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:
- Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
- 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
Wow! I *thought* I had a great, simple chocolate buttercream recipe…yours is LUSCIOUS! My new go-to. Thank you!
So happy I found you Sally! My mom was infamous for her cupcakes & buttercream frosting & yours exactly like hers. Here’s a sweet tip :-). After 30+ years of making hers w-milk , she switched to 1 Tbsp sour cream, everyone went nuts! Everyone tries to duplicate her but no one has, even me!
Love this recipe! Actually didn’t read the instructions until after i put everything into the bowl and it still turned out perfect! Will follow directions next time and see if it makes a difference. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t normally like chocolate, but my daughter requested a chocolate frosting, so I decided to try this one. Everyone loved it, even me!
Oh that sounds interesting did sub out all the cream /milk for sour cream or just some of it
American buttercream is usually very sweet; maybe a different icing would work better for you? If you prefer something with a little tang you could try chocolate cream cheese icing. For a super mild sweetness German buttercream is amazing; I’ve never made it with chocolate, but I bet you could melt some dark or bitter chocolate and whip it in.
I need help!! I tried making this buttercream and it was way to thick. How do I think it out so it’s spreadable??
Thanks!
Hi Lilly! You can add more heavy cream/milk 1 Tbs at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
I finally had to throw away the left over frosting because I was eating it by the spoonful. Amazingly good buttercream!!!! Can you share what tip you use on your piping bag to get your beautiful swirls on top of your cupcakes? Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
Hi Pam, so glad you love it! Scroll to the “Decorating with Buttercream Frosting” in this Vanilla Buttercream post for tip information!
This by far is THEEEBEST chocolate frosting ever! I am just a hobby baker and in the beginning I tried soo many different ones…. When I found yours I stopped looking. I don’t do cakes anymore, but to this very day it’s the only recipe I’ll use. In fact, I have a yellow cake in the oven right now that I’ll be frosting with this too. THANKYOU! I alwaysss get rave reviews how good it is❤️.
I made. This for the first time today. As a trial run for my son’s birthday in two weeks. Soooo good. I made with the yellow cake cupcakes. I will also make with the chocolate cupcakes and I will try the vanilla buttercream frosting also. Thank you. I’m hooked on sally since the banana cake recipe I came across years ago.
Perfect !!!
Making the chocolate cupcakes for my mother in laws birthday tonight for tomorrow. Can I also make the frosting tonight and store in the fridge and frost tomorrow? Thanks in advance for the help!
Yes, absolutely! After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed.
I’m so looking forward to doing this recipe, I am doing my daughters 2nd birthday cake. Am I right in saying I can use this frosting also on the putter side of a 10inch cake to hold on to the foundant icing for around the cake ?
Hi Katie, yes, this buttercream holds up well under fondant.
Great
The recipe is great I’m sure but can you help me figure out where I went wrong? I made it exactly as you instructed and mine just tasted like a stick of butter. I’ve had buttercream before and it doesn’t ACTUALLY have a butter taste, but mine really did. Do you think it could be that detrimental since I used salted butter?
Hi Rose! Using salted butter will definitely change the outcome of this recipe – you can read more about the differences in salted vs. unsalted butter in this post. How was the texture? With the sugar and cocoa powder, this buttercream should have lots of flavor.
This buttercream recipe blew my mind! I used it to sandwich a chocolate cake and it was incredible. Everyone said it was the best cake I ever made. It’s got a great texture, spreads well and is lovely and chocolatey!
We made this frosting for my husband’s birthday cake today. It was so good! I wanted to be able to pipe with it, so I added an extra little bit of cream to a portion and it worked beautifully as well. My family says this is the best chocolate frosting I’ve ever made. Thank you so much!
It taste delicious! Keeping this recipe for sure!
This is just right. The perfect amount for a two layer cake and absolutely delicious. I pinned it and make it for every birthday cake!
So good, i added a pinch of espresso powder to enhance the chocolate favor 10/10 recommend !! Thanks for the easy recipe!
I made it and then on a whim I added 3 melted Lindt balls and the result is amazing. You are the undisputed queen of cakes Sally.
This was absolutely DELICIOUS!! By far the best icing I’ve ever eaten
Also is super easy! This was the first recipe to ever work out so thanks Sally!!
Excellent
I wonder if something went wrong when you made it? I’ve made this so many times and only to rave reviews, including a pastry chef in my family.
Just made this buttercream (which I don’t typically opt for) for my son’s birthday cupcakes and I am basically sitting here eating it by the spoonful. SO smooth and flavorful. Not overly sweet. My new favorite frosting!
Hi Sally, what brand of Dutch cocoa do you like to use? I usually have the Hershey’s in the can on hand. Thank you.
Hi Kris, we love Hershey’s too — not sponsored, just genuine fans!
Is this a crusting buttercream?
Hi Connie, the buttercream will start to get hard after some time in the refrigerator, but for a more traditional crusting buttercream you can replace some of the butter with shortening.
Yet ANOTHER amazing recipe, girl!!! My husband has reached the point where he asks “Sally?!” on anything great that I make!! 🙂
Thank you so much for making and trusting our recipes, LeeAnn!
thank You SO much. We all loved it.
Made this to go with the chocolate cupcakes on this site and the result was simply delicious. Better than the cupcakes we buy at the specialty shops. Very easy to make as well. Thank you!
Hi,
What if I dont have unsweeted cocoa powder?
What can I use
Hi Maryam, Unsweetened cocoa powder is best in this recipe. You can try unsweetened cacao powder, but it will be more bitter. There are numerous chocolate frosting recipes that use melted chocolate (a baking bar, not chips) that you can search for! We’ve tasted this one before and it’s great: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/quick-chocolate-buttercream-frosting.html
My new favorite frosting recipe – it is SOOOOO good!
Tastes so good!
Does the cake need to be refrigerated because of the cream? It tastes very good but I am a home baker and wasn’t sure. Thank you.
Best chocolate frosting ever! So good. Highley recommend. turned out so well on my cupcakes!
LOVE this frosting! Went SUPER good on cupcakes for my Christmas party! Decorated them to look like reindeer! Amazing how easy it is to make and how creamy it was!