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This easy chocolate buttercream frosting is perfect for spreading or decorating any treat that needs a glorious finishing! It is even great as a piping decoration, as it holds its shape very well!

Easy chocolate buttercream

Chocolate is many of us’ favorite, and chocolate cake is just amazing! I remember when my mom used to make cakes with this easy chocolate buttercream frosting for my birthdays, and the frosting was just delicious and sooo fluffy. I’m going to show you how to make the best chocolate buttercream yourselves!

Other frosting ideas you will love:

Not only is it a lot more tasty, but also healthier than store-bought frosting, as you have full control over every ingredient you add to it. It is also super quick and easy to make, so you won’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Chocolate buttercream frosting goes well with a lot of cake and cupcake types, so there’s no wonder our grandmas would know this recipe by heart and passed it down to our mothers. You can also make it in any consistency type to suit your needs. Just adjust the milk quantity to make it thicker or thinner.

You can adapt the recipe to your own taste, adding more cocoa for a richer flavor or brewed coffee instead of milk to change it to a mocha frosting. To enrich the flavor of your chocolate buttercream icing, you can also add vanilla or almond extract, as well as a bit of rum. Though, I don’t recommend adding rum when children are going to eat the final dessert. Orange extract also compliments the chocolate very well, so you can also add it to the frosting.

For a more festive look, add some colored sprinkles over the cake or cupcakes.

Some tips to work with this easy chocolate buttercream:

All ingredients must be at room temperature for the fluffiest frosting;
If it is too moist, gradually add one teaspoon of powdered sugar to thicken it;
A pinch of salt will help balance the flavors and enhance the taste;
You can substitute heavy cream with milk, or use half and half. Heavy cream will make the frosting creamier though;
To make it more heat-proof, use less butter and add a bit of vegetable shortening. There is no 100% heat-proof buttercream but it will hold better during hot summer days;
The bowl must stay covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. This will prevent it from drying out;
The frosting can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Before using, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with a mixer;
If using a stand mixer, use the beater blade rather than the whisk, for a more creamy consistency.

Chocolate buttercream recipe

This DIY chocolate buttercream frosting is so easy to make, it should become a must instead of just tossing one into your shopping cart.

How do you make chocolate buttercream frosting from scratch?

There are several ways of making chocolate buttercream. This method uses homemade chocolate pudding. Making this recipe is super easy, using simple ingredients you probably have on hand already if you love baking. You need confectioner’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, vanilla extract, butter, dark chocolate and flour.

1. Mix sugar and cocoa.

2. Add heavy cream and vanilla extract.

3. Melt chocolate then cool in the refrigerator to room temperature.

4. While the chocolate cools, add the sugar/heavy cream mixture to a sauce pan and cook over medium low heat, adding flour gradually until the mixture thickens like a pudding. Then cool to room temperature.

5. Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, about a minute.

6. Add the cooled mixture and the cooled chocolate and whip until combined and fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes.

How Long Will chocolate buttercream keep?

Chocolate buttercream keeps wonderfully in the fridge for up to 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container. If you add it to desserts like cupcakes or cakes, make sure you store those in air tight containers to keep the buttercream last.

If you’re not using the whole chocolate buttercream you can store any leftovers in the freezer, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge the night before use then give it a good whip right before using.

How do you thicken buttercream?

If at any point you find your chocolate buttercream a little too thin for your taste, you can thicken it by adding powdered sugar. Add a teaspoon at a time, while whipping, until you get the right consistency.

On the opposite, if you find your buttercream too thick, add milk, a teaspoon at a time, until happy with the consistency.

Why is my buttercream watery?

There are a few reasons your buttercream turns watery:

your butter has too much water
butter doesn’t have enough fat
butter was too soft when you started whipping
you over beat the butter
you’ve added too much milk/heavy cream
your kitchen is too hot

How to fix broken buttercream?

There are a few situations you might encounter when making buttercream. One of them is a grainy texture in your buttercream which happens if you use sugar made from beets instead of cane sugar. This will not pose an issue with this recipe as the sugar is melted when mixed in the sauce pan with the other ingredients for the pudding.

Other situations include:

buttercream is too watery – add a little more powdered sugar, one teaspoon at a time and whip until happy with the texture.
your buttercream is too soft – place it in the freezer for a few minutes then return to whipping for a couple of minutes.
buttercream has curdled – add a little heat to the mixing bowl by blowing a hair drier on hot air.

To see the step by step recipe for this easy chocolate buttercream, check out the recipe card below. Use the comments section below this article to tell me about the delicious cakes you made with this frosting, and what ingredients you added to make it even more amazing!

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