This classic Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe is the only chocolate buttercream recipe that you will ever need. It tastes amazing, pipes beautifully, and has been our go-to chocolate buttercream for years!
You are going to LOVE how easy this chocolate frosting is to make. Throw that canned chocolate frosting in the trash, it won’t taste good to you anymore!
What Cakes Taste Great with Chocolate Frosting?
This Classic Chocolate Buttercream is silky smooth, has a fantastic chocolate flavor, and it is the perfect complement to SO many flavors of cakes and cupcakes!
We love it as a filling or frosting for so many of our cake recipes, including:
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake
Classic Chocolate Cupcakes, and many more.
What I’m realizing in making this list of cakes that pair well with chocolate frosting is that I want to put every cake on the list! Haha.. that’s when you know you have a good frosting (or maybe I just like chocolate a little too much).
This Chocolate Frosting is Perfectly Pipeable
This Chocolate Frosting recipe should give you a nice medium consistency, making it perfect for piping. Whether you’re making buttercream ruffles, buttercream roses, or piping pretty scrolls or borders, this frosting couldn’t be simpler to work with.
You’ll have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to the amount of sugar and liquid. For a thicker frosting, mix in more confectioners sugar. For a softer frosting, add a bit more milk. I also prefer to use whole milk rather than skim or 1% as it gives a richer flavor and a lighter crust when it sets.
Other Chocolate Frostings to Try…
We have a couple of other delicious chocolate frostings in our recipes section! Our Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream recipe is similar to this classic chocolate buttercream, as it is a crusting recipe which is great for piping. The difference is that it contains shortening, which makes it more heat resistant.
It’s always nice to have a heat friendly option for those hot summer days. Just remember that no frosting is 100 percent heat-proof. Shortening based frostings will hang in there for a bit longer though! You can find the recipe here: Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
Next, if you are looking for something even more rich, you will also love our Chocolate Ganache Frosting in the Recipes section! If you’ve never tried ganache, it is a decadent mixture of chocolate and cream. Hop on over for the details!
Click Here to Save this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe to Pinterest!
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
The most delicious and simple Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe! This chocolate frosting pipes great also.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften butter in the microwave)
- 9 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar in UK) (1034g) more if needed. ** For cupcakes, I like to use 8 c. (920g) for a softer frosting
- 1 1/2 cups unsweeteded cocoa (124 grams) (not Dutch processed, measure then sift
- 1/2 cup milk (121 grams) more if needed to reach the spreading consistency you like
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (12 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g) we like the finer grain of plain popcorn salt
Instructions
Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen. Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.
This is my favorite chocolate frosting! Recipe can easily be doubled or halved.
This recipe makes approximately 6 cups of frosting.
That’s all for now! Don’t you just want to dive into a bowl of chocolate buttercream? Ahhhhh….so good. We think that you’ll love this Classic Chocolate Frosting!
Make sure to check out our full collection of favorite tried and true cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section!
If you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, don’t miss our Free Cake Tutorials section, which also includes a Free Cake Video Tutorial Section.
If you are interested in learning even more about cake decorating, we would LOVE to have you as a member of My Cake School! As a member, you will have access to every cake decorating video tutorial that we’ve made over the years (hundreds)! You can find out all of the details here: Learn Cake Decorating Online with My Cake School!
Hi Gloria, You should not have any problem using this recipe with the indoor temperature at 74 -76. It would be fine using all butter, though you could substitute with half shortening, if you like. If you are traveling with the cake to the party site, it is a good idea to chill the cake. It just firms everything up for the trip.
do i have to make extra buttercream if i want to frost 2layer 9inch cake?.. tq. your buttercream look stunning. plan to use this recipe for my customer order next week
Hi Iiyana, For a 2 layer 9 inch cake that will be filled with buttercream and have decorative piping, I suggest doubling the recipe. If you are not doing a lot of decorative piping, you could increase the recipe by 1/2.
This looks delicious! Would this frosting work for the Viva Paper Towel Smoothing method?
Hi Heidi, Yes, this is a crusting buttercream recipe and would work for the Viva Paper Towel Smoothing method.
I have a cottage food business. I was wondering what difference adding water to your frostings rather than milk. I can not use milk in any of my frostings. Thank you.
Hi Terri, It will be fine to use water, I don’t think you will notice much of a taste difference. When using water the buttercream will crust more quickly. So for some cake designs you may need to work more quickly. The fat in milk slows down the crusting, whole milk crust more slowly and heavy cream even more slowly.
Hello. This chocolate buttercream looks delicious! Can I use this recipe to frost a 9 inch 3 layer cake?
Hi Sal, This recipe make approximately 4 cups frosting, I think you would need a bit more for a 3 layer, 9 inch cake. Depending on how much decorative piping you will be doing, you should make 1 1/2 times the recipe or double the recipe.
Thank you for your reply. This helps a lot! ?
Hi, my daughter and I are trying this tonight. For the cream, is it unsweetened cocoa like the cake? Or sweetened? Never made chocolate frosting before. Thanks in advance. Can’t wait to try all these yummies!
Hi Sherry, The cocoa in the frosting recipe is unsweetened. I use Ghirardelli but you can use whatever brand is your favorite. Since this is your first time making chocolate buttercream, if you find it too stiff, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time or if too soft a add a bit more powdered sugar. The recipe makes 4 cups, and is enough to frost an 8 inch cake, but if you like a thick filling and frosting you will want to make 1 1/2 times or double the recipe to have enough for decorative piping.
