A unique spin on Ermine Buttercream uses fresh apples as the base!
Apple Buttercream is a great way to reduce a major amount of sugar that is in traditional buttercream recipes!
Fresh apples impart a natural sweetness while adding pectin for a boost in stability!
How can it be possible that apple buttercream doesn’t taste like apples!? Just wait and see for yourself!
Perfectly paired with my chocolate cake recipe which I also converted to low sugar and low oil
This entire cake has me falling in love!
WATCH THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE APPLE BUTTERCREAM
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Notes for Success:
Granny Smith apples are my favorite apples for all things baking, but feel free to use any apple you like the best!
Adding flavor to any buttercream recipe can prove to be difficult, especially an ermine style buttercream like this one.
I would recommend to add any liquid flavorings to the custard portion of the recipe rather than to thee buttercream as we normally do.
Powder or paste flavorings are always butter no matter what recipe you are using click here for more about Flavoring your Buttercream Recipes
Cornstarch is a very difficult ingredient to measure consistently with a volume/spoons measure
So while I list both measures below I cannot stress enough how the grams measure with a scale is going to give you the best results.
Changing the sugars in this recipe is very forgiving since the majority of it is in the custard recipe which can accommodate any type of sugar/liquid/granular or diabetic substitutes.
The confectioners sugar that I added is optional, but I did find it helped the stability by absorbing some of the moisture creating a stronger emulsion
Speaking of stability the most important ingredient for the success of this recipe is going to be the vegan butter.
Moisture levels vary amongst all the brands so be sure to find one that has the lowest moisture to avoid breaking the emulsion
I find Earth Balance to the be the best one for me *not sponsored
Here is a list of all the special tools and equipment I used to make this recipe and cake
Apple Buttercream
Be sure to read all the notes for success section above this recipe
Ingredients
- Fresh Apples 3 large (approx 300g) *after peeling/coring
- Water 4 Tablespoons (60ml)
- Sugar of your choice 1 cup (200g) *see notes for sugar free
- Cornstarch 10 Tablespoons (80g)
- Plant Milk 2½ cups (600ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Vegan Butter 6 sticks (672g) *see notes for success
- Confectioners sugar 1 cup (120g) *see notes
Instructions
- Soften the vegan butter at room temperature so it is still firm, but pliable
- Prepare the apples by peeling and coring them (*see video I like to use the apple skins in one long ribbon while cooking)
- Add chopped apples & that ribbon of apple skin to a medium sauce pot with the water and sugar of your choice
- Cook the apples over medium to high heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes to rapidly boiling, Take off the lid and reduce the heat to a simmer until the apples are translucent & mushy.
- Remove from heat and remove the ribbon of apples skin(s)
- Transfer the apples to a blender with about ½ cup of the plant milk and the cornstarch and puree smooth
- Transfer the apple puree to the same sauce pot that you cooked the apples & add the remaining plant milk.
- Return to the stove over medium to high heat whisking constantly until it comes to a boil.
- Add the vanilla extract and then strain through a mesh strainer onto a sheet pan (no parchment paper or grease!)
- Refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold & set
- Meanwhile whip the vegan butter & salt with an electric mixer with the whip attachment until it is aerated & light and fluffy and starting to look whiter in color (about 5 minutes) scraping the bottom & sides of the bowl often
- Add the sifted confectioners sugar and whip for another minute or two until smooth scraping the bottom & sides of the bowl often
- Add the cold custard to the vegan butter while continuing to whip on high speed until all the custard is incorporated, scraping the bottom & sides of the bowl often
- Continue whipping until the buttercream is smooth & silky
Notes
Apple buttercream is best used as soon as you make it, since Ermine style buttercreams tend not to re-whip nicely after they have been stored.
The shelf life is up to 2 weeks so if you have leftovers, you can refrigerate it & then bring to room temperature before re-whipping with a balloon whip attachment on a high speed mixer, this should help re-emulsify the buttercream to a smooth consistency
Would you consider developing a Condensed Milk Frosting recipe?
