The BEST Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Here's the thing about me, I don't like American buttercream. I find it too sweet and often gritty. It doesn't have much substance being mainly just butter and sugar. However, I get the convenience of it since it's certainly the easier choice from Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Italian Meringue Buttercream or Ermine Buttercream. I recently found out that a lot of my readers also do not like buttercream, so I was determined to develop a recipe that we could all LOVE. This is my BEST Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and it is so intensely chocolatey, rich, smooth and not too sweet. It is simple to prepare and almost has the texture of whipped ganache. It is incredible! If you love making different types of frostings, check out my Best Chocolate Frosting recipe which is based on chocolate ganache, and then also my very popular Chocolate Fudge Frosting that has a soft fudgy melting quality. I pair those frostings with my BEST Moist Chocolate Cake recipe, and this Buttercream Frosting goes with my Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Easy to make - this chocolate buttercream frosting is SO EASY to make and there's no chill time, whipping egg whites or boiling sugar involved.
- Simple ingredients - this recipe uses just 5 simple ingredients.
- Rich dark chocolate frosting - it has the most delicious chocolate flavor and a texture that's literally like eating a whipped chocolate truffle.
- Not too sweet - the best part about this chocolate buttercream is that it is not too sweet and it doesn't use a whole pound of icing sugar.
- Perfect for piping - this frosting holds up so well and is perfect for even intricate piping tips.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE BEST CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- Dark chocolate - you'll need pure dark chocolate to make this frosting. Anything between 50 and 70% cocoa solids will work, but I highly recommend dark chocolate with 60% cocoa solids. You can blend semisweet chocolate with my favorite bittersweet chocolate callets which are very convenient. The darker the chocolate, the higher the cocoa butter content and so the firmer the frosting will be. If you use semisweet chocolate, the frosting will be sweeter and a bit softer.
- Unsalted butter - it's important to use unsalted butter for buttercream to give a nice creamy flavor, and this way you can control the salt.
- Icing sugar - you'll need powdered sugar (also called icing sugar) and it is often very lumpy so it is important that you sift it before using it.
- Cocoa powder - any kind will work. I love to use this Dutch Process cocoa powder. Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa powder and not cocoa mix.
- Cream - you need heavy cream or whipping cream with 35% milk fat. Make sure it is at room temperature. Cold cream will split the frosting.
- Salt - even though I suggest unsalted butter, that doesn't mean salt isn't important. Salt is SO important in baking, and especially in chocolate recipes!
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- STEP 1). Bloom the cocoa powder. First combine cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl and whisk until it forms a smooth paste. Let it cool completely.
- STEP 2). Cream butter and sugar. Combine soft butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until very pale, creamy and whipped. Add the cooled cocoa powder mixture, vanilla and salt and mix until very pale and fluffy. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and mix until smooth. Add another tablespoon and mix again.
- STEP 3). Mix in melted chocolate. Add half of the melted cooled chocolate and mix until just incorporated. Add another 2 tablespoons of cream (one tablespoon at a time) and mix between each addition. Add the last of the melted chocolate and mix it in, then finally mix in the last tablespoon of cream. This gradually addition of cream ensures that the frosting doesn't split and gives you a smooth creamy consistency.
- STEP 4). Frost the cake! Use immediately to pipe or spread onto cakes or cupcakes. This frosting pipes very nicely. It will firm up as it cools further and the chocolate sets. This frosting is very stable so store at room temperature for up to 4 days. Do not refrigerate.
If you love chocolate cake, then also check out my Ultimate Moist Chocolate Fudge Cake which is kind of like the SaraLee chocolate cake except homemade and WAY better!
EXPERT BAKING TIPS FOR THE BEST CHOCOLATE FROSTING
- Use soft butter. Your butter should be soft enough that you can easily press your finger into it. It should not be melted or greasy/weeping. At this stage, it whips the most efficiently with the sugar to make it nice and fluffy.
- Use a dark chocolate between 50% and 60% cocoa solids for best results. Do not use milk chocolate for this recipe - it will not work. Also, do not use bittersweet chocolate because the higher cocoa butter content will cause the frosting to stiffen up.
- Let the chocolate cool completely - if you add warm melted chocolate to the creamed butter and sugar, it will melt the butter and break down all the air bubbles you worked so hard to make in the fluffy mixture.
- Sift the icing sugar. Powdered sugar is often very lumpy and those pesky lumps sometimes don't even break down with the mixer. For the fluffiest texture, I recommend sifting the icing sugar.
- Have the cream at room temperature. Adding cold cream to your room temperature butter is a great way to break it! Cold liquid will not blend easily into soft butter and in order to coax liquid and fat to form a smooth emulsion, they must be at the same room temperature.
