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:
- 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
Excellent recipe! Best I have ever tasted.
This frosting is perfection. I made it with special dark dutched cocoa which gave it a rich dark chocolate color and flavor.
Dear Sally, I can always count on you! This frosting was absolute PERFECTION! Many thanks! ❤️
I had to double it (well 1 1/2 because I ran out of butter) to cover my cake. It turned out delicious!
Dry as a bone! Way too much sugar. I used only 3 cups. Glad i didn’t add that last half cup of sugar. I added 2 shots of espresso = 4 tbs liquid. I added about 4 tbs of cream as well. This is for a total of 8 tbs of liquid in comparison to the original 3. I needed about 1/2 tsp of salt to cut the sweet. I prefer warm sweetness.
This was an adventure! The cupcakes were really yummy, but a bit of a disaster as I must have been too generous in filling the tins even though warned. And I am at altitude as well. The taste was fabulous – we crumbled things up, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, with another layer of crumbles and added hot fudge sauce. A real winner! Thanks, Sally
This frosting was very thick and hard to spread. I had to add 3 more tablespoons of cream to make it spread at all.
Want to increase the amount of chocolate buttercream frosting for the chocolate layer cake, without using the piñata recipe. What measurements would I use? I hesitate using corn syrup.
Hi Kay! We recommend using the ratios from that cake – you can leave the corn syrup out! It’s optional for extra gloss.
This recipe was amazing! I slightly decreased the cocoa powder and changed the amount of sugar to 2 cups and it was perfect. Thank you!!
I have made many of your recipes, they are all so wonderful! Thank you to you and your team:)
UK calling ,please explain how 1 cup of butter is 226 g and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder is 41g, baffling, or an I missing something.
Hi A, the ingredients weight different amounts, here’s more on measuring baking ingredients.
Loved this! So fluffy and delicious
I follow, and prepare your recipes. They are wonderful and excellent, and very easy to carry out.
The best!
Thank you, and your team.
Best wishes, happy holidays!
I loved this recipe so much!
I’ve made this frosting before and like it. How far ahead of time can I make it ? Can I make it 48 hours ahead, and how should I store it ?
Hi Surati, Absolutely. You can prep it a few days ahead of time and refrigerate. Let it come to room temperature, then beat it for about 1 minute. You may need to add a little milk if it’s still too stiff. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. See step 2.
I also didn’t care for this icing. It was so stiff I could barely get it on the cake. It also tasted like butter, sickening sweet too. Bleh
This recipe is perfect! Easy m, great hold for a frosting and delicious! My guests raved over the frosting!
Not my taste for a chocolate lover in the frosting. Thank goodness I tasted first before putting on the cupcakes. Instead of a milky smooth chocolate taste. I could taste the over whelming taste of the cocoa powder which is exactly what the taste was, of cocoa powder. I’ll save the cupcakes and try a different recipe for frosting tomorrow.
I completely agree. Too much cocoa. Made the frosting bitter.
I do not know what happened, but the buttercream was insanely dense. The amount of milk I had to add is crazy. In my opinion, you can find better recipes.
These cupcakes turned out soo yummy!
O my gosh, so good
I accidentally added the butter and the powdered sugar without mixing the butter separately.
This is the best recipe I have found! Rave reviews among my community. Thank you for sharing!
I loved this recipe and got so many compliments on it!
Is this buttercream stable enough to be used for covering cakes and in between layers? For example in 4 layer 6” and 8” cakes etc. Also how would you increase the quantity to cover a 6” and 8” cake. Thank you! LOVE your recipes
Hi Amy! Yes, this buttercream is great for layer cakes. See recipe Notes for quantity details. This should be enough to cover and fill a three layer 6 inch cake, but we would make more for a 4 layer and to have extra for decorating.
Sorry if this has already been asked but could I simply leave out some of the powdered sugar if I just don’t have quite enough?
Hi Reuben, you can, but the frosting will be thinner.
hi I was wondering how many cupcakes this frosting will frost
Hi Sydney, this recipe makes enough to frost 12–16 cupcakes.
Approximately how many cups of frosting does this recipe make? I’m curious how far I can extend it to fit/fill my 8qt mixing bowl.
Hi Thomas, this recipe yields about 2.5 cups of chocolate buttercream.
Absolutely perfect and delicious!
This is a great recipe for
chocolate buttercream!
I need to know if it will “crust” (for use under fondant).
Hi Jenny, the frosting will crust a bit, but not the same as a frosting that uses some shortening. That said, many readers have reported success using it under fondant.
I’ve made this several times and it’s the BEST chocolate buttercream! Perfect amount of chocolate and sweetest, and perfect for piping!
Can I use melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder. And is so how much?
Hi E., that would take a bit of recipe testing to use here, but 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