The Chocolate Buttercream Frosting You Didn’t Know You Needed

I’m spilling all my secrets and finally sharing the best chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. No seriously, it’s that good. It’s a beginner-friendly recipe that creates a smooth, creamy, and delicious chocolate buttercream—stable enough for tiered cakes, pipes beautifully, and comes together in under 15 minutes!

MY CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM CHECKLIST

CHOCOLATE FROSTING INGREDIENTS 

• Electric Hand Mixer (affiliate) (or)
• Stand Mixer with the Paddle Attachment
• Unsalted Butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Heavy Cream or Milk
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• Sifter or Mesh Strainer
• Silicone Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Salt
• Food Scale (Optional, but highly recommended!)

TIPS FOR CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

BUTTER:

1. Room Temperature Butter: If your butter is too cold, you might end up with small lumps in your finished buttercream. On the other hand, if it’s too soft or melted, the texture will be too soft and not ideal to work with—nobody wants that! Room temperature butter is just right: it blends easily into the powdered sugar, giving you a super smooth and creamy buttercream. You’ll know it’s ready when you can press your finger into the butter and leave an indentation without it falling apart.
2. Unsalted Butter: Unsalted butter allows control over the amount of salt added to the recipe. I’ve found the sweet spot to be about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, this will be much lower if using salted butter.  Different brands of salted butter contain varying amounts of salt, so using unsalted butter gives a more consistent result.

POWDERED SUGAR:

1. To Sift or Not to Sift: I have found it completely unnecessary to sift the powdered sugar when making chocolate buttercream. I haven’t noticed a difference in the finished product with sifted powdered sugar as opposed to unsifted. That said, I choose to skip this step to save time. Of course, do whatever you prefer when it comes to sifting.

cocoa powder:

1. Sifting: We may be skipping the powdered sugar sifting, but I highly recommend sifting the cocoa powder! It really helps break up those annoying clumps and ensures a smooth, creamy buttercream. If you run into stubborn clumps while sifting, just press them through with a fork or spoon—it works like a charm.
2. Natural Cocoa Powder: Natural cocoa powder gives that rich, deep chocolate flavor that most people expect in a traditional chocolate buttercream—nothing too dark or bitter, just a nice balanced taste.

HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM or MILK:

1. Heavy Whipping Cream: This is the liquid that brings this delicious chocolate buttercream together! Be careful when adding the heavy cream—you can easily add too much! If your buttercream is too thick, start by adding just one tablespoon of cream at a time until you’re happy with the consistency. On the flip side, if you’ve gone a little overboard and the frosting is too soft, don’t worry. You can thicken it back up by mixing in a bit of powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until it firms up again.
2. Type of Milk: If you only have milk on hand, that’ll work just fine too. The more fat in the milk, the better—whole or 2% is ideal. But if all you’ve got is skim, it’ll still get the job done in a pinch.

Well, there you have it – the best chocolate buttercream frosting recipe ever! You have to give this a try, especially if you are a chocolate lover like me. It’s a total game-changer, especially paired with my Triple Chocolate Layer Cake recipe. Whether you’re frosting a batch of cupcakes, or just spooning it straight from the bowl, your friends and family will be dying for the recipe.

Continue below for the easy-to-follow recipe, dig in, and enjoy every bite!

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