Pages

4/12/12

Sugar Free Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting - Updates at the bottom of the recipe!

This frosting can be kept in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Just re-whip before using.


Last week I revamped a traditional red velvet cake to make a white cake with white butter cream frosting.  It took some trial and error but I pulled it off and was thrilled with the results.  When it came to the frosting I hesitated when deciding how to proceed.  I had previously whipped up some simple versions using Splenda, butter and vanilla but with this cake I worked so hard to make, I didn't want to mess it up with a failure frosting.

In the end I turned to a 'regular' butter cream frosting/filling from a Sweet Celebrations cookbook I have and improvised my version of not only reducing the recipe down to about a quarter of the original, but changing ingredients to keep it low carb and sugar free.

I will admit while I was making it I was afraid I was completely wasting ingredients.  At a couple different times during the process I was mentally adding up the cost of ingredients I thought I might be throwing away.  In the end it was fabulous!

I used it on the white cake (which I enjoyed for my birthday last week), saved the extra frosting in a container in the refrigerator and used it today to frost cupcakes.  Just re-whip to make it smooth and take the chill off.  Perfect.

Sugar Free Butter Cream Vanilla Frosting

3/4 c granular Xylitol 
1/4 c water
3 large egg whites (separate and use the yolks in another recipe)
3 sticks real butter* (see note below - made later with 2 sticks and turned out great!)
2 T vanilla extract or use half vanilla sf syrup and half extract
*If you taste test it and find your personal tastes would like it sweeter, use 5-10 drops liquid sweetener

In a saucepan, place the water and Xylitol. Heat over medium high until it comes to 240 degrees.  With normal sugar this would be soft ball stage but because Xylitol and Splenda do not thicken, you cannot test this by traditional soft ball stage.

As you are heating the sugar substitute and water, mix the egg whites in a large mixing bowl.  Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  With the mixer running, pour the hot Xylitol mixture down the side of the bowl in a thin stream, mixing into the egg whites.  Beat approximately 7-10 minutes on high until the egg whites resemble a thick and glossy meringue.

Start to add the butter in chunks, about a tablespoon at a time.  Keep the mixer running and whip the mixture about 7- 10 minutes more.  If the mixture breaks up when you first add the butter and it looks like cottage cheese, no worries.  Just keep whipping until it's smooth again.  Once the frosting is smooth, add your vanilla and whip again for a few minutes.  If it's a really warm or humid day it might get too warm to work with.  Just refrigerate it for about 7 minutes, whip again.  The cooler temperatures will cause it to harden up again.

A sugar free frosting that looks and works just like a regular sugar laden version




UPDATE to answer the comment submitted below:  A standard stick of butter is 1/2 cup or 4 ounces.  Therefore every 2 sticks of butter is one cup or 8 oz.   If you buy solid butter by the pound in the large rectangle (which I have before as well), slice it in half, then turn on its side and slice again; you have 4 'sticks' that are 4 oz. or 1/2 cup each.  In other words;  3 sticks of butter is 1 1/2 cups or 12 oz.


And another quick update - October, 2019When I made this yesterday to go on a sheet cake, I only used 2 sticks butter (1 cup) and I think it still turned out pretty good!  So apparently you can play with the amount of butter used. 



Print Friendly and PDF