Chocolate “Buttercream” Frosting Recipe (gluten and dairy free)
I just made the best chocolate frosting for brownies. Normally I don’t frost brownies, but someone is bringing the
Jessica Seinfeld Deceptively Delicious brownies to school tomorrow as a “healthy” snack and I made a gluten free version of the recipe. I am not sure if the gluten-full recipe is tasty, but the ones I made were flat and gummy and odd tasting, so I cut them in half and put some chocolate frosting in the middle and made brownie sandwiches. Shalini, my assistant, said it was “a miracle” because the frosting transformed the really nasty brownies to something edible. I have previously written about how I feel about Jessica Seinfeld’s recipes–if it gets people to cook for their kids–GREAT! But I am not a huge fan of hiding veggies in food–and actually it doesn’t work that well for gluten free, dairy free food. But my kids did eat these frosted spinach and carrot brownies up! I usually skip the pureeing and hiding and serve straight up veggies:
“homemade” fresh pickles,”
veggie sandwiches and
snack trays. But of course whatever works–I am using the “miracle” frosting on our spinach and carrot brownies! And I am ordering the oat flour to see if I can get better results with oat flour and semi sweet chips (I used bittersweet chocolate.)
The frosting I made was kind of thrown together, but it was super yummy and quite easy, so I thought I would post the recipe which makes about a cup of frosting– enough to frost the top of a single layer cake or 12 cupcakes. I would double it if I were going to frost an entire two layer cake.
Chocolate “Buttercream” Frosting Recipe (gluten and dairy free)
2/3 cup enjoy life chocolate chips
1/2 cup Spectrum Organic PalmShortening
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. I microwaved them for 30 seconds, then stirred them and microwaved them for another minute. Stir in vanilla. Transfer melted chocolate mixture to cool bowl. Beat in spectrum shortening a tablespoon at a time. Beat in powdered sugar. Then beat over cold water with a few ice cubes until chocolate mixture is spreadable and cool. Spread quickly over cake before it hardens completely.
GF/CF Substitutions for the Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious Brownies…
substitute:
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for regular semi sweet chips
Spectrum Organic non hydrogenated Palm Shortening for margarine
Cream Hill Estates Lara’s Whole Grain Oat Flour for oat flour
Heather - I plan on trying this frosting soon, sounds delicious! I actually love Deceptively Delicious – it might be my favorite cookbook of the moment. We are just starting the GF adventure, and I make the pink pancakes with a GF pancake mix, which is easy and not as overwhelming as mixing your own GF flour. I also make them with goat milk ricotta as my kid can't do cow's milk. We also love the Banana Bread that incorporates cauliflower (I have yet to experiment with making that GF), the french toast with banana and pineapple puree (GF with good GF bread), the chicken nuggets with sweet potato puree, and the sloppy joes with a whole host of veggies. I know I sound like an informercial, but I really like this cookbook. I also serve veggies and fruits on the side, but who can't be happy about beets for breakfast (in the pink pancakes)?
Claire - This looks wonderful! I had wondered how to get a good "butter cream" frosting recipe. Thank you so much!