Today I wanted to share some of my favorite chocolate bakes topped with chocolate buttercream. I usually prefer vanilla buttercream, but I love to use chocolate as a filling between cake layers or on top of my cupcakes.
It took me a few years to develop my buttercream recipe. I practiced on many different cakes, tweaking my recipe along the way. A few years ago, I had finally made the perfect icing. This buttercream is so easy to use. Its smooth and creamy and it is amazing at holding its shape. I can use this buttercream on any sweets… covering cakes, topping cupcakes, as a filling and even in cakesicles. It truly is the best.
I’m so excited to share with you my classic chocolate buttercream recipe. As with most of my frosting recipes, I prefer to use whipping cream instead of milk. When adding cream, definitely start with less, and add more as needed. I also like to add in a little extra salt to my chocolate buttercream, but this is another ingredient I like to add slowly and only add more if needed.
When making buttercream, its always important to taste it here and there to make sure it is exactly right for your preference. If it is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a few drops of whipping cream. If the buttercream is too sweet, you can add in some salt to cut down the sweetness. That’s what I love about buttercream, you can tweak it to your liking.
Just a quick note about this chocolate buttercream recipe… this recipe makes enough buttercream to cover about 1 dozen cupcakes, or used as a filling between cake layers. If you need to cover a whole cake in chocolate buttercream you can easily double the recipe!
Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) Room Temperature
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
- 5 Cups Powdered Sugar Sifted
- 3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream *Add more if needed, 1 teaspoon at a time
- 2-3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt *add 1/4 tsp more to taste
- 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed for 1 minute or until creamed with a paddle attachment.
- Add sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beat on lowest speed.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, continue beating on lowest speed.
- Add the vanilla, salt and cococa powder. Beat buttercream on lowest speed for 1 minute. Take the bowl off of the stand mixer, and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl by hand. Put the bowl back on the stand mixer and continue mixing on lowest speed for 2 minutes.
