Here we go! This is my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe. I’m tempted to call it a “basic” chocolate buttercream, but it’s anything but basic; it’s incredibly CREAMY, silky, smooth, and rich. Like a decadent brownie in frosting form. Melts in your mouth and tastes unbelievable on chocolate cupcakes.
Even though it’s a wonderfully creamy chocolate buttercream, it holds its shape beautifully—just as Swiss meringue buttercream does. This is simply perfect for piping even the most intricate and fancy designs.
What Tastes Best with Chocolate Buttercream?
I’ve made this chocolate buttercream more times than I can count, but I love it with:
- Yellow Cupcakes
- Coconut Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Chocolate Frosted Cookies
- Banana Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- If you scale it up, you can use it to frost a layered cake, like I do with my chocolate cake, and yellow cake
Dive into this chocolate decadence!
Help! My Chocolate Buttercream is Really Light in Color
After beating so much air into the mixture, chocolate buttercream can lighten up in color. Of course this doesn’t change the flavor at all, but if you want it a little darker, I have a tried-and-true trick.
Take 1 cup of the prepared buttercream (you can just eyeball it, a little less than half). Place it in a heatproof bowl. Microwave it for 10 seconds. This loosens the mixture up and helps the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder combo absorb more of the liquid. Place that back into the big bowl of frosting and stir it in by hand. The frosting should be smoother, and darker in color.
More Favorite Frostings
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Frosting & Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Black Chocolate Buttercream Frosting which tops these Black Velvet Cupcakes
Favorite Chocolate Buttercream
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2.5 cups
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe. It’s incredibly rich, creamy, silky, smooth, and easy to work with for decorating cakes and cupcakes!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream or milk, at room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick. Taste. Beat in another pinch of salt if desired.
- Use immediately or cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Quantity: This recipe makes enough to frost 12–16 cupcakes or a thin layer on a 9×13-inch quarter sheet cake. For a 2-layer cake, follow the ratios from this chocolate cake. For a 3- or 4-layer cake, follow the ratios from this piñata cake.
And here is my favorite vanilla buttercream recipe!
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally,
I found the answer to my question while skimming through the comments(can this recipe be doubled) however I still wanted to comment on how delicious this recipe is. It is far superior to any other recipe I’ve tried! It makes such a difference when you use top notch ingredients and I do! Butter only for a buttercream frosting, real vanilla extract, and a superior cocoa is the only way to go! Thank you for sharing it!
I’m looking at making this for an upcoming birthday. How could I turn this into a chocolate mint buttercream? Would I sub in 2 tsp mint extract or would that be too much?
Hi Amy, we’d start by replacing some of the vanilla for peppermint extract, so one teaspoon of each. Taste and then adjust to your liking. Enjoy!
This recipe has been my go to for 2.5 years.
Love it everytime omg
if making this or the vanilla buttercream ahead of time and storing in the fridge, do you have to let it come to room temp and also beat it with a mixer? or can i just stir in a bit of milk after it warms up a bit? debating if i want to make it day of or not to avoid that. i have made this buttercream before and it’s the best! i’m baking your lemon cake and using vanilla buttercream and baking kitchen’s chocolate pb cake (sans pb frosting) and using this chocolate buttercream for 2 birthday kids this weekend. i’m sure everyone will be raving 🙂
Hi Julie, it really depends on the exact texture of the frosting once you remove it from the refrigerator. We usually add a splash of milk and then rewhip it. Hope the cakes are a hit!
Wonderful and easy.
This recipe was so easy and the taste is so good! All your recipes are fabulous. My husband’s not a frosting fan & he loved this cupcake & frosting. Another Sally’s Baking Addition recipe added to my favourite baking folder!
great chocolate frosting for my yellow cupcakes. perfect texture and just the right sweetness.
Hi! Can you cut the buttercream icing recipe in half? And if so, what would that recipe be?
Hi Hilary, absolutely—simply halve all the ingredients.
I rarely make cake. Hardly ever, in fact.
And I have *never* made a 3-tiered, filling-ed *anything. Let alone something as iconic as German’s chocolate cake.
But today I did all of that. And it’s because the “make the cake step” was on the right level for my lizard brain to accept.
I’m already being asked to make it again.
Can I use Hershey’s coco powder
Hi Beth, yes, Hershey’s cocoa is a great option.
