Besides tea, there’s a secret, surprisingly healthy & totally unexpected ingredient in this frosting. It’s hard to believe how good it tastes, how easy it is to work with, how low-cost it is & how it delivers a thick, creamy texture. Oh & it’s dairy-free & doesn’t use nuts.

Ready for the reveal? It’s sweet potato!! 

All you need to flavour this frosting is a bit of lemon juice & our Philosopher’s Brew tea, which is made with lemongrass, citrus & lavender. Easy!

If you’re a fan of cream cheese frosting & are looking for a dairy-free one, try this recipe. It has a refreshing, tangy taste that isn’t exactly like cream cheese, but satisfies some of those flavour notes you’re looking for.

You can also make a marvelous Matcha Frosting, by following a similar sweet potato base recipe.

Use this frosting as you would regular frosting, in all your favourite recipes.

Try it on our Chai Carrot Cake, layer it onto The Alchemist’s Meringues to make home-made macarons, or enjoy it with our Chocolate Hug Cupcakes.

We love seeing what you're making! ⁠Share & tag your Silk Road recipes with the hashtag #SilkRoadCommuniTEA - you’ll find us on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest.

LEMON LAVENDER TEA FROSTING

gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan

makes approximately 1 ½ cups

INGREDIENTS 
¾ cup water
3 tablespoons PHILOSOPHER’S BREW tea
⅔ cup sugar
1 large sweet potato
6 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel sweet potato & cut into 1-inch cubes. Set up a pot with an inch of water & a steamer basket, & bring water to a boil. If you don’t have a steamer basket, a stainless steel colander that fits inside a lidded pot will do the trick too. Put sweet potato chunks into steamer basket & cook until they are soft. This will take approximately 10–15 minutes. Transfer cooked sweet potatoes onto a tray so that they can cool quickly.

2. Bring water to a boil & pour over 3 tablespoons PHILOSOPHER’S BREW tea to create a tea concentrate. Steep 10 minutes & strain. Measure out ⅓ cup of liquid, reserving the remainder of tea concentrate for use later in the recipe.

Make a tea syrup: pour the first ⅓ cup tea concentrate into a small saucepan & add sugar. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat—be careful to stir, as this mixture can burn or overheat quickly. Once all sugar is dissolved, remove from heat & pour tea syrup into a container to cool.

3. Measure out 1 cup of sweet potato by mashing it firmly into a measuring cup. (Save any extra sweet potato in the fridge & add it to salads or soups—it’s very nutrient dense.)

4. Put sweet potato into a blender or food processor with ½ cup of tea syrup, coconut oil, 2 tablespoons tea concentrate, lemon juice & salt. Blend on high speed until smooth—at this point, the frosting will be quite runny. If your mixture is not coming together, you can add a little more tea concentrate—be careful not to add too much liquid, or your frosting will become too soft & mushy. Taste & adjust by adding more lemon juice or tea syrup.

5. Pour frosting into a container & place in the fridge to set. The longer it stays refrigerated, the firmer it will become. To decorate cakes, either wait until mixture is semi-set, but still soft, or remove from refrigerator after fully setting, & allow to warm slightly before decorating.

Always keep frosting refrigerated until just before serving. Cooked sweet potatoes should be discarded if left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature.

Frosting can be kept in the fridge for 3–5 days.