Thank you for replying, extra advice, and your site. My daughter has been wanting to learn making a cake from scratch?
I have never successfully made frosting— until coming across your instructions!
If I am making this tonight to frost a cake tomorrow, should I store in the fridge or at room temp?
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
Hi Christina, Yes, you can store the frosting at room temperature overnight and frost the cake tomorrow. We are so happy you like the recipe.
The icing looks great, but I was wondering if there was any way to change the coloring. As silly as it sounds I’m looking to make an icing that tastes good but can also be turned into camo colors. It’s for a friend’s son’s birthday and the theme is camo colors and such. If you could help I would thankful, if not I understand and still thank you for the amazing icing recipe.
Hi Ranger, I’m sorry but you won’t be able to adjust the chocolate buttercream to create camo colors. You will need to begin with a vanilla buttercream. Here is a link to a 1 minute video Melissa made showing how to smooth camo colored cupcakes, you might find it helpful.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/cupcakes-minute-tutorial/
Hope all goes well.
I just made this chocolate buttercream, and it’s delicious!
I’m so glad, Cindy! Your cake looks perfect!
Hello, so I have made this icing twice now, once for the german chocolate cake & once for the yellow cake, although the icing tasted good and got many compliments, the icing is coming out extremely stiff, am I using too much powdered sugar? Also, I always measure, then sift before adding, this is one of the only buttercream icing I’ve had this issue with. Just to note, although I’ve had this issue, both cakes were a huge hit, so thank you!
Hi Yvonne, I am happy you like the recipe. You can add additional milk until the frosting is the consistency you like. Add the extra milk just a small amount at a time. If it should happen to become too soft, add more powdered sugar.
I’m trying to make this frosting a little more stiff around the edges- does that make sense? What do I do for that? Or What may I be doing wrong?
Hi Christy- If you want a thicker consistency of frosting, you can add a little more powdered sugar until you have the consistency that you like. If you’ve frosted the cake but are wanting sharper edges, you can chill the cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes or just until the frosting firms up, and then go over the cake with a hot spatula to smooth out your frosting or create sharper edges around the top, etc. Not sure if this is what you’re asking but I hope it helps!
I’m looking for a dark chocolate buttercream recipe to use under fondant. Between the classic chocolate and the fluffy chocolate buttercream recipes, which one would hold up best? And is there a way that I can make the buttercream a little more chocolate/fudge tasting?
Thanks! Kathy
Hi Kathy, The Classic Chocolate is made with all butter so it will form a firmer shell when it is refrigerated before you lay on the fondant. You could add a bit more unsweetened cocoa powder (you will need additional milk also) but I don’t think that will give you the fudge taste you are looking for. It sounds like you would prefer a recipe using melted chocolate and we have not posted one yet. We hope to do so soon.
Hi I made this recipe twice, both times, the frosting looked dry not glossy. What can I do to make it moist
Hi Regina, If your buttercream is too stiff, add additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches the smoothness you like. Also, when making you could reduce the powdered sugar from 6 cups to 5 for a softer buttercream. If it becomes too soft, add more powdered sugar.
Hello! I’ve been trying to make buttercream that looks and tastes as smooth as yours and I keep failing… although it tastes ok, you can feel the powdered sugar between your teeth… if that makes sense…
What am I doing wrong? Could it be the mixer tool I’m using? I always use the whisk… should I be using the k tool or something…
Hey Mihaelia! I always sift my powdered sugar before mixing, this helps my icing with the lumps and grit. Hope this works for you!
Hi Mihaelia, I’m sorry I missed your question when you posted in April. If your powdered sugar is feeling gritty, the problem is with the brand you are using. It should be 100% pure cane sugar. If your package just says powdered sugar, then it is powdered sugar made from beets. If you are near a Costco, their brand is pure cane sugar. We also have success with Dominoes brand. We were once able to use Dixie Crystals and their label did state pure cane sugar but something has now changed in their formulation. We think they increased the anti-caking agent in the product and this resulted in giving it a gritty taste. I do not know what brands are available to you, but experiment with another brand and I hope it will give you a good result. Let us know.
Hi
What brand of cocoa did you use in this recipe.
Hi Jackie, We used Ghirardelli 100% unsweetened cocoa, but your favorite unsweetened cocoa will be fine also.
Can you use heavy cream instead of milk ?
Hi Kristen, Yes, you can
Thank you ! Is this enough for a ? 3 layer cake or do I need to double it
Thank you ! Is this enough for a ? 3 layer cake or do I need to double it
Hi Kristen, To be sure you have enough for filling and frosting and piping borders I would increase the recipe by 1/2. That would be :
3 sticks butter
9 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa, measure then sift
1/3 cup plus 3 Tablespoons milk or cream, more if needed to have the spreading consistency you like
3 teaspoons vanilla
You say in comments to decrease powdered sugar from 6 to 5 cups if too stiff. The recipe says 9 cups??? Is that correct
Hi Sheila, Thanks for pointing that out. This recipe originally used 6 cups powdered sugar. After comments that it was not quite enough for the piping that some bakers wanted on their cake, we increased the recipe by half. We overlooked changing the working in the info that preceded the recipe. I have removed that. The recipe is correct as written.
Can I use confectioners sugar instead of icing sugar
Hi – what type of milk do you recommend? Can I use 2% milk, or do I need to use whole milk?
Hi Emily, We usually use whole milk but you also can use 2% .