Chocolate Buttercream
My American buttercream is my most popular recipe, so it’s about time I share the chocolate version of it. And let me tell you, this chocolate buttercream recipe is just as good, if not better!!
This frosting starts with my American buttercream recipe as a base, then mixes in the perfect amount of unsweetened cocoa powder and melted chocolate to make the best chocolate frosting.
This frosting is definitely on the sweet side, but the intensity of the cocoa powder and the richness of the melted chocolate help balance out its flavor.
You could also add the same amount of cocoa powder and melted chocolate to a batch of my Swiss meringue frosting or try my chocolate Russian buttercream or hybrid chocolate buttercream to create a less-sweet chocolate frosting.
What Can I Frost with this Chocolate Buttercream?
The sky’s the limit when it comes to using this chocolate buttercream. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, macarons, you name it!!
I’ve used it to frost my chocolate layer cake, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate macarons, and even my buttercream cookies!
Paddle Attachment vs. Whisk Attachment
Now that we’ve covered troubleshooting, the last thing to discuss is our equipment.
Either a paddle or a whisk attachment can be used to make this frosting with a stand mixer, or you can use a hand mixer.
I like to use my paddle attachment when making frosting for a cake to minimize the amount of air that is incorporated into the frosting. This makes silky smooth frosting, which is easier to smooth onto cakes.
I use my whisk attachment when making frosting for cupcakes, which I like to be light and fluffy!
I like to incorporate air into frosting for cupcakes because I usually pipe massive swirls onto each cupcake.
These are just my personal preferences, though, and you can use whatever attachment or mixer you have. They’ll all get the job done!
Make this Chocolate Buttercream in Advance
This chocolate buttercream recipe can be made in advance. I highly recommend making it ahead of time if possible.
Not only does it give the frosting time to develop more flavor, it also makes the decoration of a cake or cupcakes less stressful and more fun.
This frosting keeps in the fridge for up to a month or in the freezer for 3 months if stored in an airtight container.
When you’re ready to use the chilled buttercream, remove it from the fridge a few hours in advance (or overnight) and allow it to come to room temperature.
Give it a good stir with a rubber spatula or an electric mixer to get rid of any air bubbles that may have formed. Once the buttercream is smooth again, it’s ready to use!
Substitutions & Swaps: Chocolate Buttercream
Below are some great swaps and substitutions for the chocolate buttercream in this recipe.
- Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter. Just be sure to omit the salt that this frosting recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – If you can’t find unsweetened cocoa powder or don’t have any on hand, you can use additional powdered sugar in its place.
- Heavy Cream – Whole milk or alternative milk (soy, almond, oat) can also be used to make the frosting.
- Chocolate Chips – You can use chocolate chips, baking chocolate, or good-quality chocolate bars to melt and add to the frosting. I like to use dark chocolate, but you can also use milk or semi-sweet chocolate if you have a strong preference.
Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Buttercream
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature before making your frosting.
- If your powdered sugar contains cornstarch (most brands in the US do), there’s no need to sift your powdered sugar.
- Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream and not normal milk! You need a higher fat percentage for the frosting to have the right consistency.
- If you are making frosting for a cake, mix the buttercream on the lowest speed at the end of the process for a couple of minutes to get out any extra air that might have been incorporated during the mixing process.
- I usually make 1 batch of frosting to fill and frost a seven- or eight-inch cake.
Let Me Know What You Think
If you try this chocolate buttercream recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a rating below, and a comment to let me know your thoughts.
Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets so I can see your beautiful creations!
Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 454g
- 1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa, sifted 100g
- 1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
- 5 cups powdered sugar 625g
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature 120g
- 1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled 220g
Instructions
Chocolate Buttercream:
- Beat 2 cups of unsalted butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment until smooth.
- Add in 1 cup of cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix on low until the cocoa is fully incorporated and no clumps remain.
- Slowly add in 5 cups of powdered sugar and mix in on a low speed. Halfway through mix in 1/2 cup of heavy cream to make the frosting easier to mix.
- Next, mix in 1 1/3 cups of dark chocolate chips that have been melted and cooled for about 10 minutes. The chocolate should still be in a fully liquid state, but not hot to the touch.
