Sculptural Coconut Vegan Frosting

What is a cupcake without piles of luscious frosting? But, what is the purpose of making a healthy low-glycemic cupcake if you smother it full of fat and sugar? Most Vegan frosting recipes are full of either earth balance or some other fake butter and powdered sugar, or on the holistic basis, gobs of coconut Oil and agave, which while healthier than butter and powdered sugar, still doesn't make you feel exactly light and happy after eating a cupcake.

So, I came up with a frosting that is much lower in sugar and fat with the added bonus of making you feel full thanks to the wonders of agar; a frosting worthy of sitting atop a coconut cupcake with super powers.

I should add a few disclaimers— The people who like this best are often the people who find cake and icing too sweet. You can add more Agave to taste. However, the above cupcakes still receive an enthusiastic reception from dairy, sugar and gluten-eaters as well as the vegans, health conscious and gluten-intolerant.

While the texture will be wonderfully light and fluffy when spread with a knife or using a traditional pastry bag, a mechanical pastry bag will compress it and produce a texture more similar to traditional frosting. The cupcakes in the photo were iced with the William-Sonoma mechanical pastry bag ($28.00) which I have quickly come to find an indispensable dessert making accessory particularly for "boutique" cupcakes.

Sculptural Coconut Frosting (Vegan)

3.5 C. Light Coconut Milk*
1.5 Tbs. Agar Powder
1.5 Tbs. Arrowroot Powder**
1/3 C. Agave
Dash Sea Salt
.5 C. Light Coconut Milk

1. In a saucepan whisk together 3.5 C. Light Coconut Milk, Agar Powder, Arrowroot and Sea Salt at room temperature.

2. Bring to a low boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Allow mixture to cool and then refrigerate for 5 hours to overnight.

4. You will have a gelatin-like coconut milk brick. Slice it into a few chunks and put into a vita-mixer or blender with the agave.

5. Blend on low thinning with the additional .5 C. of coconut milk 1 Tbs. at a time until it reaches a creamy frosting consistency. You may use more or less milk to achieve this. The processing breaks down the gelling properties of the agar. Do not over blend.

6. Spread or pipe onto coconut flour cupcakes with super powers. For boutique worthy cupcakes, use a mechanical pastry bag.

Options: For richer frosting use 100% coconut milk, for sweeter icing, increase the agave. To give the frosting a "waxier" texture similar to some commercial frostings, melt 6 tablespoons of coconut oil (make sure no hard chunks) and add to vita-mixer when combining agave and gelled coconut milk. Icing will harden once coconut oil cools to room temperature.

*To make light coconut milk use 1 part 100% coconut milk to 2 parts water

**Cornstarch can also be substituted

The other cupcakes in the photo are frosted with chocolate and sweet potato vegan frostings which begin with this frosting as a base. I will put those recipes up in the next posts.

Coconut Milk Whipped Cream & Others: Amazing Agar Part II

Really, I don't own stock in an agar producing company, but if I could I would. Not only do I think it's great for weight loss and making you feel full (as I discussed in the Almond Mascarpone post) it supports so many culinary tricks, particularly those in the dessert making/ sculptural vein.

I love to use coconut milk whipped cream to decorate. It is thicker and richer than regular whip cream (with better nutritional stats), holds its form and doesn't deflate. It's essentially a whipped cream - icing hybrid— is there a more delicious concept in the dessert world?

The process is the same as the almond mascarpone, except for with coconut milk. I also follow the same process with Cashew milk to make what I call "cashew cream."

Coconut Milk Whipped Cream

42 Oz. light coconut milk*

1.5 Tbs. cornstarch

1 Tbs. agar powder (or equivalent agar flakes, read package for instructions)

Agave, sugar (recommended if you are using it to garnish a dessert) or stevia to taste

Whisk the coconut milk, cornstarch and agar powder together at room temperature in large saucepan until well combined and cornstarch is dissolved. If you are using sugar add it at this time too. Coconut milk has a natural sweetness to it so you probably won't need more than 1/4 cup.

Bring to a boil whisking frequently (this is so the bottom won't burn) and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. It's important to bring the mixture to a boil to activate the gelling properties of the agave but allow it to boil or simmer for too long and the gelling properties will deteriorate.

Remove from heat. If you are using agave, add it when the mixture has cooled slightly (the point where you can just touch it comfortably, 3-4 Tbs. should be good for a light sweetness). Allow the mixture to cool until sticking it in the fridge won't warm your refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. You will have a jello/ tofu like substance. Do not despair. Break apart the jellowish brick and put it in a blender or vita-mixer or stick an immersion blender right into the bowl of coconut jello. This will turn the jellowy substance into a luscious whipped cream. If you are using this to top fruit or like a yogurt for breakfast or a snack, a packet of powdered stevia per cup should do the trick.

Makes approx. 4 cups, at approximately 160 kCal/ cup (when using light coconut milk and stevia)

*Use regular coconut milk for a richer whipped cream. "Light" coconut milk is actually water + regular coconut milk (check the ingredients if you don't believe me, the first ingredient is water). Do your wallet and the environment a favor and buy regular coconut milk (check to ensure the only ingredient listed is coconut milk). 2 parts water to 1 cup coconut milk produces a typical "light" coconut milk. So, for every container of pure coconut milk, add two containers of purified water. Also, use real coconut milk, not the odd coconut milk beverage that has appeared in the dairy case at Whole Foods recently. I've never used it in this recipe but bought it and found it disgusting; then I looked at the ingredients and realized it was full of processed crap so I'm confident it would perform horribly in this recipe.

Cashew Cream

Follow above recipe for Coconut Milk Whipped cream. But make it with cashew milk. I use the Elana's Pantry Recipe for Cashew Milk except that I use 5 1/2 cups of water instead of 4.

The Side by Side: Almond Mascarpone and Coconut Whipped Cream.

Note for your dessert making/ designing needs that the Almond Mascarpone has a bisque color and a firmer texture (similar to, obviously, Mascarpone).

And the Coconut Whipped has a much whiter color and fluffier texture.

Yes— As you can see by my example pictures, I made a lot of lemon tarts for parties this summer. I will try to post a picture of cashew cream soon (It's color and texture is probably the perfect midway point between the almond mascarpone and coconut milk whipped cream).

Finally, I couldn't find the Wall Street Journal article discussing agar despite my best googling efforts. But, in my search, I did find another blog discussing the WSJ article and one woman's experience using it to lose weight: Chic & Slim article on agar for weight loss.