The chocolate buttercream tastes delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Perfect! The humidity is low in my house today (most people probably don’t have that problem ) so I added two T whipping cream but it’s a great recipe!
Loved the recipe. Used Black Chocolate from King Arthur. Deep chocolate flavor and very dark chocolate color. Double recipe generously piped 24 cupcakes and one 13×9 sheet cake.
Can you cut this recipe in half?
Hi Patty, absolutely, simply halve all the ingredients.
Hello! I want to try this recipe for a birthday but I need the frosting to dry stiff enough for transport. Will this frosting and the vanilla frosting recipe do that? Thank you in advance!
Hi Roxanne, yes, this buttercream is firm.
I loved this buttercream. It was easy to make and absolutely delicious.
This is my favorite chocolate buttercream too! I use as often as I can with cakes. Tonight I did Sally’s chocolate chip cookie cake topped with this chocolate buttercream and it was a hit as always. Several people said they licked the icing off first because it was the best part and left the cookie cake behind.
Hey!
I am having trouble getting the traditional-size cupcakes to bake properly. I’ve tried the recipe twice, attempting my very best to follow the recipe to the letter! No luck! They still taste like cake, but I can’t figure out what I’m doing for them to sink! Followed the measurements, temperatures, and made sure they were no more than half full going into the oven! Anyone else having this problem?
Hi Chris, a little sinking is completely normal for chocolate cupcakes. However, excessive sinking in the middle would be either (1) the cupcakes are a little under-baked or (2) the cupcake liners were a little over-filled. You can also try adding a bit more flour. If all else fails and you still have sunken-in-the-middle cupcakes, you can always fill them with some buttercream like we do in these cream-filled cupcakes!
Do you sift the dry ingredients? Or just put them in as is.
Hi Alexys, it’s not necessary for this recipe, although you might find it helpful if you confectioners’ sugar and/or cocoa powder are particularly clumpy.
Hi! What tool do you use to make the pretty swirly form on top of the cupcake?
Hi Anna, the piping tip used for these photos is a Wilton 1M piping tip.
Hey. I had a question. I was looking for a recipe for buttercream that is not to sweet and have the coffee taste to it, would you mind sharing one?
Hi Aqsa, you might enjoy this Swiss meringue buttercream recipe instead. It’s a bit less sweet than traditional American buttercream. You can add 1 teaspoon of espresso powder. Taste, then add a touch more if desired.
Amazing and so simple 🙂
This was delicious. I wish I had read the part of it being enough for a thin layer of frosting for a 9×13 cake before I frosted it (lol). Also my cream had expired 3 weeks earlier (it was a tough day) so I used soy milk. It was still delicious and I can’t wait to make a larger batch with cream next time.
This recipe was so, so good! I made it for cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday and everybody loved it. It got rave reviews from many! Thank you for the great recipe.
Do you have to refrigera the cupcakes after icing them?
Hi Marsha, you could leave the frosted cupcakes at room temperature for about a day, but we recommend refrigerating after that.
Hi sally, is it possible to make the frosting with half the sugar
Hi Sara, while you can certainly try reducing the sugar a bit, keep in mind that it is what thickens the frosting. The less sugar you have, the thinner the frosting will be.
I love your recipe but wondered have you ever tried using coffee in place of the cream? If so how was it? Thank you Sally I love ALL your recipes.
Hi Minime, we would only swap out some of the heavy cream, as it gives the frosting a nice creamy texture. You could also try adding some espresso powder to add a coffee flavor. Or, you might also enjoy the coffee buttercream on this espresso chocolate chip cake. Let us know what you try!
Sounds good but when I looked for the “ratios” for a 2 layer cake at the other site, I did not find them. What are they? I will try to figure it out or look elsewhere. thanks.
Hi C, that links you to our two layer chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream recipe – which is the amount of frosting you’re looking for. You can follow that buttercream recipe.
Can this recipe, or the vanilla buttercream, or the peanut butter frosting be doubled?
Hi Laurie, absolutely, all of those frosting recipes can easily be doubled (so long as your mixer/bowl is large enough to handle the added volume).
Thank you. If I make the frosting the night before, is there anything I have to do to it before I use it the next morning?
After thawing or refrigerating frosting, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed.
Is a stand mixer necessary for the buttercream frosting?
Hi Lisa, a handheld mixer works great here too.