Sugar Free Strawberry Frosting

This sugar free strawberry frosting is a delicious topping for your cupcakes and cakes. It has just the right amount of sweetness and is wonderfully fruity. With my tips your healthy strawberry buttercream will be a roaring success!

I always thought I did not like frosting. The sugar versions I remember from my pre-low carb days basically made my teeth hurt. And to be honest, the keto recipes I checked out at online didn't look much better. Sure, they were sugar free. But 3 cups of sweetener in a frosting? Shudder.

For a long time, I topped my cakes and cupcakes with pure cream cheese frostings, mascarpone frostings or simply sugar free whipped cream.

But I kept on returning to the question - How could I make a keto buttercream that I would actually enjoy?

Well, here it is. This sugar free frosting recipe uses a LOT less sweetener than you'll see anywhere else. I think I've found the IDEAL balance of sweet and fruity, smooth and creamy.

It makes enough frosting for 12 cupcakes or a 20 cm round cake that yields 12 slices. Enjoy!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips and variations
• Storage
• Use the frosting here...
• Recipe

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Butter and cream cheese - It is absolutely essential that both butter and cream cheese are room temperature! Otherwise, the mixture can curdle. The cream cheese MUST be full fat. Also, I found that using a quality brand such as Philadelphia resulted in superior smoothness.

Powdered sweetener - I used an erythritol monk fruit sweetener that is a 1:1 sugar alternative. Xylitol or allulose works as well. Arguably, allulose is the best option because it melts just like sugar. All sweeteners must be powdered.

Strawberries - I used 180g of strawberries which I reduced by more than half to thicken it. For the frosting, we need 80g or ¼ cup of strawberry puree.

Xanthan gum - thickens the mix further. Guar gum, agar agar or even 1 teaspoon ground chia seeds would work equally well.

Instructions

This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Step 1: Puree the strawberries in a food processor. Then, bring the strawberry puree to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half.

Step 2: Sprinkle over the xanthan gum to thicken the mixture further and whisk to combine.

Step 3: Let cool to room temperature. I put mine in the freezer for 15 minutes to speed things up.

Tip: Start stirring regular half way through cooking so the mixture does not burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat.

Step 4: In a mixing bow, blend the room temperature butter and cream cheese until combined.

Step 5: Add the powdered sweetener bit by bit and blend until fully combined.

Step 6: Add in the cooled strawberry puree and blend again. I used ¼ cup or 80g of the reduced puree.

Use straight away or cool in the fridge until suitable for piping onto cupcakes or frosting cakes.

Tips and variations

First, let's talk sweetener. Most keto frostings use up to 3 times more sweetener than this recipe. I found that ¾ cup was the perfect amount for me. But, if you prefer a sweeter frosting, just add more. If adding more makes the frosting too thick, simply loosen it with almond milk.

Use different berries: Both raspberries or blueberries would work as well in this recipe. Strain raspberry puree after reducing to remove any hard bits.

Add flavor: ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract or 2 tablespoon of freeze dried strawberries would intensify the taste and colour.

Storage

This sugar free strawberry frosting holds its shape at room temperature (but not outside in the sunshine!). However, I would always store it in the fridge.

It stays fresh for up to 5 days and is even suitable for freezing - up to 3 months.

Simply bring back to room temperature before piping onto cupcakes or spreading over cakes.

Use the frosting here...

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Recipe