Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting

Greek yogurt continues to be useful in just about anything. I have used it in alfredo sauce, Key Lime Pie, and my first carrot cake, yet am still amazed by it's versatility. It makes a great sour cream replacement for baked potatoes, and of course an excellent breakfast or snack choice thanks to the large protein content. I always buy plain yogurt so that I can play with it as I see fit. But how could it work in frosting?

This recipe came to fruition as I was working on the Raw Vegan Carrot Cake. The suggestion was to use a vegan, peanut-based frosting, however I wanted a cream cheese taste. A recipe I found suggested using equal portions of yogurt and cream cheese, so I blended the two together in a food processor (though a mixer would work just as well).

Being that I think just about any dessert warrants the use of vanilla and almond extracts, I added the two of them in there, as well as some powdered sugar, nutmeg and orange oil.

Orange oil is pretty awesome stuff - just a little dash of it adds a boost of orange flavor. I pretty much love it. Because this cake was filled with dried fruit and had pineapple, it seemed like an appropriate flavor to mesh in.

Boy, that was easy. And so the frosting was ready, and I spooned a bit on top of a layer of cake.

This was a nice, flat surface, and I wasn't intending to frost the sides, so the fact this was liquidy was not concerning to me. I would suggest, however, if you want this to be thicker, to refrigerate for 5-10 minutes so it will become slightly more solid.

I added another layer of cake, then topped it off with another dollop of frosting and some shredded coconut on the top.

So I raved about how great this cake was in that recipe post, but it's definitely hard to pick a winner between frosting and cake. Now that I have added nutmeg to frosting, I don't think there is any going back. Nutmeg is great to add to desserts, as it adds some complexity to the flavor that I really don't have the right words to clearly describe. There is a reason it is delicious with eggnog and why I use it in cookies and cakes (I've even been told to put it in mashed potatoes!). The frosting overall tasted like a cream cheese icing. I don't think anyone would even know it had greek yogurt if you didn't tell them. Winner.

Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup cream cheese
5 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon orange oil

Instructions:

Add greek yogurt and cream cheese to a mixing bowl or food processor and blend for 20-30 seconds to thoroughly combine. Add powdered sugar, nutmeg, vanilla and almond extracts, and orange oil, then continue mixing another 15-20 seconds to blend. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes to solidify the mixture slightly if desired.

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