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
Great recipe! I whisked the flour, sugar, and cocoa together really well before add the milk and boiling and didn't have any lumps that needed straining… worked for me anyway!
Robin, the only thing I can think of is if your chocolate-flour mixture wasn't cooled enough. Other than that- no idea, weird!
Just made some from-scratch funfetti cupcakes and was looking for a good frosting recipe – this was PERFECT!!! since the cupcakes were a bit on the sweeter side, i dialed down the sugar which came out with a great bittersweet chocolately flavor that totally complements my cupcakes. THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🙂 def my new favorite frosting recipe. delicious!
I tried this in a pinch yesterday for a Christmas party… and the frosting came out like pudding! I don't know what in the world I did wrong. I ended up making a Trifle Bowl concoction with it.
Any ideas?
that's great to know- thanks BreeAnne!
I didn't realize there were two separate recipes for chocolate and white until *after* I started cooking the flour and milk together on the other recipe, at which point I ran back to my computer to see what I needed to add for chocolate and Oh NO! It's an entirely different process!
I was making a double batch of the vanilla, so after reading this version I went ahead and made the vanilla as directed on the original. When it was finished, I added one cup of cooled, melted chocolate chips and 4 tablespoons cocoa powder. It came out perfect and tasted fabulous! Just thought you might want to know, since it seems much quicker than having to sift cocoa powder and cook it with the flour.
pearse- the vanilla frosting we use is linked in this post
do you have a vanilla buttercream for frosting cakes
This is a keeper.
The delicate chocolate flavor is superb and not overpowered by sugar. The silky texture is awesome; it melts in your mouth like a no other frosting I've ever made. While it does have a consistency that will accomplish simple piped borders and cupcake swirls, the finished product is not sturdy enough for much more. I believe I would dam layers with regular butter cream if I were to use this frosting for a filling. Still, I believe it's going to be my go-to chocolate frosting from this point on.
I'd like to share a couple things I did to make the process easier for me.
1. I sifted the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and powdered cocoa together several times until it was well combined, and no "chunks" of anything remained. Then, I set this mixture aside.
2. I cooked the ( whole ) milk and sifted ingredients in a large frying pan, over a medium-high heat, and used a large whisk to constantly incorporate and scrape the sides and corners of the frying pan.
3. The ( whole ) milk was warm before adding the sifted ingredients in three 1/3 cup increments. Then, I cooked the mixture on medium-low – removing it from the heat several times to check consistency – until it reached the "loose pudding" stage. I did not allow the mixture to "boil" as noted in the directions.
The results of the changes noted above produced a completely flawless mixture without lumps. Thus, I had no need to strain the cooked mixture.
Additionally, the cooked ingredients would not "pour" when it had cooled. So, I had to spoon the mixture into the creamed butter.
From this point on, I followed the directions given, and was delightfully surprised by the results.
This is definitely a keeper!
The other day I made the candy corn cupcakes and learned how to do the frosting good. We had a BBQ tonight, and I decided to try just store-mix cupcakes with this chocolate frosting. I was told that they were the BEST cupcakes they had ever eaten. I took the advice and automatically added the extra 4 TBS cocoa. The frosting came out perfectly! Thanks!