I can’t believe that it’s taken me this long to come up with a chocolate buttercream icing that I liked. I have to be honest and admit that I only have tried on a couple of occasions to whip one up, but they never seemed to compare to my regular Best Buttercream Icing recipe.
Of course, it came about because I put everything I could think of in it. Cocoa? Check. Melted chocolate? Check. Instant coffee? Checkity check check. And that’s how my recipes come about.
If at first you don’t succeed, throw everything into the mixer and pray! Words to live by my friends, words to live by.
Really though, I took everything I could think of from all the recipes I have ever come across in my baking years and just put the best of it all together.
You need more than just cocoa, but the dry bitterness really is a must.
Do I even need to explain melted chocolate and salted butter together? No. I do not. Because I am sure as you are reading this your heart just skipped a beat with chocolate lust seeing those words together.
Melted chocolate. Salted butter. Amen.
I actually had to stop for a moment and try to remember where I was in writing this recipe, that’s how distracting those two phrases are. However, I am at instant coffee, which lies at the very heart of all the simply fantastic chocolate recipes. They are a match made in culinary heaven and should rarely leave each others proverbial side.
So without further ado, the recipe for Chocolate Buttercream Icing!
- 1 cup salted butter
- ½ cup of unsweetened cocoa
- 3 one ounce squares of melted then cooled semi-sweet chocolate
- ½ tsp instant coffee
- 1-2 tbsp heavy cream
- 3¼ – 3¾ cups icing suar
- Melt your three chocolate squares in the microwave, slowly and carefully until they are liquidy smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Whip the butter in your mixer until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add in the cocoa, beating until combined.
- When the chocolate is cool, add it to the butter. Make sure it’s cooled!!
- Add the instant coffee to one tablespoon of cream, then add to the butter mixture.
- Now you can put in the icing sugar one cup at a time, beating until combined.
- Adjust the thickness/texture by using another tablespoon of cream, adding it slowly until the texture you want is achieved.
So creamy. So dreamy. So super chocolate bliss.
Best chocolate buttercream icing ever!!!
Feel free to play around with the amounts of everything listed and create the balance that is right for your taste buds. I just know that you most certainly need more than just cocoa, you need melted chocolate and a dash of coffee taste to make this amazing!
Happy Baking everyone!
Love,
The Chocolate Buttercream Icing Rocks My Nest Magpie
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Hi Karlynn,
I want to make your recipe but have two questions...unsweetened cocoa?? sweetened? Unsweetened chocolate? Semi sweet? bittersweet? Please let me know what you use.
Thanks so much!
I have to admit, I wasn't sold on the salted butter at first (I never use anything but unsalted) but this icing is pure magic!! This icing is the icing I have been searching for and I will never need to try anything else. Thanks!!
Hi Karlynn,
I have done your butter cream yesterday, I want to thank you, it's incredible, fantastically good, amazing, a must, everybody who read this post MUST do it, you'll never do another one.
Toulouse France.
Hi karlynn,
I have just come across your buttercream icing recipes, and judging from all the comments- they are a great success. I am making a 3 tier chocolate wedding cake which will be covered with fondant icing, but I was wanting to use a buttercream icing under the fondant icing. would the buttercream icing with the vanilla be better to use or would this chocolate buttercream icing be better?? and would the cakes need to be refrigerated right up unitl they are ready to go on display?
I mean unsalted butter! Dang auto correct !
Hi Ms. Magpie, going to try this icing with milk chocolate, which is saltier than dark. Think I should use undated butter???
Where do you get the cake recipe to go with it? Chocolate or YELLOW would be great.
Where ever you want! This is one of many JUST icing recipes, as not everyone needs the cake recipe as well. There's a recipe for chocolate cake on my site, just search.
I made this dairy free with golden shortening 1/3 and 2/3 vegan margarine in place of the salted butter. I used strong brewed coffee, and a bit of vanilla rice milk in place of cream. If this was the only chocolate frosting recipe I could ever use for the rest of my life- I'd die a happy person. Its so supremely chocolate-y! We were all eating it by the spoonfuls in the kitchen. My kids didn't want dinner or the birthday cake just this divine chocolate "butter"cream.
