Yep, It’s true the very same recipe I used when I had my bakery!
Pro Bakery Fudge Icing Recipe is now yours to make with ease at home!
At first glance the recipe may seem like so many ingredients
However all of those ingredients you probably already have
Not to mention they all really do play a role in the final smooth outcome and stability of this rich silky fudge icing
But it’s actually really simple to make
Updates & Notes for Success:
I have adjusted the amount of confectioners sugar, believe it or not the original recipe used to be 8 whole cups!
Perhaps I was much sweeter in my younger years! LOL
For those who want it sweeter though you can obviously increase the amount all the way back up to the original 8 cups
You may have to add a few tablespoons of warm water though to get it to a spreadable consistency
Corn syrup is a “no” for many people so feel free to use Agave, Maple Syrup or Golden Syrup instead
Even molasses would give this fudge icing a nice spin!
The original recipe and video listed coconut oil in the ingredients but after many people had white streaks or a film of white oil and sometimes separation of the fudge icing
I have traced this back to the coconut oil and now use all vegan butter in it’s place
Additionally I also had a measure of shortening but have removed that as well so the recipe as written below is the new improved version
PRO TIP:
Just by adding about a cup of this fudge icing to your favorite buttercream recipe you get instant chocolate buttercream!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT HOW TO FLAVOR YOUR BUTTERCREAM
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE 2 MIN YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS ICING
Vegan Fudge Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- Granulated Sugar 5 Tablespoons (63g)
- Water 5 Tablespoons (75ml)
- Corn Syrup 2 Tablespoons (40g) (30ml)
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 1 Cup (90g)
- Very Soft Vegan Butter 4 Tablespoons (56g)
- Corn Syrup 4 Tablespoons (80g) (60ml)
- * you can sub glucose or golden syrup here
- Vegan Butter 1 cup (2 Sticks) (226g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons
- Confectioner's Sugar or Icing Sugar 3 cups (360g)
Instructions
- In a small pot on the stove, combine the first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes then pour into your mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment & add the cocoa powder and mix until it forms a firm mass.
- Add the vanilla extract
- Add the first measure of vegan butter (4 Tbs) and mix well.
- Now add the other measure of corn syrup and only when the mixture is cooled you will add the other measure of butter, mix smooth.
- Add the sifted confectioners sugar a little bit at a time and mix until smooth.
- ** Optional::: Slowly add some of the cold water about 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency
Notes
Fudge icing can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week
For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 month
Freeze for 3 months
How well does it freeze?
Fine, just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight then let it get to room temperature for an hour or so before rewhipping, you may need to add another tbs or two of warm water to get it smooth and creamy
Sweet Baby Jesus! Your website,videos,and recipes are the real dream come true. Thank you for sharing and for going vegan!
awe thank you too!!
This is terrific Fudge Frosting. First Vegan attempt on my part. Super easy.
They never knew it was Vegan.
I’m glad I found your site! Thank you
Christi
awesome! thanks Christi!
Hello!
Is it ok to use agave instead of corn syrup in this recipe?
yes!
Hey Gretchen, so proud to find out you became a vegan and also very relieved, because I could never find a vegan version of brownies as good as your non vegan brownie XD Literally EVERYONE that has eaten your non vegan brownie here in Brazil was stunned!
I’m wondering, how many cupcakes or brownie pieces do 6 cups of icing cover? I’m planning to sell these here in Brazil! <3 Thank you for the wonderful recipes.
Hi Great thanks! Well it depends on how much you want to ice them! 😀
This recipe makes 6 cups- so you will have to estimate how much you will put on each one, then do a little division to get an accurate yield
Hello Gretchen! Is this recipe similar to the fudge that you had years ago? I made that one and loved it. I’m making a cake and I want to use it as a filling
YES! it is exactly the same recipe!
Hi Gretchen – a while ago I think I remember you talked about using chocolate chips in frosting. Can you say again what the problems might be? thanks
Chocolate chips are not meant to melt. They have added ingredients in them to keep them from melting away in (specifically) cookies which is what they were designed to do.
