This coconut cream chocolate frosting is rich and fudgy and perfect for decorating or frosting cakes and cupcakes! Made with just 3 ingredients!
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I am about to knock your socks off with this recipe. It's made with no butter, no shortening, no margarine and no powdered sugar. No weird and unusual ingredients either. The three simple ingredients needed are also Vegan and Paleo friendly. You should definitely try it on my vegan chocolate cupcakes or my orange cupcakes.
I have been developing this recipe for almost a year now. In the last few months, I have made frostings with yogurt, avocado puree, banana puree and all sorts of ingredients imaginable. Some of them were not that bad but nothing was as incredible as this one. It's rich, fudgy and oh so choco-licious. And in case you are wondering, there's only a hint of coconut flavor and you can barely taste it.
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Key ingredients
- Coconut cream- Trader Joe's is my go-to for this.
- Chocolate chips- The better the chocolate, the better the frosting.
- Cocoa powder- Use the highest quality for best results.
Variations
- Use other melted chips- Including peanut butter, white chocolate, or milk chocolate for different flavors.
- Add different extracts- Add in some mint, vanilla, or almond extract for a new flavor profile.
- Make it sweet- By adding some powdered sugar. Start with 2 tablespoon and then work your way up until you are satisfied.
- Substitute coconut cream- This would obviously change the flavor and texture, but you can use cashew cream or evaporated milk instead.
- Thin it out for a drizzle- By adding more cream or coconut milk a little at time to make it the consistency of a Chocolate Ganache.
How to make chocolate coconut cream frosting from scratch?
- Chill- Can of coconut cream.
- Melt chocolate chips- In a microwavable bowl, then cool.
- Chill mixing bowl- Then add in the cream.
- Mix in- Melted chocolate and cocoa.
- Cover bowl- With saran wrap and chill.
- Whip- Until fluffy and enjoy.
Tips and techniques
- Don't even think about buying low-fat coconut cream- You need full-fat for the best texture and flavor.
- I don't use coconut milk in my recipe- Because different brands yield different results and some are total disasters. It's also a hassle to separate the cream from the milk.
- Make sure to discard any coconut water- That's at the bottom of the can (if there's any).
- Double the recipe- To make a bigger batch and frost more desserts, like these Coconut Sugar Cookies (Cut Out).
- Always allow dessert to cool- Before decorating with this frosting so it doesn't melt off and become a mess.
- Frosted cupcakes- Should be kept in the fridge since they can easily melt in the heat.
I decided to make this frosting with coconut cream instead of coconut milk because working with coconut milk was a pain. Every brand of coconut milk was giving me different results. Not only that, even 2 or 3 cans from the same brand were giving me inconsistent results! So, I highly recommend Trader Joe's Coconut cream. It's the only brand that gave me perfectly consistent results.
Recipe FAQs
I don't recommend it, but yes. Refrigerate your can of coconut milk for at least 24 hours. Take the can out of the fridge and immediately open it to see the separated coconut cream and water. Scoop out the cream only. You can use the coconut water in something else like this Pineapple Smoothie. You need 1 full cup of coconut cream, so you likely need 2 cans to make this recipe.
There are a lot of different options to choose from, but in my opinion Trader Joe's is the best hands down. It's really thick and truly the best I have tried so far.
I don't recommend doing this, because they are each very different. You must use cocoa powder because the cocoa mix is pre-sweetened with sugar with other ingredients.
Storage
- Make ahead- This can be whipped up 3-5 days in advance if kept in an airtight container in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Room temperature- Not recommended for more than a few hours since it will ge melty.
- Refrigerate- Place in a sealed container for 3-5 days.
- Freeze- Place in a sealed container for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge, whip, and use.
More frosting recipes
- Cooked Flour Buttercream (Ermine Frosting)
- German Chocolate Cake Frosting (Cocoa Powder)
- Easy Mango Frosting
- Caramel Frosting (3 Ingredients)
- Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (Cocoa Powder)
Recipe
Coconut Cream Chocolate Frosting
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Full fat coconut cream Read notes
- 1¾ cups Chocolate chips Semisweet
- ¼ cup Cocoa powder
Instructions
- Chill the can of coconut cream for 24 hours (or at least overnight if you are in a rush).
- In a microwavable bowl, add the chocolate chips and melt until you have a smooth mixture. Allow it to cool down but make sure it doesn't harden.
- Chill your mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- In this chilled mixing bowl, add the coconut cream. Make sure to discard any coconut water that's at the bottom of the can (if there's any!)
- Add the melted chocolate and cocoa powder and mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and chill the frosting for 2-3 hours until it firms up.
- Then, remove the bowl of frosting from the fridge and whip it until it becomes fluffy.
- And you are done...Start frosting your cupcakes!
Notes
- You can adjust the sweetness in this frosting by adding some powdered sugar (start with 2 tablespoon and then work your way up until you are satisfied).
- Frosted cupcakes should be kept in the fridge since they can easily melt in the heat.
- Don't even think about buying low-fat coconut cream. You need full-fat coconut cream! I love Trader Joe's coconut cream. It's really thick and truly the BEST brand of coconut cream I have tried so far!
- I don't use coconut milk in my recipe because different brands yield different results and some are total disasters! It's also a hassle to separate the cream from the milk.
- If you are using coconut milk instead of coconut cream, this is what you need to do => Refrigerate your can of coconut milk for at least 24 hours. When you are ready, take the can out of the fridge and immediately open it. You will notice that the thick coconut cream would have separated to the top and the coconut water will be at the bottom of the can. Use a spoon to scoop out the thick creamy portion into your mixing bowl only. You can use the coconut water in something else like smoothies (Yum!). You need 1 full cup of coconut cream for this recipe but based on different brands of coconut milk, you may end up with only ½ cup of coconut cream from each can. So, you will have to use a few cans of coconut milk to get the proper amount needed to make this icing.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Until next time, tata my lovelies!
Patricia
How many cupcakes does this frost? I accidentally ended up make 2 dozen instead of a dozen...
Abeer Rizvi
That depends on how you frost your cupcakes. I like really high swirls of frosting and always have to make way more frosting than other people...lol. If you are just doing a simple swipe of frosting on each cupcake with a spatula, you should be able to ice 24 cupcakes.
Patricia
Just some notes because I have tried your recipe 3 different ways, and eventually everything turns out well and hardly any leftovers!! What I learned... 1) Chilling bowl in the freezer caused my chocolate to seize and harden onto the sides... so I used my fridge instead. 2) Putting the coconut cream in the freezer results in a hard brick, only set it in there for an hour, otherwise use the fridge! 3) Place frosting in the fridge not the freezer. Basically it boils down to, 'Chill' is too vauge of a term for me haha!!!
Every time I hear chill, I think freezer so that's where I get confused. Like I said I have made this three different ways lol So basically 3 different methods of how I messed up. Side Note 4) If you want, you can melt the chocolate chips and the cocoa powder together. If it has trouble going in, add a table spoon of coconut oil.
ady langer
I made this frosting for a cake that iI though I was going to make, but later changed my mind. Can I freeze the frosting? If so, for how long and how do I thaw it before use...setting it out to defrost on it's own or putting it in the microwave.
Thanks!!
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can freeze the frosting for up to 1 month. For thawing, remove the frosting and keep in the fridge for 24 hours and then whip in a stand mixer to make it creamy again. You may need to heat frosting in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds to melt coconut cream and chocolate again.
Jessica
Can I decorate with this frosting and freeze the whole cake?
Abeer Rizvi
I don't freeze frosted cakes ever. They don't thaw well.