I have wanted to create a super low sugar icing that tasted good for ages. I believe it’s here, if I do say so myself. This is inspired by one of Jude Blereau’s recipes from her Wholefood for Children book, where the way you get the sugar out is by thickening some coconut cream first and incorporating it into the beaten butter / sugar… This is even higher in the coconut mixture and half the sugar again with a rapadura for a really caramelly taste – I figured as part spread where there will be several sweet things grabbed in quick succession, I wanted to see if I could go ‘super low’ on teh sugar and it still pass the taste test. You could ice 20 cupcakes with it and the recipe calls for 50g rapadura. The average cupcake will have 1/2 a tsp of sugar on top, instead of the usual 2.5 tsp sugar per cupcake in a traditional icing recipe – A massive improvement and the best part is it tastes super yummy and is packed with healthy fats!
It all came about because a friend of the family asked me to bake a super nourishing round of cupcakes for their son’s party. Then the pic of them iced the other day where I fluked the icing and didn’t measure anything out… So, much to the despair of my son, we had to test it again today as one of you guys was desperate for the icing recipe and I had some time this afternoon – such a selfless little boy, isn’t he to make it with me and be a food tester. Test passed. Hope you enjoy!
Yay! I want pictures of your various creations for this one! Tag me @lowtoxlife when you pop your treats on instagram.
Need a cake to ice? Try my choose your own adventure cake, my coconut cupcakes, my spiced fig and ginger bread, banana bread or chocolate coconut cupcakes.
I hope you love it. There’s way too much of this in my fridge right now. I’m the only one here!
Real treats. happy bodies.
Whipped Caramel Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 2 tbsp tapioca or arrowroot flour
- 1 tsp vanilla bean powder
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 100 g butter softened at room temp overnight
- 50 g rapadura sugar (if you can’t have fructose at all, use the praline from my milo recipe and mix 50g of that in so you get that crunchy caramel vibe minus the fructose)
Instructions
- Heat a small saucepan over the stove with the coconut milk and tapioca / arrowroot
- When it thickens, whisk over the heat for 1 minute.
- Pour the big blob into a bowl and pop some baking paper over its surface.
- Pop in the fridge until it cools (2 hours)
- Then once it’s cooled you can make the icing
- Pop into a kitchenAid mixer or using handbeaters, whip the butter until a couple of shades paler.
- Add vanilla powder and sugar and beat on high for 30 seconds
- Then add the blobby cold thick coconut milk / flour mix and the 2 tsp lime/ lemon juice
- Beat on high for 1-2 minutes until well combined and the texture is a marshmallow whipped texture.
- You’re done. Pop in the fridge for 30 minutes before working with it. It’s going to be easier once thickened a little. It will set really nicely and not spill or wobble so pop in the fridge and take out a couple of hours before serving so the butter isn’t hard any more.
Colour / flavour options
- To make it pink – Add 1 tbsp beetroot juice or 1 tbsp raspberry juice from frozen raspberries
- To make it chocolatey – Ditch the lime / lemon juice and add 1-2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (raw or dutch processed) and whip that into it with the sugar.
- To make it chocolatey – Ditch the lime / lemon juice and add 1-2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (raw or dutch processed) and whip that into it with the sugar.
- To make it “Christmas in July” – You didn’t hear it from me, but a tbsp cognac instead of the citrus juice and a tsp ground cinnamon, turns it into eggnog icing. I’m serious.
Comments 21
Sounds and looks amazing (as always!)! Can’t wait to try this one….BUT…my little one is dairy free so any advice on substitutions for the butter? Coconut oil? Cocoa butter??
Thanks!!
Author
You could absolutely try with coconut butter – id’ go with freshly made coconut butter so it’s thick and gloopy and not ‘set’ so that it will be able to be whipped with the other ingredients. Can you let me know how you go? Because coconut butter sets hard like butter does, it should theoretically work! x
You are one clever lady! Do you think it will work with ghee?
Author
Should do – Might not set quite as much as with butter but definitely will set firmly enough to ice with 🙂
Ooh going to give coconut butter a go- might mean I could lower the sugar content even more! yummo!!
Author
Hannah did you try with coconut butter? How did you go?
Can anyone give feedback on how they went with ghee or coconut butter please????
Hi – are there any TMX instructions?
Hi Alexx, tried this on the weekend and it was DELICIOUS, but turned out a bit crumbly in texture rather than creamy smooth. Still useable but didn’t look as good as your pics. Any tips on how to fix this? xx Bianca
Author
This has happened to me once – and I put it down to over whipping and being a bit too generous with the lemon juice so it curdled with the acidity / overwhipping, and next time was more mindful and weas fine again – agree, it still tasted nice, just not very pretty. x
Perfect, thank you Alexx! Will try again this weekend and be mindful not to overdo the lemon or whipping 🙂
Author
Awesome – let me know how you go! x
Worked perfectly this time! This was my first EVER success making any sort of healthier icing so thank you!
Yay! So glad you were able to get your healthier icing mojo happening! x
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Hi Alexx
It looks amazing – do you think it would work if I substituted the coconut milk component with more butter? Having some issues with coconut milk and cream lately just can’t seem to stomach either so wondering if I go all butter if that would work? Thanks! btw EVERYONE loved the coconut cupcakes and the almost anzac biscuits – total hit !
Author
Hey there Audrey – yes you could absolutely use less coconut and more butter, no probs at all. So glad everyone loved the recipes x
Hi Alex,
any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong, my arrowroot/coconut milk mixture doesn’t turn into a ‘blob’ as you describe. First I thought it might be because I doubled the mixture. Then I tried again with coconut cream (200mls) and 2 tabs arrowroot, but it is still runny. I am making it in the thermie but can’t see that would be the problem?? Any ideas?
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I tried with freshly made coconut butter, in the thermomix, and it worked! Whipped it with the butterfly. So yummy!
Author
Oh yum Sarah – that would have been delicious! x