Chill two cans of regular coconut milk in the fridge for several hours to overnight.

Open both cans of coconut milk from the bottom, and pour off the coconut water. Scrape out the coconut cream from both cans into a large mixing bowl.

Add the vanilla to the coconut cream, and beat on high speed for one minute. Scrape down the bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.

Add the agar powder to the vegan sugar, and whisk together well. (If you do not have agar, and you don’t need the whipped topping to be very firm, you can leave it out and the topping will still taste great. Follow the recipe as written otherwise, including simmering the aquafaba.)

Pour the aquafaba into a small saucepan. Add the sugar/agar mixture to the aquafaba while whisking briskly. Whisk the mixture to dissolve the sugar while heating on medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes.

With your mixer on, pour the hot liquid into a large mixing bowl. (You must use a clean bowl and beaters for this step! Do not reuse the ones from the coconut cream unless they were thoroughly washed and dried.) Continue beating on high speed until you have a glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks. This can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient.

Add the remaining aquafaba meringue and fold it in very gently. That’s it! You have amazing vegan whipped topping! Scrape down the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours if you will be using it for frosting or piping with it. You can use it right away if you are using it as a dip, but it will be even better if you chill it for an hour first.

Once the whipped topping has chilled, add it to a pastry bag if you will be piping it. Squeeze the topping down to the bottom of the bag, and pipe as desired. Or, just serve simply with fresh fruit.