Modified: · Published: by Rhian Williams
This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is perfectly sweet, luxuriously rich, creamy and velvety, but secretly healthy and nutritious.! It’s also refined sugar free and requires just 6 simple ingredients! Perfect for using as a frosting for my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake! It’s easily spreadable and is also gluten-free, refined sugar free, paleo and oil-free optional.
Why make buttercream frosting using sweet potatoes?
A lot of vegan buttercream recipes I’ve seen rely on ingredients like cashews, coconut whipped cream or avocado, but I wanted to try to make something without using any of these.
Cashew nuts, or any other nuts are deliciously rich and creamy when blended, but to make buttercream out of them you’d have to use huge quantities, and nuts are pretty expensive.
Coconut whipped cream is delicious but I feel like it’s too light and fluffy to pass as a buttercream substitute.
I tried an avocado chocolate cheesecake recipe and it didn’t work out that well because I could still taste the avocado, and I didn’t want another sweet guacamole situation on my hands, so I made sure to steer well clear of that.
Enter sweet potatoes! I just knew sweet potatoes were the solution because I absolutely love using them in new and inventive ways (check out my vegan chocolate sweet potato ice cream, vegan chocolate sweet potato milkshake and matcha sweet potato mochi).
Because of their naturally creamy texture and high sugar content, sweet potatoes make a great alternative. Unlike avocados, their indistinctive taste means they’re great to use as a basis for different flavours.
Unlike nuts, they’re wallet-friendly, and the texture ends up a lot thicker than coconut whipped cream. As a bonus, it also means that this vegan chocolate buttercream frosting is nut-free, unlike a lot of other vegan buttercream frosting recipes!
I got the inspiration to use sweet potatoes for different dessert recipes because they’re used in a lot of traditional Japanese sweet snacks and desserts.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor.
- Whizz until completely smooth.
Tip: You will have to mix it around a few times.
Tip: Best left to cool before using as a frosting.
How to use this frosting
- As a frosting for layer cakes like my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake.
- As a frosting for cupcakes like my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes.
- Spread on toast.
- Spread on Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes or Gluten-Free Vegan Crepes.
- Eat it with a spoon like a chocolate mousse.
- As a frosting for my Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake!
More sweet potato desserts
- Chocolate Sweet Potato Milkshake
- Chocolate Sweet Potato Ice Cream
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
- Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Ice Cream
- Matcha Sweet Potato Mochi
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is perfectly sweet, luxuriously rich and creamy, and unbelievably healthy.
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: chocolate sweet potato buttercream, paleo chocolate frosting, vegan cake frosting
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 71kcal
Ingredients
- 400 g (7 oz) sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil *
Instructions
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Cook sweet potatoes by boiling, steaming or roasting them until very soft and tender
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Discard any skins, and add to a food processor along with all other ingredients
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Whizz until completely smooth. Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary – add more maple syrup for sweetness, more salt for saltiness, more cocoa powder for chocolate flavour etc
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Leave to cool before using as a cake frosting
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Keeps for up to a few days in the fridge
Notes
*Coconut oil can be omitted for an oil-free version.
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Amount Per Serving
Calories 71
% Daily Value*
Sodium 28mg1%
Potassium 204mg6%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 7095IU142%
Vitamin C 1.2mg1%
Calcium 25mg3%
Iron 0.5mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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