Elviira over at Low-Carb, So Simple! developed this amazing sugar-free Irish coffee frosting for St. Patrick’s Day. Elviira spent quite a bit of time perfecting this recipe and generously released it to the wild for all of us to try and enjoy ourselves! The recipe uses some products local to Finland, but are available on Amazon as well.
This is very quick and easy frosting to make, although you need to dissolve the coffee in the heavy cream and cool down the mixture at first, which is the most time consuming part when making this frosting.
Actually, the best piece of advice I can give is not to beat the frosting too long when adding the mixture of coffee and cream. Beat just that the cream is incorporated in the mixture to ensure the fluffiest and the most velvety result.
In my experience, the powdered Zsweet sweetener works best for any frosting. The pure powdered erythritol I have used before tends to feel gritty. It doesn’t dissolve completely, unlike Zsweet which dissolves beautifully and makes the texture smooth like velvet. Actually, there is still another powdered sweetener called Swerve but I don’t have any experience in that stuff. Would be great to compare it with Zsweet and Sukrin Melis which I have in frequent use.
But back to this frosting. For me 1 tablespoon whiskey gives just the right amount of whiskey flavor. You can adjust the amount of whiskey to your liking. I recommend to start with 1 tablespoon and add another one if you like boozier flavor.
Sugar-Free Irish Coffee Frosting for St. Patrick’s Day
- 1/4 cup = 60 ml organic heavy cream
- 1 sachet = 2 teaspoons = organic instant decaffeinated coffee
- 1 stick = 4 oz = 115 g organic butter, softened
- 1 cup = 240 ml Zsweet sweetener for baking (or powdered erythritol)
- 1 tablespoon Irish whiskey
Directions
- Combine the cream and the coffee in a small heatproof cup. Stir over low heat until the coffee is dissolved. Let the mixture cool down to room temperature.
- Beat the butter and the sweetener until almost white and fluffy.
- Add the coffee and cream mixture in thirds, beating quickly after each addition. Don’t beat too long, just that all the cream has incorporated into the butter.
- Add the whiskey and beat until well mixed. Don’t beat too long.
- Use immediately.
Tips for variation
For a completely alcohol-free version, you can replace the whiskey with 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract. Of course, it’s not the same as whiskey, but vanilla suits well the coffee taste.
You can sprinkle some dark chocolate shavings on top of the frosting. They look beautiful and taste great.
For a real St. Patrick’s Day treat, you can color the frosting green. Because I don’t like to use artificial colors, I used 1 teaspoon spirulina powder. The whiskey covers the slight spirulina taste very nicely. However, feel free to use your favorite food coloring.