My Go To Chocolate Buttercream

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a pretty firm believer you can never have too much chocolate in your recipe arsenal. It doesn’t matter the question, chocolate is always the answer – it’s true. I’ve shared a Milk Chocolate Frosting with you guys before, today I want to share with you guys my go to chocolate buttercream. It occurred to me last week while I was making the Neapolitan Macaroons that I had never shared it with you guys, and I knew that had to change! It’s easy, quick, and delicious. Wether you need to frost a few cupcakes or drowned your sorrows in a bowl of chocolate buttercream – this is your fix.

Not that I recommend sitting down to an entire bowl of this with a spoon…but ya know if it helps, I won’t judge. ;) Also, I tend to make this recipe as a true buttercream using just butter as the fat. This is mostly because I rarely decorate with chocolate frosting. However, if your needing a more stable “crusting” buttercream you can substitute half on the butter for Crisco/shortening. If you’re a buttercream newbie and I just completely lost you no worries get the scoop on decorator’s vs regular buttercream over at Buttercream 101. But for now back to the chocolate…

Here’s what you’re going to need:

Chocolate Buttercream

1 Cup Butter (I use unsalted)
5 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tbs. Vanilla
4 Tbs. Cocoa
4-6 Tbs. Milk

Will frost approx. 2 8in. cakes or 24 cupcakes.

Step 1: In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter until light and fluffy. If you didn’t think ahead to leave out the butter a bit to soften, no worries just chop it up into little chunks first then beat. It’s what I do every time!

Step 2: Add in vanilla flavoring, and beat until combined. (Why are we putting vanilla in chocolate? It enhances the flavor of the chocolate!)

Step 3: Add in cocoa and powdered sugar and beat until combined.

Step 4: Add in milk 1 Tbs. at a time until you reach desired consistency, depending on your humidity and preferred consistency you may need more then 6 Tbs.

Again, if you would like to turn it into a more “stable” buttercream that holds up better in heat, swap out 1/2 cup of butter with 1/2 cup Crisco/shortening. It’s really that easy! Just a few ingredients and you’re well on your way to chocolatey buttercream goodness.