Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe
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Chocolate buttercream frosting is an essential recipe. Rich, soft, creamy, and delicious, my recipe for chocolate buttercream is easy to make and simple to pipe and decorate for cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts. It is the best I’ve ever tasted and pairs perfectly with my favorite chocolate cake recipe.
Why I Love This Recipe
This recipe has a rich chocolate taste and a smooth and creamy texture. Made from just six simple ingredients, this buttercream frosting comes together quickly. This recipe yields enough to frost a three-layer cake or three dozen cupcakes beautifully. It stores well if I need to make it ahead.
Ingredients to Use & Why
You’ll need these ingredients to make this frosting.
- Butter – Use softened butter for the creamiest frosting. If you use butter that has not been properly softened, the butter will not mix appropriately with the other ingredients for the frosting.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder—The chocolate flavor in this frosting comes from the cocoa powder. You can use natural or Dutch-processed. You can also use raw cacao powder if you prefer. Cacao powder is pure cacao bean powder and is less processed than either natural or Dutch-processed. You may choose to use a bit less cacao powder, as it can have a richer taste.
- Confectioner’s sugar (also called powdered sugar and icing sugar) adds sweetness to the finished frosting. Since confectioner’s sugar is a fine-grain sugar, it combines easily with the other ingredients for the creamiest texture.
- Milk—Whole milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half have a higher fat content than reduced-fat milk. This adds creaminess and stability to the frosting. Make sure that the milk used is at room temperature. Cold milk can separate and cause the frosting to have a grainy texture.
- Vanilla extract—Use pure vanilla extract rather than vanilla flavoring for the best flavor. I love to use my homemade vanilla extract (such a simple recipe!).
- Espresso powder – While optional, I highly recommend adding espresso powder to chocolate recipes. Like vanilla extract brings out the flavor in sweet recipes, espresso powder further enhances the chocolate flavor in chocolate recipes. It is easy to make your own and is available in many grocery stores, cooking supply stores, or online.
How to Make Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is incredibly easy to make and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish!
- Beat the cocoa powder and butter until creamy. Whisk through the cocoa powder in a large bowl to remove any lumps. Add the softened butter and cream together until well combined and creamy.
- Add the sugar and milk. Alternately mix in the confectioner’s sugar and the milk. After each addition, mix on HIGH speed for about a minute. This is a key step and makes the frosting fluffy and delicious!
- Add vanilla extract and espresso powder. Mix in the vanilla and espresso powder until well combined.
How to Tell When Buttercream Frosting is Done
Swipe a kitchen spoon back and forth through the buttercream frosting. It is ready if it is fluffy, creamy, smooth, and holds shape. If too dry? Add more milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. If too wet? Add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the frosting holds its form.
Thankfully, this chocolate buttercream comes together quickly and makes plenty to frost a three-layer cake or three dozen cupcakes beautifully.
Storage Tips
Refrigerator: Place frosting in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Once ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and allow to reach room temperature, then whisk well to fluff the frosting.
Freeze: Place frosting in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to use, place in refrigerator overnight to thaw, then remove from fridge for a short time prior to use as described previously and whisk to fluff the frosting.
Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
More Favorite Frosting Recipes
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Here’s my Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe. I can’t wait to hear how you love it.
Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (339 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (84 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 cups (567.5 g) confectioner’s sugar
- ½ cup (113.5 g) milk, whole, half and half, or heavy cream preferred
- 2 teaspoons (9 g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) espresso powder
Instructions
- Add cocoa powder to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.
- Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well-combined.
- Add confectioner's sugar to a large bowl. Whisk through to remove any lumps. Alternatively, you may sift the confectioner's sugar into the large bowl. Add the confectioner's sugar and milk to the cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of confectioner's sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn the mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.
- Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
- If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I tasted after 3 cups of sugar/tablespoons of milk and it’s plenty sweet enough for my family! Looks like it will be plenty to cover my husband’s two-layer cake, too. Thanks!!
Once I tried this chocolate buttercream I knew I would never need any other! It is the family recipe and my go-to for classic yellow butter cakes, for birthdays or whenever I am just in the mood!
This frosting was awesome! So light and fluffy but full of flavor! The cake I put it on just came out so-so (an experimental idea), but this frosting definitely made it yummy. I did a shortcut with the espresso powder though. I already grind my espresso beans very fine so I just used some of that without the extra step of roasting/toasting them again. Came out great! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Thanks, Barbara!
Is this too sweet??
The frosting is not too sweet for my family and friends, Manitoba!
This is the chocolate icing I make all the time now. I am hooked! It is easy and delicious. My favorite combination is to put it on yellow cake. It makes enough for one cake mix.
I would like to make this, we did make it a few months ago and it is the BEST EVER! The only issue I had was that this makes too much icing for our preferences, do you have instructions to halve it?
Melissa, just cut each of the ingredients in half. For example, 1 1/2 cups of butter would be 3/4 cups of butter.
Absolutely perfect!
Easy, with great results. Makes more than enough. Instead of milk I used a plain, whole milk Kefir ( similar to liquid yogurt). It gave a nice sour cream type tang to counter what I think is the excess sweetness of buttercream frosting.
If I wanted to use already ground espresso coffee from Starbucks instead of getting the beans and then grinding them, would there be a way I could toast it already ground or would it not turn out the same? I really REALLY want to do it the way you wrote it but if I can avoid a trip to the store it would be great just for the one recipe before I actually make a little jar in the future. What do you think?
Tia, you can omit the espresso powder if you don’t have it.
This frosting is great! But the amount of ingredients yield a large amount of frosting so i had lots of left overs after i frosted a large cake. So if your not down to freeze the remainder perhaps reduce the recipe by 1/3 or more.
Annikka, thanks for your feedback. I like this amount of frosting on my large cakes to make sure I have the layers fully covered. My post states that this chocolate buttercream makes plenty to frost a three layer cake or three dozen cupcakes beautifully. If you don’t need that much, of course, you can always adjust the recipe.