- Beat on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated. If the frosting is too thick, add an extra Tbsp of heavy cream. If it's too thin, add another 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
- Stir by hand with a rubber spatula once the frosting is made to get the frosting SUPER smooth. Then use as desired! This frosting is amazing on layer cakes, cupcakes, cookies & more!
Video
Notes
Yield:
One batch of buttercream makes about 6 cups, which is enough to frost a 7-inch or 8-inch layer cake with 3 layers, or frost about 3 dozen cupcakes.Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Buttercream:
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature before making your frosting.
- If your powdered sugar contains cornstarch (most brands in the US do) there’s no need to sift the powdered sugar.
- Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream and not normal milk! You need the higher fat percentage for the frosting to have the right consistency.
- If you are making frosting for a cake, mix the buttercream on the lowest speed at the end of the process for a couple of minutes to get out any extra air that might have been incorporated during the mixing process.
- I usually make 1 batch of frosting to fill and frost a seven- or eight-inch cake.
Making This Chocolate Buttercream in Advance:
Make your frosting ahead of time or save any leftover frosting! It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to give it a good stir once it comes to room temperature to get the consistency nice and smooth again. A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. The buttercream locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious! If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store it in the fridge for up to a week. If you are making this frosting for a cake, mix the buttercream on the lowest speed at the end of the process for a couple of minutes, to get out any extra air that might have been incorporated during the mixing process.Nutrition
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I was wondering if this will taste like an Oreo like your black buttercream does? I tried it this past weekend and it was amazing! I was looking for a similar taste but not black. Thank you!
haha yes! if you use black cocoa in this recipe, it will taste like an oreo, similar to my black frosting recipe 🙂
Thank you! It’s so good!
Hey Chels! I’m making your frosting for my daughters birthday! Do you bake your cakes the freeze or chill them over night then frost next day? Or do you make,bake, and frost all same day? Also do you chill your frosting at all before applying to cake? THANKS!
Definitely don’t do it all in one day! it’s way too much work! I like to make my cake layers in advance, then chill them in the freezer! I also make my buttercream in advance, and refrigerate it. my buttercream is pretty thick , so it doesn’t need to be chilled! however, when I frost my cake, I only let me layers thaw for about 20 minutes, so they’re still chilled when I assemble the cake! this just makes the process so much easier 🙂
I am making this tomorrow for sure! Thank You ???
I’m trying to make Black Buttercream to decorate 200 mini cupcakes and saw you ganache information. After trying to make different buttercream recipes black and being disappointed with either texture or flavor I’ve become very stressed. Now I think after reading your article on ganache I could make dark ganache and add Americolor Super Black gel and keep it at a soft consistency for decorating the mini cupcakes. I live in a hot climate so I don’t leave anything on the counter over night. Do you think the soft consistency will pipe well on the tops of a mini cupcake and hold under refrigeration over night without any problems. Since I’m doing 200 I mini cupcakes I need to know what’s going to work and what’s not. I plan on leaving the ganache sit for about 3 hours on counter til it becomes pudding like consistency and then start piping.
Thanks for any advice.
Hey!!
Can you please tell whats the substitute for heavy cream in this recipe?
you can use heavy whipping cream, or whole milk!
How many batches would we need to make for a 4 layer 8 in cake (I plan on using your chocolate cake recipe).
i usually make 1.5 batches for a cake that size, but it also can vary on how you plan to decorate it <3
If frosting cupcakes and there will be no refrigeration available can these cupcakes sit out all afternoon?
Hey girl. I see you say use a paddle attachment but in your videos you use the whisk. Is the whisk better? The paddle attachment never works right for me
it depends on what it’s for! I like that paddle attachment for cake frosting, but the whisk for cupcakes! the paddle is great for making smooth buttercream, but I like light and fluffy buttercream to pipe onto cupcakes! You can use either though, both should work, and will just produce slightly different textures. hope that helps, happy baking <3
Hi, I made this buttercream (deliscious), but I had so many air bubbles. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Robyn
of course! I actually have an in-depth tutorial going through all my tips for getting smooth frosting!! here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg7CRfLRWEg
Hi Chelsea, I am looking to alter your classic American buttercream to a Strawberry buttercream to use on the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry cake. Any ideas???? Jeanne
I’d say use freeze dried strawberries, or a strawberry puree reduction!