- Do not over mix - do not over-mix the frosting once you add the melted chocolate. Whipping the chocolate can make it too stiff and it may become difficult to spread.
RECIPE FAQ
Although I mostly use 70% bittersweet chocolate for baking, this frosting recipe is ideal with dark chocolate between 55 and 60% cocoa solids. The sweeter chocolate has less cocoa butter so it won't firm up as quick in the frosting. I prefer this dark chocolate.
Yes, unfortunately icing sugar is fully of pesky lumps. If yours isn't lumpy, feel free to use it directly in the frosting.
I don't recommend freezing this buttercream since it contains melted chocolate which will firm it up a lot. It's best used immediately after making it.
Yes! This buttercream pipes like a dream!
How 'bout some cake for that frosting?
Here are some delicious cake recipes:
Practice your piping:
These cupcake recipes are great to pair with this frosting:
Video
The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon (18g) Dutch Process cocoa powder (I prefer this one)
- 3 tablespoon (45ml) boiling water
- ⅔ cup (150g) unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 ⅓ cups (160g) powdered confectioner's sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 oz (170g) dark chocolate between 55-65% cocoa, melted and cooled
- 4-5 tablespoon (60-75ml) 35% heavy whipping cream at room temperature or slightly warmed (*NOT COLD*)
Instructions
- First combine cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl and whisk until it forms a smooth paste. Let it cool completely.
- Mix the soft butter in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until very smooth. Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute until pale, creamy and fluffy. Add the cooled cocoa powder mixture, vanilla and salt and mix until evenly combined and very smooth. This is the last stage where you will incorporate air into the buttercream. The mixture will look sort of grey-colored at this point.
- Add half of the cooled melted chocolate and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Gradually add 2 tablespoons of the room temperature cream one tablespoon at a time and mix gently between each addition. If you add all of the cream at once, it may separate.
- Add the remaining melted chocolate and mix it in gently, then finally mix in 2 more tablespoons of cream. This gradually addition of cream ensures that the frosting doesn't split and gives you a smooth creamy consistency. The consistency is highly dependent on your room temperature and humidity, so if it still looks too thick or stiff, gently mix in 1 more tablespoon of cream. Also, it's important to mix on low speed at this point since whipping on high will cause it to stiffen up.
- Use immediately to pipe or spread onto cakes or cupcakes. This frosting pipes very nicely. It will firm up as it cools further and the chocolate sets. This frosting is very stable, so store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Do not refrigerate.
Made this frosting to go with your Ultimate Moist Chocolate Cake. LOVE. LOVE. Worth the bit of extra work. Huge hit. Thank you!
You are welcome SG! Glad you enjoyed the frosting!
Hi, can I store this buttercream in the freezer? And what is the shelf life of store on freezer and fridge?
This recipe contains whipped cream and it can be stay at room temperature for few days? Can I use double cream instead of whipped cream? Thank you.
Hi Katie! I do not recommend storing the buttercream in the freezer (see FAQ section). It is quite stable and can keep up to 3 days at room temperature. I do not recommend replacing whipping cream with double cream.
I tried making this and it came out very lumpy - the melted (and then cooled) chocolate did not end up incorporating into the rest of the mix well after it had cooled because when it cooled, it hardened. I think you may want to be a bit more specific on how we're supposed to handle this ingredient.
Hi J! What kind of chocolate did you use? Please see expert tips section. The recipe requires dark chocolate between 55-65% cocoa. Sounds like you may have used bittersweet chocolate which will harden due to the higher cocoa butter content.
Hi, I can't wait to try this recipe, but have one question. I only have salted butter - is that a suitable substitute, or will it be too salty?
Hi Mary-Anne. It will likely be a bit too salty tasting even if you remove the added salt from the recipe. However it depends on your taste.
Hi there, excellent recipe,easy to make ,really delicious. Its a keeper .Thank you xoxo
You are welcome Amy! Glad you liked the recipe.
Hi! Do you think this would work with a cake that also contains sour cream? Or would the flavour profiles be too similar?
Hi Alison, I think it would work and be great!
This frosting is absolutely wonderful. Great texture and amazing taste!! When all directions are followed it turns out perfectly. Will definitely make again. Thank you! 💖
Thanks so much Anna, I'm thrilled you enjoyed it!
I'm curious why it says *do not refrigerate * ....what if I need to make frosted cupcakes ahead of time? Is it OK to refrigerate after the frosting is piped out ? I'm uneasy about storing cupcakes on the counter for a couple days as I'm feeding my sons class.
Hi there, the frosting will firm up if you chill it. This is safe to eat at room temperature for a few days.