So, especially on the lower grade brands they have waxes and such.
It would probably be OK here, but again a more expensive chip will be the same as buying some real deal couverture. I get Baker’s Brand Chocolate bars (4oz bars for like $2.50) in my local ShopRite (and walmart has it too)
thanks Gretchen – really appreciate all you do
What else can we use apart from corn syrup? You mention agave but could you use for example xylitol? What liquid would you mix it with & what quantities? What else might we be able to use? Thank you
Hi Cathy, I have not personally used xylitol, but I am pretty sure it would work as a replacement for the cornsyrup here. I’d just add a bit more liquid (water) at the end as I show in the video to adjust the consistency.
But if you are trying to make this a low sugar recipe, I wouldn’t recommend that. There is such a large amount of confectioners sugar here, that even replacing JUST the cornsyrup part, what is that really going to do? Not much in the grand scheme of things.
For a lower sugar, WAY HEALTHIER version of a chocolate icing, you can use ganache instead. It’s easy, 2 ingredients- low sugar in comparison to this recipe. CLICK HERE
i love all your recipes. Have been following you since non vegan days 🙂
which icing recipes are perfect to create a fondant cake?
Hi Thank you!! CLICK HERE for the best buttercream options!
Hi Gretchen!
I wonder if this recipe is enough to frost an 8inch cake without to much leftovers. im making a birthday cake and wanted to have as little leftover frosting as i can, I always make to much.
If you are just frosting and NOT filling? It’s going to be extra, but you could HALF the recipe OR freeze excess 🙂
Is there any type of vegan butter you recommend. I was looking in the store and saw Becel for 2.50 and then earth balance for 5.50. Would it matter in this recipe?
It wouldn’t matter here, the only time I am sure to use Earth Balance with no subs in in a buttercream recipe- Earth Balance is the lowest moisture and will get hard in the fridge, no other one will do that (that I know of)
Hello Gretchen, your recipes are simply amazing! You have so much talent in you, and i am so glad you decided to share it with the world. I made your peanut butter fudge brittle cake a few days age, and , i was simply shocked. It was so good!! I made it for my dad for fathers day because he loves peanut butter so much, and he was so happy! thank you so much! I do have a question though. I love your fudge icing and i make it a lot, it is so rich and chocolaty and i make it at least once every week, but every single time i make it, if i put it into a piping bag and start piping, or if i leave it in the mixer bowl, it get white streaks in it. and not pretty streaks. every time i pipe with it, the first few look great, but then the white appears and i don’t know what to do. I follow the recipe exactly! Do you know what’s wrong? If you do, please tell me. Thank you!!!
Hey great thanks!!! That has happened to me before too, and I think it is from the shortening addition? Because I now use all vegan butter (earth balance specifically – lowest moisture) and this has not happened
hey. What can i substitute for vegetable shortening?
Love your channel and website. I am a vegetarian (will soon turn vegan) and i am excited to make these for my non-vegetarian family and friends
Great! More vegan butter in same quantity as listed
I read above that I can substitute more vegan butter for the veg shortening.
Why does the recipe call for shortening? Is it to firm up the icing?
Thanks
Yes to both, Shortening is only ever used as a stabilizer for icings, lots of people like to stay away from using it, so you can use all vegan butter in it’s place. I do it all the time, the amount here is so little that it really doesn’t change anything at all. This was a recipe I converted from my bakery that was GIANT! So when I scaled it down, the shortening that started out at like 2lb for the entire recipe, ended up being so small, so I probably just should have omitted it from the start
Hello, Gretchen
Pretty sure I’ve lost weight from all the salivating I’m doing just looking at your amazing desserts!
I have a question I’m hoping you can help with:
It was recently pointed out to me that a lot of sugar is filtered with bone char. Obviously, if it’s certified organic, or certified vegan, that wouldn’t be the case.
Do your recipes factor that in?
Thank you for taking the time to read, and hopefully, answer. Thank you also for these tremendous ideas and inspirations!