Hi Chelsea! I made the Bailey’s cake for St. Patrick’s Day. My chocolate buttercream was a little darker than yours and I didn’t get the nice contrast between the butercream and ganache. What brand of cocoa do you use?
I used Ghirardelli baking cocoa, and melted chocolate!
Thanks for the reply. The cake was delicious! Looking forward to trying some of your other creations.
Would I be able to use almond milk instead of heavy cream or would that throw the consistency off?
Hi Sam! You can use almond milk, but keep in mind it’s a lot thinner than cream! So just watch how much you add, and adjust as needed to get the right consistency <3
On the vanilla buttercream recipe you have 1 tbsp vanilla (12 grams). On this recipe you have 1 tsp but it’s the same amount in grams. Is it 1 tbsp or 1 tsp?
So sorry for the confusion Cristina! It should be 1 tsp. I’ve updated the grams to reflect this. Thank you for catching this!
It will still turn out if you add more vanilla, but I find that you don’t really need to since you’re adding in the cocoa! And vanilla is so expensive these days, I like to use less when I can. Happy baking!!
Can you make this a white chocolate buttercream by just adding the melted chocolate or does the base recipe need to be altered? It is for a wedding cake
Hi Seth,
You can add in slightly cooled melted white chocolate into this base and it should work great! Just be sure your bowl isn’t cold if it’s metal, because sometimes that can cause the melted chocolate to harden into chunks. I’ve never had it happen, but I’ve heard from other people it can.
Hope that helps, and that your wedding cake turns out great!
I tried this recipe and mine turned out a way lighter color. I’m wondering if I mixed it too much.
Hi Kayla,
if you whip it up a lot it will get lighter in color! If you want it to be darker, you can add in more cocoa powder or use a dark cocoa powder <3
I making my son a monster cake and one of the icing I doing needs to be black. Is this a good recipe for that or what buttercream would you use to make black icing?
Hi Krystal,
I’d recommend just using my black buttercream recipe, here’s the link: https://chelsweets.com/2017/10/10/how-to-make-black-frosting/
Hi. I making my son a monster jam cake. And I need black icing would this be a good one if so how much black gel should I use or what other butter cream recipes should I use
Hi Krystal,
So sorry for the delayed response! I share all my tips and tricks for making black frosting here: https://chelsweets.com/2017/10/10/how-to-make-black-frosting/
How would you go about making this a maroon color?
This is an amazing chocolate frosting! Thank you so much for the recipe, tips, and info!
Just the most delicious chocolate buttercream frosting ever. Sweet but not too sweet. Perfect chocolate flavor and color. Spreadable soft texture which made frosting my cake (a chocolate poke cake) a dream. This is a keeper! Thank you!
Wow! This is one of the first recipes I have tried and i am not looking any further. There is that great unspoken debate over whipped icing vs buttercream icing. I saw it in my department when we had potluck lunches. I can eat the buttercream but my heart truly lies with the whipped. My son does too. Now for the comparison of this to those two. Yes it is made with butter but the time of whipping (I my opinion) takes this recipe closer to the whipped icing side. Not completely there but by golly, it is close. Hence, my new found love for this recipe. I did make the chocolate version but I am sure the vanilla will turn out equally as well. I did have my KitchenAid hand mixer for the project. Did very well. Followed directions, especially anything that needed to be room temp. The end result was WOW! I have no other word for it. Highly recommend. Will be my go-to. You will not be disappointed.
Aw I am so happy to hear that!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
First of all I want to say that your chocolate cake recipe and this chocolate frosting recipe is the BEST I have ever tasted!! Both are the ONLY recipes I will use! I do have a question, if you don’t mind me asking.. Do you know how long this icing can be left out not refrigerated? Thank you so much for all of your amazing recipes!!
You are too sweet Carrie! This frosting can in theory sit at room temperature for up to 2 days, but I usually only let it sit out overnight / up to a day. Hope that helps, happy baking!