Delicious! This tasted and had the consistency of pudding...too loose/liquid than i prefer for frosting. Perhaps I did something wrong but it still was very good. I prefer frosting to be a bit stiffer than pudding.
Hi Christina, if it was too soft, then it was just too warm and you can put it in the fridge for a bit.
This is a great frosting! Easy to make and perfect to cover and decorate a chocolate cake. Thank you for the recipe 🫶🏼
Thank you so much!
I made this following the directions but substitued what I had in the house - Hershey's cocoa and Nestles dark chocolate chips. Easy to make and delicious! Frosted 18 cupcakes with some left over. Will def make again.
Thanks Mary!
thank you so much for these recipes! the frosting came out so smooth and non gritty! it wasnt chocolatey enough for me, and was too runny so i added a jar of praline nougat cream, which in itself is stiff, and mixed into the frosting. it firmed up (not enough to pipe, but it spread beautifully) and now i have a nougat chocolate frosting which is amazing! i used this on top of the vanilla butter cupcakes- also, i had so much left over, i refilled the nougat jar for next time (which will probably be tomorrow !)
Will one batch of this frosting make enough to cover and pipe on a 3 layer 6" cake?
Hi Angela, I think it JUST might. If you are worried you can make 1.5 times the recipe.
How many squares of a 3.5 oz bar of Ghirardelli chocolate do i need for 6 oz to make the frosting
Hi, is baking chips ok to use?
Hi Ivy, as long as they are pure chocolate it should work.
It's a little fussy to make but I am NEVER making another chocolate frosting recipe again. This one is perfection!
Thank you Janet!
Hi, just wanted to ask if I can possible use cold heavy cream since I stay in a place where the normal temperature is around 87 degrees on a cool day. The last time I added room temperature cream the frosting never firmed up and I was forced to refrigerate, and on taking it out it melted quickly. Or should I just use another frosting?
Hi Cynella, if your country is that warm then maybe it will incorporate well even when you use cold cream. I think it's worth a try.
Would this be enough to frost a 3 layer 8" cake?
Hi Beth, I think you would need more, so I would multiply the recipe by 1.5x
Hi Christina,
Hope you're doing good. Thank you so much for this recipe, I made it with triple chocolate cupcakes and it turned out heavenly; my family loved it. I need your advice to handle the frosting at lower temperatures. My kitchen's temperature in winter is inbetween 3-8°c sometimes less than that at, which firms up the chocolate even before I can pipe it. Can you please suggest me something for it? Thank you
Hi Fatima, wow 3-8 degrees indoor temperature is like being in the fridge. I'm afraid that chocolate and butter will set firm at that temperature so the frosting will be hard. Maybe use my hot fudge sauce as a frosting instead.
So if I put this on a cake, I shouldn't put the cake in the fridge afterwards right? Why is that? Will it make the frosting too stiff?
Hi Reuben, you can leave the cake out, covered at a cool room temperature for up to 3 days. After that refrigerate it. The frosting will firm up slightly but it will still be nice and fudgy and will soften once you bring it to room temperature.
Any suggestions about adjusting for a dairy allergy?
Hi Dorothy, I would use a trusted dairy free butter and high fat cream alternative.
The instructions first mention using the cocoa mixture then later instructing us to use half the cocoa mixture. Can you clarify those steps? Thanks so much!
Made a very moist chocolate cake/cupcakes from Mitte cookbook, and tried your frosting for them. I liked it very much! It's just enough sweetness without being overly sweet. Not gritty, and I prefer to leave my cakes out for room temperature quality whenever I want to enjoy. This frosting makes leaving it out, a great option. I saved it and will def make again.
Thank you so much Mike. This comment means a lot! I'm glad you enjoy this frosting recipe.
I love the taste of the frosting. However, since I live in India I am unable to get the frosting stiff enough for piping due to the temperature of the kitchen and the fact we do not get 35% or above heavy whipping cream in dairy. I used the nondairy cream, but because it was room temperature it did not hold up. Any suggestions? Maybe using chilled nondairy cream, will it not split coz it already has stabilizers in there?
Hi Cynelia, you'll need dairy cream for this recipe. Place it in the fridge if it doesn't firm up enough.
Can this be made a day or two in advance of frosting the cake? Just stored at room temperature as you mentioned and then whipped back up before frosting?
Hi Krista, I wouldn't recommend it as the melted chocolate firms up and will make it difficult to whip. It may only work if you live in a very warm environment (>24 degrees C)
This recipe is truly amazing! It is the most chocolatey frosting I've ever tried and it's not too sweet which my family likes. Thanks for this great recipe!
I can't wait to try some of these recipes, they sound and look yummy