Good idea!
Looking for the same.
Would it be possible to use premade/store bought apple sauce in place of apples in the recipe?
I have not tried that, and wile it could work? The fresh apples have natural pectin making this recipe more stable (which is what we always want in buttercream recipes!) But it is worth a try! Let me know if you do
I think you must be an actual wizard. Your other recipes including more complex frostings have gone super well for me, so I’m excited to give this a shot and report back. Thank you!
Great! Please do let me know
Hi! Could I freeze this buttercream? (After icing cupcakes)
yes, just please read the notes on storage & notes for success
What is vegan butter brand, Chef!?
I use Earth Balance and sometimes Gold ‘n’ Sweet
This sounds amazing like everything your post!
I will definitely try that.
Do you find the buttercream too salty when using Earth Balance? I have tried it a few times and found it to be too salty. I managed to get unsalted Earth Balance back in May, but it disappeared again from our local Whole Food stores.
Would shortening work as well?
Thank you!
Sorry for the late reply I did not get this notification
Yes I feel that earth balance does add too much salt so I would omit the salt in the recipe. I thought I was adding that as I note, but perhaps I forgot! Thanks for the reminder!
yes to shortening! I do not use it anymore but if you do you can replace some of the vegan butter with whatever amount you feel you want to add they are interchangeable 1:1
Can you make this in non vegan style by using real butter?
What apples do you use? In the picture, you have green apples. Are they golden delicious or granny smith?
Hi Michele, I always include a “Notes for Success” section on my recipes and for this one in the first sentence I write that I am using Granny Smith apples, but any apple you like the best will be fine.
I suppose I should make that more clear in the recipe ingredients section though
Hi! This recipe looks delicious. I do not have an electric mixer was wondering if this frosting would still whip up okay with a small hand mixer?
Yes! You can do it! You may need to whip it longer than average but it will work!
Hi,
Thank you for this amazing recipe !
I would love to try it with real butter. Will that work too ?
Yes
Hello, I made your Ermine buttercream…absolutely fabulous! How long can it sit at room temp?
Also, do you have a recipe for holland creme and/or mock?
Hey thanks great! Once it’s on the cake it will be fine at room temperature for a day or two (depending on the filling)
As for Holland creme, I believe a close replica of that would be what we call here “American Buttercream”
Hi, I wonder if you can help me solving this doubt. I would like to learn baking for doing it at least once a week. In many videos I see the use of the kitchen aid mixer, I have a food processor, a blender and a hand mixer. Would it be necessary to buy the Kitchen Aid Mixer in that case?
P. S.: I’m Colombian watching you from the Netherlands, I’m loving your videos
Hey there, so “No” it is not necessary to have a Kitchen Aid or a heavy duty stand mixer of equal comparison. However is IS helpful.
There would be only a handful of recipes that would be near impossible to do without the balloon whip attachment & super high power of the stand mixer and that would be anything that incorporates a whipped aquafaba since this ingredient requires prolonged, heavy duty high power whipping to achieve the results of a firm glassy strong meringue.
Now I say “near impossible” because some have claimed to do it with a hand beater but not without also almost burning out the motor.
That said, here is the #1 recipe that would be difficult without a stand mixer is the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I will add that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my food processor and can’t live without it almost if not MORE than my stand mixer! LOL
CLICK HERE for a list of all my recipes using food processor also known as “one bowl mixes”
Hi! I tried this recipe and loved it. I’d like to use this for your caramel cake too, so I was wondering, how could I turn this into a caramel buttercream? Should I add caramel sauce to the custard or after the buttercream is done? Thank you!
Yes! Excellent! I actually have a new video tutorial in the beginning stages for how to incorporate all different flavors into an Ermine buttercream (which is what this recipe actually is) and this is the most fragile buttercream to add anything to it at the end it will most likely break, so to make different flavors you will do that at the custard stage
Hello !
When you measure the 300 grams of apples, is this before or after you peel and core them? Thank you so much for your help!