🕊
Tim
Hi Tim thanks! And you are welcome too! 🙂
Yes that is correct most sugar (in the US) is processed through animal bone char. I use Zulka brand sugar in all my recipes, so yes~ I guess you can say I factor that in
For the powdered sugar you can make your own, since the store bought ones are super expensive!
CLICK HERE for simple vegan blog powdered sugar recipe
Not sure what went wrong here. I followed the instructions to a T. I made two batches, one the way you make it in the video and one the way the recipe is written. They both refused to come together, it looks curdled and oily and there is a white milky substance that accumulates on the surface. I guess I will need to try another recipe in the morning. Such a shame. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
Oh no! Sounds like an emulsion problem (*oversaturation of fats: other ingredients) that is the #1 reason recipes like this & buttercream “break” aka Curdle.
I would suggest to warm up some of it (just like a 1/2 cup, not to the point it is melted, but then add it back to the main bowl and mix
Sometimes I take a blow torch to the sides of the bowl as it is mixing which is effectively the same thing.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT FIXING A BROKEN RECIPE
Hi Gretchen, I just made this mouth watering icing, but the emulsion broke 🙁 What is the best way to get the right consistency back? Thank you for the recipes, they are amazing!
Oh No! Some others have had that problem, and I can only suspect it is the vegan butter being used? If the vegan butter has too much moisture content it can cause over saturation & thus breaking (curdling) You can add some more confectioners sugar to help absorb some of that excess moisture to regain a proper balance
I tried something before I saw your answer; I put the icing in my food processor, it worked as far as the emulsion goes, but it’s more liquid, I will try add some more confectioners sugar. Thank you for your help! It is so delicious, I could eat it with a spoon, which I did…
Hi Gretchen!
I am excited to try this recipe. I am thinking that I will split it, and add peppermint extract to half and use it as a cupcake filling…. Thoughts? Maybe 1Tsp?
Then, I will top the cupcake with chocolate frosting and a homemade peppermint patty. Or, maybe vanilla frosting and a sprinkle of crushed peppermint…..Im not much of a chocolate fan, but my family is! Id love to hear your suggestions!
With the holidays approaching, I love getting things made ahead of time
Thanks again for all of your amazing recipes!!
Yes great! In my experience various brands of extracts will vary so I always start with a lot less than I think I need to avoid “toothpaste” flavored icing! 🙂
So yes I 1tsp per half sounds like a good starting place!
I am a double & triple chocolate person so for me that sounds fab! Although I also really love the vanilla crushed mint version too
So since I can;t decide I think you have to make both LOL
This tastes amazing!! I ran out of cocoa powder, so I had to sub with like 30g of espresso powder and it still tasted delicious.
Hi Gretchen! I just made your fudge icing and followed exact steps and used earth balance vegan butter sticks ! I noticed that it was a little too loose/runny for my piping cupcakes so I added two more cups of sifted confectioners sugar. It took care of it but then as soon as I put it in the icing bag it started turning white !! I fixed the problem by sprinkling jt with crumbled peppermint pattie cookies. Overall my husband and I LOVED the taste! Thanks for this vegan recipe but I wonder why it stated turning white in the piping bag ??
Hey thanks for the comment, some other people have had similar trouble with this recipe, so I decided to eliminate the coconut oil addition (from the original recipe) and replaced with all vegan butter as the recipe now reflects.
I have however reduced the sugar severely from the original bakery recipe so this could be posing the problem, but I will maintain that I always use this new amount of sugar (compared to 8 cups!!) and have no trouble ~ Perhaps it is over saturated with fats compared to sugar, which explains why when you added more sugar is helped/ I’ll have to look into this more- sounds like a recipe of fudge icing is in my near future~ Yumm (but I have to wait for this hurricane to do it’s thang!) Ugggh
Yes I’ll be waiting for another fudge icing recipe. I hope you’re well and safe out there !
Thanks for replying
I can’t wait to try this recipe.However the wallpaper of pop up ads will prevent me from spending more time on your website. This is ridiculous!
Thank you ~ Unfortunately the only way I get paid to share my FREE recipes is through ads running on my website. Yes it’s true no one likes ads nor do I, however no one likes to work for free either. Click here for AD FREE RECIPES