Strawberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup pureed strawberries (I use frozen, thawed overnight)
1 cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance), at room temperature
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Using a food processor, puree enough strawberries for 1/4 cup of puree and set aside. (I assume you could probably mash them by hand as well)
2. With an electric mixer, cream the margarine. Once light and fluffy, add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until well mixed.
3. Add vanilla and strawberry puree and mix until combined. Be careful not to over-mix here.
I used this recipe to frost 24 vanilla cupcakes. I had enough frosting left over for at least 6 more cupcakes. I recommend frosting something plain/less sweet, as I did, because the frosting is very sweet.
Source of recipe: This recipe was modified from: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/candace-nelson-strawberry-frosting
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Try using dehydrated strawberries! Put them in a food processor/blender to powder them. The acidity of fresh berries, I find, is very difficult to mix into anything fat or oil based. However, a combo of fresh and dehydrated would also work! Also adding a bit of salt and vanilla works wonders to cut the sweetness into something more palatable. :)
i am sorry it didn't work for you. half margarine, half shortening, and and an extra 1/2 cup or more of powdered sugar could improve the consistency but the recipe worked fine for me as is. it is sweet and the strawberry flavor isn't super strong but i love it. salt could balance the sweetness but i figured there was salt in the earth balance so i didn't add any.
by the way, it makes enough frosting for 36 cupcakes. i was able to frost 12 more with leftover icing in addition to the first 24.
Ok, so I made this, and it 'broke' on me, so I ended up using way more sugar to bind it together. It's ok, but it is very sweet, and not enough strawberry taste.
Strawberries are on sale this week, I am so trying this!