I’m pretty sure something biological happened to me about the same time I became a mother. At least that’s when I remember it happening. That was the point when I realized I couldn’t live without chocolate. I found myself thinking about chocolate, craving chocolate, scouring my pantry for spare chocolate chips that may have fallen out of a bag at some point and landed in some random corner. And I wouldn’t by any means call myself a chocolate snob (because I’m pretty sure anyone who makes that proclamation wouldn’t be on their hands and knees in the pantry looking for old chocolate chips) but I do have an appreciation for quality chocolate. And I don’t like it overloaded with sugar- the darker the better in my book. I even love bittersweet chocolate. But when it comes down to it, if it’s got chocolate in it- I’m down. So needless to say, a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting pretty much rocks my world.
Everyone in my opinion needs a great, basic, go-to chocolate cake recipe. And while there’s a time and a place for boxed cake mixes, everyone needs a good homemade, from scratch recipe. I’ve used this Hershey’s recipe quite a bit over the years, and I still love it. But several years ago I bought the “Best Recipes” issue of Cook’s Illustrated, partially because this cake was on the cover. I finally had a great excuse to make it last month and I wish I would have done it years ago. It’s definitely one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever tasted.
I started going through the pictures for this cake and realized the post would quickly turn into a novel, so I’m splitting it into two installments. Frosting today, cake on Wednesday! Don’t be turned off by the number of steps here. I almost was and I’m so glad I stuck with the recipe and made this frosting. It’s more labor intensive than beating some butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder together but it’s sooo worth it.
Start by melting some chocolate. The glass bowl you see in the pictures is sitting on top of a pan of simmering water.
After the chocolate is melted, set the bowl aside and dump out the water that was in the pan. Now you’ve already got a warm pan for the next step (butter melting). Remember that when you read the recipe and it tells you to use 2 pans. I’m all about one less dish to have sitting in my sink for days wash.
To the melted butter, you’ll add a little corn syrup, vanilla, and granulated sugar.
As soon as it’s all melted together and the sugar is dissolved, add it to a large bowl along with…
the chocolate. The beautiful, glorious, melted chocolate. And no I did not stick my finger in that as it was pouring down like a chocolate waterfall just begging for someone to stick their finger in it…
And also some heavy cream. You know, for good measure.
You’ll stir this all together and have sort of a chocolate sauce consistency. Place your bowl in a bowl of ice to bring the temperature down, and just keep stirring until the mixture starts hardening against the side of the bowl. Then you can pop the paddle attachment on your mixer and start whipping. Magically it turns thick and fluffy.
I was actually super impatient when I made this and didn’t wait for it to cool enough that the mixture was sticking to the sides of the bowl. So my whipped frosting was reeealy soft. I just popped it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and it was perfect.
The flavor is so perfect. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, so the great chocolate flavor really shines through.
and when combined with the chocolate cake, it’s perfection.
I should also note that the texture is so light and soft, and whippy, that this frosting would probably be best for slathering- like smeared all over a cake, or just plopped on top of cupcakes, as opposed to piping. If you’re looking for a good chocolate icing for piping- try this one!
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting
Cooks Illustrated Best Recipes Issue, 12/09
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I measured 16oz chocolate chips on a kitchen scale, it’s a teeny bit more than 2 1/2 cups.)
8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
Melt Chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of stand mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1-2 minutes (frosting should be 70 degrees). Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth. *If you find after beating, your frosting is still too soft for your liking, try chilling in the fridge until it sets up a little more.
Questions & Reviews
Is it just me or does this frosting take FOREVER to whip. Mine took at least 40 minutes. I;m not exaggerating! I even stuck it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes then kept whipping it. I have a kitchen aid with a paddle attachment and followed the recipe exactly. Did I do something wrong? Did it take yours this long to whip up? I love your guys’ blog 🙂
It takes like, a minute 🙂 I see from your other comment that you didn’t measure your chocolate and that is definitely a must!
