Best Chocolate Frosting Recipe

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Hints for the creamiest, best chocolate frosting recipe around. There’s just 6 ingredients in this fudgy frosting that pairs with any cake.

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

Best Chocolate Frosting Recipe

We’ve featured this mouthwatering buttercream, known as “the best chocolate frosting around”, several times on Tastes of Lizzy T in the past. You’ve seen it on mint cakes, peanut butter cakes and chocolate shortbread.

The time has come, however, to showcase this smooth, creamy, easy chocolate buttercream frosting with an article all of its own. Because it’s that good. And we use this recipe all the time.

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

Homemade Chocolate Buttercream

There was a day when I didn’t think making my own buttercream frosting was worth the trouble. I’d just buy a tub of ready-to-spread frosting and call it good. Those were the good ‘ol days when Maddie didn’t like frosting. Turns out she didn’t necessarily not like frosting…she just needed to taste the amazingness called “homemade chocolate icing” recipe.

This simple recipe has butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and heavy cream. The butter makes the fudge frosting literally melt in your mouth.

The salt? It balances the sweetness just perfectly.

And the heavy cream makes this whip up into a beautifully creamy, easy-to-spread chocolate frosting.

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

How to Make Chocolate Frosting

Homemade buttercream is easiest when you have a stand mixer. You’ll whip the butter for about 1 ½ minutes until it is creamy and whitish in color. Then you’ll add the salt and vanilla. And then comes the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add this in slowly and be sure the mixer is on low speed so the powdered sugar doesn’t go flying all over your kitchen.

As for the heavy cream, simple add a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is the consistency that you’d like it. Some like thicker frosting and some want it fluffier and lighter. A little more heavy cream will give you a fluffier texture.  Be sure not to beat the frosting too much. It will whip more air into your frosting. Unless what you want is an airier frosting, of course. I find that beating my frosting for about 1 minute gets it to the consistency I like.

Just look at this…..

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

Q: What are your chocolate frosting hints?

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe
best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

Best Chocolate Frosting Recipe

4.88 from 41 votes
Hints for the creamiest, best chocolate frosting recipe around. There's just 6 ingredients in this fudgy frosting that pairs with any cake.
Servings 10 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

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Ingredients
 

Instructions
 

  • In a stand mixer with the beater blade, beat the butter for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth, creamy and nearly white in appearance. 
  • Add in the salt and vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
  • With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
  • Add the heavy cream, a tablespoon at a time, mixing slowly until it is the consistency that you'd like. 
  • Beat for 1 minute on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

We like to use the beater blade attachment. If you'd like an airier frosting, you can use the whisk and beat the frosting for an additional 1-2 minutes. This will whip more air into the frosting, which makes it delicious, but it will also not spread on as smoothly.
We used regular cocoa powder, but if you'd like deeper, darker flavor, use special dark cocoa powder

Nutrition

Serving: 76g | Calories: 359kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 21g
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Calories 359
Keyword chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake, frosting recipes, how to make buttercream

best-chocolate-frosting-recipe

About JulieJulie Clark

About Julie Clark

I'm Julie Clark, CEO and recipe developer of Tastes of Lizzy T. With my B.A. in Education and over 30 years of cooking and baking, I want to teach YOU the best of our family recipes.

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Tess
5 months ago

5 stars
Chocolate Buttercreme

sherry
2 years ago

have you tried it with almond rather than vanilla???

Trista Wright
3 years ago

5 stars
Made this today… it is delicious 😋… I was out of vanilla so I substituted 1Tbsp. almond extra and 1 Tbsp. Maple extra… Soooo tasty…
Ohhh and only used 3 cups powdered sugar… will 💯 make again

Tasha Medlock
3 years ago

Will this work well under fondant?

Christina
3 years ago

5 stars
Delicious. How long can you keep the frosting? Freeze it?

Christy Graham
4 years ago

Hi! I am getting ready to make this along with your Reese’s cake. Just wondering if the butter should be salted or unsalted?

Lauren
4 years ago

5 stars
I absolutely loved this frosting!
Please could you tell me how I can adapt it to make a white chocolate version please?
Thank you

Lisa
4 years ago

Curious how much this recipe yields. How many cups of frosting. I need 3-4 cups total for a cake. Will this make enough?

cabracrazy
4 years ago

5 stars
This frosting is SO GOOD. It just melts in your mouth. I only ended up using 1 3/4 c powdered sugar because I don’t like super sweet frosting. It turned out amazing.

Mimi
4 years ago

5 stars
My family agrees that this is the best!

Diana
5 years ago

How many cups of frosting does this recipe yeald

Missy
5 years ago

5 stars
Made it today, can’t wait to taste it with the cake. Yummy!!!! 😋

Laura
5 years ago

5 stars
Delicious! I double the recipe because I’m making a 4 layer colorful tiger stripe cake for my birthday coming up this week. I added an extra 1/2 cup of cocoa and used only 6 cups of powdered sugar and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt instead of doubling the salt. It came out so good!!!! This is my new go to chocolate icing recipe from now on!!! Thanks Lizzy!!! I also used your vanilla icing recipe and dyed it pink to decorate my cake!!! I’ll post pics of the cake soon!!!

A_r
5 years ago

4 stars
Just FYI, if you try to make this with a hand mixer, you will want to start adding liquid as you cream the sugar into the butter, NOT after. Otherwise, it will become too thick, and you may burn out the motor in your hand mixer.

Stephanie
5 years ago

i need to use a hand mixer. what difference will it make?