I suspect because of the cream this frosting needs to be refrigerated. I am taking the cake out of the fridge at 9:00 a.m. on a long journey and it won't be in the fridge until 4:00 p.m. If I pack it in a cooler would that be sufficient? I also intend to freeze it so that it keeps cool longer. I would love to try because it sounds absolutely decadent! Let me know.
Your chocolate buttercream icing is deeelicious !!! So chocolaty and creamy....I just put a crumb coat on my cake and put it in the fridge to harden up before I put on the finish coat...when my cake is finally done should it be refregerated or can I leave it out....tomorrow is the party I'm making it for....Thanks for a great reciepe, really love it....
OMG which nozzle did you use for that rosette?! It looks DELICIOUS! Great recipe, as usual :)
WOW! this icing is sooooo good! OMG! I rarely leave a comment or review for recipes but this one I had to! I am using it to ice a cake tomorrow, can I leave this out one day or should I refrigerate until needed? Thanks again!!
Yes, in the fridge it goes! It will harden up (the butter in it will make it very firm) but leave it out early on before you need to use it and it goes back to room temp and softens.
Just printed this out! Making a birthday cake for my 3 year old this weekend and this will be the icing I try out on it! :) So, do you taste the coffee in the icing?
this is such a good recipe. my buttercream frosting doesn't usually turn out. but i have made this twice now and it's awesome. I added coconut flavoring the second time around for my mocha coconut cupcakes. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe with all of us. :)
Let me start by saying I never rate recipes...I go along the internet, taking bits of recipes I like from here and there and happily start cooking. I HAD to come back to your page to tell you .. that OMG. This buttercream is heaven. It is DIVINE. It is melt in your mouth, knee buckling DELICIOUS. I don't know if more made it to my tummy or the cake I'm making for my fiance's b-day tomorrow, and I don't care. I feel like going back into the kitchen and whipping up some more and polishing off the bowl before my fiance gets home. This recipe will be laminated and framed with little miniature spotlights on it in my kitchen. Thank you thank you THANK YOU for making my life so much buttercreamy better.
Well your comment made me laugh it's so awesome! Welcome to the site and glad you loved the icing!
it looks really delicious
amazingggg buttercream!! very smooth and decadant! must try!
Love this icing...the best chocolate buttercream. Didn't use salted butter but added a dash of salt and it worked great. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Thanks! I do love this icing too, so decadent!
Oops... never mind- just saw a comment where you said semi-sweet. Thanks!
You do bring up a good point of changing the chocolate around to suit your taste. Dark chocolate would make a decadent icing, especially with the coffee in it!
Hi! I just stumbled onto your recipe to make for some cupcakes this weekend. Does it matter what kind of chocolate you use to melt? Semi-sweet? Milk? Dark? Just wondering. Thanks! Sounds SO great!
How much does this recipe make? Enough for a three layer cake?
Yes, especially if you are using a filling between layer. I have covered a three layer cake and used this as filling.It all depends on how thick you like your icing!
Do you brew coffee just for this recipe? Hm..don't have any coffee, but this recipe sure seems worth it to get some!
The brilliance here (boy that sounds like bragging but I am not!) is that it's instant coffee, not brewed. I keep a small jar specifically for baking. You just dissolve it into the cream then add it into the mix!
I'll have to try this on my fave chocolate cake recipe since it too has coffee in it, a full cup! Why did I never think to add coffee to the icing?! Genius. ;)
i can't wait to try this recipe on yellow cake! my personal fave is yellow cake with chocolate frosting yet I always resort to the store bought because no other recipe I've found seems to give the right amount of chocolatey-ness and creamy texture. I've only ever used recipes that call for cocoa powder. the idea of using melted chocolate with the cocoa powder is genius! thanks and i'm loving the idea of using heavy cream in the buttercream frosing recipes. just a quick question, did you use semi-sweet baking squares for the melted chocolate? i'm assuming so because of all the sweet with the sugar, but just want to make sure.
My new go to chocolate buttercream recipe, thank you!
I like how you use cocoa and melted chocolate. For some reason I've always used one or the other. Silly me. Now I know to try both! The coffee sounds perfect to pull out that chocolate flavor too. I will try this next time I bake a chocolate cake... which is probably later today. Thanks for sharing!
That right there is my kind if dessert.