Everyone needs a “go-to” chocolate frosting and this is now mine! One of the most popular recipes on Our Best Bites is this vanilla Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling. Its velvety smooth texture combined with the not-so-sugary bite is perhaps the perfect thing on top of almost any cake or cupcake. One of the most commonly asked questions on that post is, “Where’s the chocolate version??!!” I experimented a lot with adding chocolate to that recipe without much luck. I came up with a lot of things that tasted amazing, but there were always slight problems with the consistency. I knew I had seen similar recipes in chocolate before but I couldn’t seem to find one until one of you dear readers pointed me to a recipe on Sugar Plum. Sure enough, it was just what I was in search of! I adapted the recipe slightly by using plain ol’ salted butter and omitting added salt. And then I added extra chocolate to get a richer color and flavor. Once you try this chocolate frosting you’ll be hooked!
Ingredient Notes
- Sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Milk
- Butter
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chocolate Frosting
- The recipe starts by cooking flour, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a sauce pan until it thickens, much like the first step in the beloved white frosting. You’ll strain the mixture so you don’t end up with icky flour lumps in your frosting, because who wants icky flour lumps in their frosting??
- While that mixture is cooling off, melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. I found this to be the key to having the frosting remain stable- the melted chocolate seems to bind it. Then we whip real butter with our chilled chocolate mixture until it’s light and fluffy.
- At this point it’s much like the results of just adding cocoa powder to the white frosting. But the secret is adding in the melted chocolate. Isn’t chocolate always the secret?? Whip that up and then give it a taste. If you want a richer chocolate flavor just add more cocoa powder. I added about 4 Tablespoons extra to get my frosting looking and tasting like this (I also found the color of the frosting darkened as it sat). It pipes beautifully, and tastes amazing!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store unused frosting in fridge and bring to room temperature before using again. If needed, beat with an electric beater before using.
- Note that the longer this frosting sits, the darker it appears. For darker, more intense flavor, use a chocolate chip with a higher cocoa content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! There is enough here to generously frost 24 cupcakes or to frost and fill an 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake.
Check out this post on How to Frost Cupcakes to help you achieve the perfect cupcake!
Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup real butter softened
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
- Optional: Additional cocoa powder as needed
Instructions
- Melt your chocolate chips if you haven’t already and set aside to cool. You obviously don’t want it so cool that it hardens, but you can get it close to room temperature and still have it be soft and stir-able.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, and milk; bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Boil 1-3 minutes or until thickened like a thinned pudding. Remove pan from heat and strain mixture into a small bowl. Cool completely in the refrigerator or freezer.
- When chocolate flour mixture is cooled, beat the butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until well combined fluffy, about 1 minute. Finally add in melted chocolate and beat again until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. If desired, add additional cocoa powder to taste, up to 4 tablespoons more. Spread or pipe frosting on to cupcakes or cake.
- Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes or to frost and fill an 8 or 9 inch round 2-layer cake.
Questions & Reviews
Suzuki- so many of the main ingredients are chocolate so I'm not sure you'd have much luck converting it to strawberry! You can definitely add fresh berries to this swiss buttercream though:
https://fit-over50.news/2010/03/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I love the consistency of this frosting! So fluffy! Thank you so much for sharing. I've been trying to find a fluffy strawberry frosting that uses fresh strawberries. Is there anyway to convert this recipe into a fresh strawberry frosting?
I am a terrible cook and a worse baker.. but with your great easy instructions my frosting came out perfect! and it was absolutely the most delicious I have ever tried!! I love cupcakes but I hate trying to make them because the frosting ALWAYS disappoints me no matter how many good reviews it has.. so I am happy I found your cute blog and it took me about 2 weeks to go for it worrying it would be another hearth break or too hard for my non-existent skills but I am never EVER even bothering buying chocolate frosted cupcakes anymore.. I can make the best thanks to you! 😀
I'm not sure Ruby, I've never tried freezing it. If you do, let us know how it turns out!
Hello,
Does this frosting freeze well?
Thanks,
Ruby
OMG thank you so much for posting this! I cannot wait to try it!
Amazing Chocolate Frosting!!! I usually do make the white frosting with the cooked flour mixture and always wanted to try chocolate but didn't want to play around with it myself. So happy to have found this! Buttercream is too sweet for me so this one is perfect — not too sweet and creamy too.
Thanks!
Amy
Sara, this was amazing! I used this to frost your cream filled cupcakes in lieu of the ganache (sp?) and it was a big hit! Everyone thought they were bakery made :).
"[…] due to the fact that actual melted chocolate is also beaten in!). The recipe is from Our Best Bites. And guess what? There is a vanilla version […]"
http://lisa-is-hungry.blogspot.com/2010/06/double-dose-of-chocolate.html
I just tried this and it was sooo delicious! I ran out of milk so I subbed in coffee creamer diluted with water (sounds a little gross, but it was the best I could do) and the frosting still turned out well. It has a wonderful consistency for piping and its DELICIOUS! =D I honestly can't wait to try to vanilla version. Love love love, Lisa@ lisa-is-hungry.
Connie, my guess is that it will be just fine because once you beat it, it will thin out. If it were me, I'd probably give it a shot still, but I have no guarantee since I can't see what yours looks like!