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
I have to comment on this…this frosting is seriously the BEST frosting I’ve ever had!!! It is also a hit with my entire extended family. My husband, who does NOT like frosting, especially chocolate, LOVES this frosting!
Thanks so much ladies, you came through again!! The white version of this is also delicious!
When I made this it was hot in my kitchen and it wasn’t coming out very fluffy, so I popped it in the fridge and waited patiently, whipped it again and ta-da!! BEST FROSTING EVER!!!
Very very yummy! I had a ton left over, so I popped in in the freezer. I’ll report back when I know if it froze well.
I put the milk and flour in the blender before I cooked it. No lumps, no straining. Hooray!!!
I made this with a couple of alterations (used dark choc. cocoa powder and a combo of milk and PB chips) and it was soooo good! Not as stiff as it appears in the photos here, but I did stick it in the fridge and it was good to go. The taste/texture/meltiness of it reminds me of the centers of Lindt truffles, which I LOVE. Thank you for a new frosting recipe to add to my book!
I’m not really a “semi-sweet chocolate” fan. Have you ever tried it with milk chocolate? Does that make it too sweet?
Never tried it Angela, but you have to remember- you’re using semi sweet chocolate AND adding it to sugar. So it’s not “semi-sweet” flavored. Does that make sense? I personally think milk would be way too sweet, but you might like it 🙂
This frosting is awesome! I have made it several times and love it but today I made it for my husbands birthday cake and made some changes that worked really well so I though I would share them with you. My husbands favorite cake is an ice cream cake and I have found that most frostings when frozen turn too hard and leave a fatty film in your mouth. I know it is the resolidifing of the butter so here is what I did; when cooking the chocolate flour mixture I let it cook a little longer than recommended till the consistency was a bit thicker, more like a custard. It took a bit longer to get through the mesh strainer, I actually used a rubber spatula and just pushed it through. Now here is the best part, I only used half the amount of butter! It still whipped up with a nice fluffy consistency and tasted great. I almost dont feel guilty that I ate more of his cake than he did. Thanks again for all your great recipes.
This is, hands down, THE BEST FROSTING I have EVER had.
The second best is the white version.
For a bridal shower, I made cupcakes using your easy white cake recipe (and the chocolate version) with these frostings. Everyone LOVED them… I think everybody had at least two!
And I just got your cookbook. I’m obsessed with this blog. 🙂
I just made this frosting and it is seriously the best frosting I have ever eaten! I love your blog!!! I just found it about a week ago and have already tried 5 of the recipes. I love that you use real ingredients and that everything tastes so yummy! Thank you so much!
Is there a peanut butter version? The pb frosting recipe I have is way too sweet and overpowers the pb flavor, and I LOVE the white/vanilla version of this and the chocolate one is a really good too, Not so overpowering as the powdered sugar frostings.
hey i tried a frostin like ths toda bt wtout th chocolat n t curdld? wat do u thnk wnt wrong