Thank you so much for this incredible receipe! Love it to bits… To the point I am always missing a lot of it before I put it on my cakes… Culprit? My own self! Anyways, I do have a small question, I am using this frosting to pipe on my cupcakes, perfect when the cupcakes are not in the sun or the heat. But the frosting turns a little sloppy (aka melts) when it is under the slightest temperature rise. Is there a solution to my small dilemma? Or would I have to use another receipe altogether? :S
Thx again for this wonderful receipe! 🙂
Yep, this recipe is so light, it’s pretty sensitive to heat. You could try chilling the cupcakes and just bringing them to room temp right before serving.
This cake is absolutely delicious, but it is VERY finicky. For anyone wondering, if you make the recipe as written at a high altitude, it will fall every time and make you say bad words. The modifications that I’ve found for an altitude similar to Salt Lake City (4000 feet) are to follow the directions given, but change the ingredients to:
12 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 cup flour
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon hot water
1 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
Also, heat the oven to 375 rather than 350.
Oh, and one last thing. DON’T forget to flour the pans after greasing them, or your cake will stick and make you say bad words. There is a reason we call this the Sailor Cake around my house. It will make you swear like one.
I’m at 6200ft and these adjustments worked perfectly!! Thanks! Just wanted others at high altitude to know I tried and it works! Thanks!
Hi Sara 🙂
I’ve been searching for months for a chocolate frosting ACTUALLY made with real chocolate and was SO happy when I found this blog 😀
However I live in the UK and I don’t really know what I could replace the corn syrup with?
Would a thick simple syrup work? Not sure what corn syrup is like.
Thank you 🙂
Abbie x
Since it’s just a small amount, I’d probably use honey. It’s as close to the texture as you can get, and because it’s just a couple of tablespoons, it shouldn’t affect the overall flavor too much. Enjoy!
Thank you. I’m sure we will 🙂
My dreams were dashed yesterday when my cake was ready to be frosted, sink was full of dishes BUT my chocolate frosting had hard clumps in it. Hah! I cooked my sugar stuff way too long I guess, I was trying to go the 4-5 minutes…but that was no bueno. So, disaster frosting turned into removing hard sugar and using now chocolate sauce over my consoling bowl of vanilla ice cream. Yummy! And today, with a new carton of whipping cream purchased, and baby down for a nap, I head to the kitchen. This frosting is mine! And I will be enjoying a thick ol’ slice of cake tonight!
Lisa, I feel your pain! I made this tonight for my daughter’s bday and I cooked the butter/sugar mix too long or too high because when I poured it into the bowl with the melted chocolate and cream it seized up and I had lumps of caramel in my frosting. Totally upset. I’m not the world’s best baker but I’d like to think I’m actually pretty good – better than average. So when I use a cook’s illustrated recipe I really expect it to work. I follow the directions. When it said to cook it on medium for 4-5 minutes or until the sugar melts I cooked it for prob mess than 2 minutes. The sugar melted quickly and actually started turning brown by the time I pulled it off heat. The recipe should have mentioned not to overcook the sugar mixture or else your frosting would be ruined.
Thank you! I have been surfing the net for good chocolate frosting and yours is very well illustrated and look yummy! I’ll try this for my birthday cake.
Hello i just made this cake today, together with the frosting! I’m not sure about the taste yet cause it’s for a friend’s party… later haha. Anyway, my cake didn’t come out so dark, it was pretty light with a reddish tinge which I think is due to the fact that I used unsweetened cocoa powder (Cadbury Bournville). It was inconvenient for me to make an ice bath (just accept, don’t ask why!) and so I popped it in the freezer for like 5 mins and- voila!- all’s well! Will let you guys know of the taste but judging from previous comments, I think it shouldn’t be too bad at all!:)
I made this frosting for a cake and didn’t use it all. I put the rest in a tupperware in the fridge. A few days later I was cleaning out my fridge and thought, “That is probably rock hard, I’ll just toss it.” Wrong. It was the creamiest, most delicious, still very useable frosting. I ate the rest with a spoon.
My large rear-end thanks you!!!
I made it many years ago. Since I usually need frostings I can tint and pipe, I forgot about this recipe. I just made a batch to frost a dark chocolate cake and WOW– It is wonderful. So chocolatey but light and fluffy. Definitely the right texture for a plop and spread frosting, as it would never hold up in a bag. Add some sprinkles and relive your youth!
So does this cake need refrigeration because of the cream in the frosting? I hate refrigerated cakes.
Only if you’re storing long term. But who does that? Lol eat it up!