Good question, this is after!
hi Gretchen, I love the look of this recipe, im looking to make this for a family member who is vegan but also very health conscious e.g low sugar, but I was planning to use this on a vintage heart cake for them, which requires alot of decorating. im in australia so we dont have shortening like crisco, but we have a brand called copha, its a ‘vegetable shortening’, made with coconut oil;
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/48004/copha-oil-solid-cooking-block
just wondering if i could replace half the vegan butter with half copha to get a more stable shape for piping?
thanks again!
Hey there while I have not had any experience using copha, I have heard that most will use it exactly as you stated!
If you are on facebook there is a wonderful group called Vegan Cake Decorating, All Types of Baking & Resources
It is a worldwide group of professionals and home bakers all there to help each other with questions exactly like this one!
Hi Gretchen, I love your cake recipes and have made the Triple Strawberry Cake with Apple Buttercream before. I would like to make it again with the Apple Buttercream but will be traveling about 4 hours with this cake. Do you think this buttercream would hold up to the travel time. There are some curvy mountain roads but mostly freeway driving. Look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Hey there, so I think it should be fine if you can keep the car cool (AC) keep the cake out of the sun from the car windows and also keep it refrigerated all the way until the minute you drive off.
I think the bigger problem becomes the filling ~ when there is too much and/or it is too soft that always causes the problems, so just be wary of that part
Hi there- I’m allergic to corn, do you think I could sub tapioca starch by gram?
Yes you can!
No other buttercream vegan or not vegan, even come close to this buttercream. And because normal buttercreams are way too sweet for local pallet, all the carnivores are at awe of this magical buttercream.
My only question is, if I buy dry pectin can it improve the stability of this cream?
(roads here are not always great and I often need to walk with the cake or drive over a bumpy road. This buttercream is so good I’ll buy pectin just for it. I would probably sell my kidney for it but I doubt it will improve stability…)
LOL thanks for the great comment! I have not tried pectin- please let me know if you do!
Hello, I have made this frosting twice. And each time when adding the custard it seems like it is going great but in the end it falls apart. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I love the taste of this frosting so much, I can’t give up on it but the butter is too expensive to just keep trying blindly.
Oh no! Ermine Buttercream (which is this type of buttercream) is the most fragile of all the buttercream recipes, because we are bringing it to the brink of over saturation.
The type of vegan butter you are using could be the culprit. Since moisture levels in all the different brands vary AND what makes it harder is that we do not KNOW these levels as it is not marked or labeled.
I have the best success with Earth Balance as it is the lowest moisture. You will get a good idea of how much moisture is in your butter by whether you can “mush it” when it is cold. Earth Balance stays very hard when cold
The cheaper versions will stay soft when in the refrigerator
Alternatively you can keep a close eye on the recipe and as you are adding the butter, stop just before you think it is going to break. You may end up using less butter than the recipe specifies
OR add in a portion of shortening in the place of the vegan butter
Hello!
How would I adjust this recipe for a 4 and 6 inch cake? I’ve tried this recipe twice. First time was a success but the second time, it looked like the custard didn’t mix well? It had streaks through it. Do you have any tips to fix that?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Hey there, so I think you are wanting to just HALVE the recipe? So you don’t have extra? In which case you should be able to do that by simply dividing all the ingredients in half & proceeding. Just be careful of your math & measuring.
As for having streaks from the custard? Hmm, I suppose that just means it wasn’t mixed thoroughly? Perhaps Add it in slower so it is sure to incorporate
Hey! I’ve tried to halve it but there’s so much left over haha. I’m a beginner so I’m only baking single layer or double layer 6″ cakes (only tin I have right now, haha). So, that’d mean i should cut it by one fourth? D:
Thank you 🙂
Yes probably you only need 1/4 batter amount! Be careful with math & measuring as this is the #1 reason for recipe flops!
This is a very forgiving batter though~ so if you do have a lot left over, just bake one layer at a time & let the batter rest on the counter while the other is baking