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
best frosting recipe i have ever had. My whole family loved it. I use it every time
I saw some people had posted about this being too runny. I followed the directions exactly with the exception of a little less espresso powder, using 1 1/2 sticks of softened organic butter. It was absolutely amazing!! Perfect consistency. I did put the cake in the fridge until we were ready to eat it, just in case the frosting melted. After it sat at room temp for about 15 mins, the frosting was once again creamy & perfect.
This is some of the best icing I’ve ever had! My husband said the same. He ate three spoonfuls then licked the mixer beater clean until his tongue was numb. It is so good! I used it to cover a two-layer 8-inch cake and have a good bit leftover, so we’ll snack on that too! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
I can not believe how good this cake is. OH MY!!!! Robyn, I adore you. My sister loves chocolate and coffee. So this was a great surprise for her on her birthday. Thank you so much for helping me to put a smile on so many faces. You can have all the stars you want. You’re the best!:-)
Hi Robyn! I made a slight adjustment to your recipe by adding fresh orange juice and zest instead of espresso powder, just for a different flavour. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Does this frosting hold well in warm weather?
Reasonably well, though I think the trick is to make sure the butter starts out fairly warm, and add enough powdered sugar for the frosting to be the thickness you want. If it’s a really hot day, I might let it sit for a bit to get to the temperature you expect to be serving it at, and then add more sugar if it’s too soft.
(Mine did end up getting pretty soft in the heat today, but it didn’t run.)
If I half the recipe, will it be enough to frost the cake?
This is an awesome recipe, will definetly use this again.
This frosting… My god… It almost didn’t make it to the cake! 10 out of 5 stars 😉
Hello Robyn, will this frosting work good with fondant?
How many cupcakes I can cover with it?
Thank you for your post!
We don’t use regular milk in our house. Can I substitute the milk with almond milk? Will it taste just as great?
It should work just fine with almond milk, though what I’ve been using recently for my allergic-to-dairy partner is coconut milk (and margarine). It’s very tasty that way, and I think the coconut milk may be even better than regular milk for this.