Macarons. If you want to avoid dyes, use turmeric to turn it vivid yellow!
For the fruit chili powder, Trechas is my favorite brand (when I lived in Mexico, my host families only used Trechas brand, so that’s all I buy, now). If you’re wanting to avoid sugar or dyes, Tajin is a great choice as well.
And as far as butter goes, I use Country Crock Plant Butter sticks now, and it’s what I recommend. If you don’t have access to it or want to use something else, check out this post that covers vegan butters and how to make them work for your buttercream.
Video Tutorial
Recipe
Vegan Chili Lime Buttercream
The easiest vegan buttercream you’ve ever made - in sabor loco chili-lime! Four ingredients and ten minutes gets you perfectly pipe-able frosting for any confection that needs a spicy-sweet punch of tangy Mexican flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 cup room temp high-fat vegan butter* (two sticks)(I prefer Country Crock Plant Butter sticks for best and soy-free results)
- 3 cups powdered sugar (use Swerve Confectioner’s for a sugar-free version)
- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp lime juice
- 1-2 tsp chili lime fruit seasoning
- Yellow gel food color
Instructions
- Add butter and two cups of powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment
- Mix on low/stir until completely incorporated
- Add the final cup of the powdered sugar and chili lime seasoning, and mix again on low/stir until completely incorporated
- Add your lime juice
- Mix on low until completely incorporated
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl
- Mix on low just until the mixture is fully combined and smooth
- Adjust the consistency by adding more juice by the teaspoon to thin, or more powdered sugar by the quarter cup to stiffen until desired consistency is reached
Notes
*For more info on vegan butters to use, check out my post at www.cookingoncaffeine.com/easiest-vegan-buttercream-ever
*If you use shortening, whip the mixture for 15 minutes or until it no longer has a greasy/waxy mouthfeel
*if you want the buttercream as silky smooth as possible, turn the mixer on low/stir and let it go for about a half an hour after you’re done mixing it
*for butter without palm oil, give Miyoko’s cultured butter a try
*for butter without soy, use Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks, Earth Balance Soy-Free, or Miyoko’s cultured butter.
*feel free to sift your powdered sugar if it’s very lumpy
*for crusting buttercream, add another one to two tablespoons of liquid, and use powdered sugar to bring back to consistency