Fudgy Frosting

Ever had chocolate boiled milk frosting? I love it. I'm so happy I can make it dairy free!

To celebrate my husband's birthday, we had chocolate cake, with fudgy frosting and raspberry filling. I used my sister's Chocolate Boiled Frosting recipe, and replaced the dairy milk called for with coconut milk. The recipe called for 3 sticks of butter(for a yield of 4 cups frosting), and I tried it without any at all, and then with a bit of Smart Balance buttery spread added. It was good both ways. The buttery spread did add a nice rich dimension, but I don't think I would have liked the full amount called for in the recipe. I think I used about 1/3 c. of spread, for a half batch. (2 c. yield).  I'll post the original recipe, and then what I substituted, marked with --. You can experiment using the original recipe to make various kinds of dairy free cooked frosting!

Boiled Milk Frosting

1 1/2 c. sugar (dark brown sugar for Caramel Frosting)
1/3 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. whole milk -- use coconut milk or coconut cream
2 tsp. vanilla
3 sticks butter, cut into Tbsp-sized pieces -- use dairy free product. Full amount not needed.
     I used Smart Balance buttery spread* and added to taste. It was much less the amount than called       for here. If you use coconut cream, probably want to use even less butter.

In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly stir in the milk. Bring to boil over medium heat, cook and stir until very thick, about 5-7 min. Cover and cool to room temperature. Add vanilla, then beat in butter, 1 piece at a time. [Note I just added a spoon full of spread at a time and beat it in]. If frosting's a little too soft, let stand at room temperature for 1 hr. to firm up. If storing until later, refrigerate, the let sit on counter 2 hrs or until softened. Beat 1 min. to re-fluff. Makes 4 cups.

Chocolate Boiled Frosting: Add 1/4 c. cocoa and 2-4 oz melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate to the hot cooked milk mix. [ I didn't have diary free chocolate in the house as usual, so I just added 1-2 T. extra cocoa instead. No problem. Frosting was delicious! Perfect to compliment our chocolate cake and raspberry sauce! ]

*Check for casein and whey in Smart Balance, most types have either one or both. The fully diary free one presently is the light version, but it can change.