Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Perfectly rich and chocolatey, without being overly sweet.
Texture: Incredibly smooth, creamy, and luscious.
Ease: There’s one more step beyond a regular American-style buttercream, but I promise, it’s 100% worth the little extra work.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Instantly improves any cake, cupcake, or pretty much any other dessert.
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This buttercream truly lives up to the name ‘Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream Frosting’.
If we’re being honest, American buttercream often leaves a lot to be desired. It’s typically cloyingly sweet and sugary, with a discernible grittiness from the powdered sugar.
Compared to the ultra-smooth silkiness of Swiss Meringue Buttercream or Italian Meringue Buttercream, American buttercream usually just pales in comparison.
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Although nothing will quite compare to Swiss or Italian Meringue Buttercream … I think I’ve discovered the next best option.
It’s an American-style buttercream that uses one simple technique and two secret ingredients to get that rich, smooth, creamy, velvety, silky texture and strong chocolate flavor, without nearly as much work.
I have to give credit to the amazing Stella Parks for her genius that is this buttercream recipe.
Learn the secrets to this Best Ever Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream Frosting below, and learn all my best tips and tricks in the pink tip box below!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make the BEST Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
The Secrets to the Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Ganache: Add a small amount of cooled (but not chilled) chocolate ganache to the buttercream. This magic combo of heavy cream + melted chocolate lends intense fudgy richness to the American buttercream texture and a huge dose of chocolate flavor.
- High Fat Cocoa Powder + Organic Powdered Sugar: More on these magical ingredients, and where to find them, below.
Why Add Chocolate Ganache to Buttercream?
In some of my chocolate buttercream recipes, I simply add cocoa powder. In others, I’ll also add some melted chocolate. But thanks to Stella Parks, I now know the best way to get chocolate flavor AND fudgy texture is by adding in ganache! A small amount, just enough to pack a punch without making the buttercream too dense.
There are two keys to adding ganache to your buttercream:
- Avoid using chocolate chips. Instead, chop up a bar of your favorite semi-sweet baking chocolate. Chocolate chips have emulsifiers and stabilizers that maintain that chip shape even after being exposed to heat, so they simply don’t melt down as smooth and creamy.
- The ganache needs to be at just the right temperature before adding to the frosting. What’s the right temp? Room temp, about 75°F. It should be thick but still somewhat pourable. Too hot and it’ll melt the butter. Too cold and it’ll harden.
The Best Powdered Sugar for Buttercream is Organic
- Organic powdered sugar is made with tapioca starch to prevent caking. Organic powdered sugar is perfect for any instance you want the sugar to dissolve smoothly (which means it would be awful for using as a decorative garnish).
- Conventional powdered sugar is made with cornstarch to prevent caking.
- Tapioca starch is not only sweeter than cornstarch, but it dissolves better into buttercream. Less chalky gritness.
- Whatever you do, DON’T SKIP SIFTING! Especially if using organic powdered sugar, which gets ultra clumpy.
Where to buy organic powdered sugar?
Trader Joe’s sells it under its own name. The brand Wholesome is the other most widely available option here in the US. Use their store locator to find where they stock near you. Alternatively, buy it on Amazon here.
Do I HAVE to use organic powdered sugar?
No – but it’s these little things that add up to take your baking from good to WOW. If you’re using conventional powdered sugar, just make sure it’s finely ground 10x (not 6x which is for decorating).
High-Fat Dutch Process Cocoa is Magic!
Seriously.
Most cocoa powder you find at the grocery store is starchy. For a fun test, the next time you’re at the store turn all the cocoa powder containers around to compare their nutrition facts. You’ll see the amount of fat will vary by brand. High-fat cocoa powder has between 22-24% fat, whereas most grocery store brands have half that amount. This means they’re literally more drying. If you ever have a problem with dry chocolate cake, cupcakes, or brownies, take a peek at your cocoa powder’s fat percentage.
Why Dutch process? Because its acidity has been neutralized and tends to be of high quality since it’s a specialty product. This matters that much more when it’s going into a raw preparation like buttercream. Learn more about Natural vs. Dutch Processed Cocoa Powders here.
Where to buy high-fat Dutch process cocoa?
I know you’re probably thinking that just finding Dutch process cocoa is challenging enough. Here are some options for getting your hands on this magical cocoa:
Be Sure Your Butter is at the Right Temperature!
When making any kind of American buttercream, you want to be sure your butter is at a COOL room temperature. It should not be so warm that it looks and feels oily and greasy because guess what… that’s exactly how the buttercream will turn out. Which also makes it more difficult to work with on cakes & cupcakes.
Why does my buttercream taste like BUTTER?
Well… because there’s a ton of butter in it haha! It’s in the name after all. But if you notice this in an unpleasant way, try switching brands of butter. Also, always use unsalted butter in buttercream. Not only does this allow you to control the amount of salt, but unsalted is generally fresher because salt acts as a preservative in salted butter, giving it a longer shelf life. Learn more about Salted vs. Unsalted Butter here.
How Long Should I Beat My Buttercream?
- It’s so important to use your mixer correctly. Below, the image on the left shows barely beaten frosting, and the image on the right shows frosting beaten for several minutes.
- The longer you beat your buttercream, the more air you’ll whip into it, and the lighter and smoother it’ll be.
- For my mixer, the total beating time is about 5 minutes. That doesn’t include stopping to scrape down the sides sides and bottom of the bowl and your paddle attachment. The exact timing will depend on your mixer.
- You’re looking more for visual indicators. The final buttercream should be lighter in color than when you started. It should look and taste smooth and creamy and be easy to spread.
Can You Freeze Buttercream?
Yes! Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.
How to Store Buttercream
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.
Ways to use this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
More Buttercream Recipes & Tips:
Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
- 4 ounces (113 grams) finely chopped semisweet chocolate (don't use chocolate chips)
- 3 sticks (340 grams) unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature
- 2 cups (250 grams) organic powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 cup (85 grams) high-fat Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let stand for a few minutes before stirring until smooth. Set aside and cool to approximately 75°F or until thickened but still pourable.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes, or until very well blended, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce speed to medium-low and add the cooled chocolate ganache mixture. Continue beating until the frosting has lightened in color and texture, about 2 minutes more, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Recipe Notes
This post was originally published in 2020 and has been updated with additional tips and recommendations. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Amazing! I felt like sifting the dry ingredients was weird at first, but I think it really prevented breakage when the ganache was added…
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I didn’t have all the high-quality versions of ingredients, but they still made a great, rich, beautiful frosting.
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So stable! The frosting sat for a bit before the ganache was finished, and after when assembling. But it held its form perfectly and didn’t break, clump or dry out!
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Sometimes I add or substitute things to experiment, but there was no need to here.
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It ended up looking more like this->
Wow, your cake looks incredible, Danielle! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, we’re so happy you loved this recipe!
The notes say this recipe is enough frosting for an 8″ layer cake, but how can I scale it up to cover a 2-layer 9-inch cake. Would I just do 1.5 the quantity of each recipe item?
Really the best chocolate frosting! And super easy!
I used this recipe to use up some chocolate ganache that I made for my toddler’s birthday party. The ganache was fine, but I just didn’t think it tasted like a kid’s birthday. I didn’t want my ganache to go to waste and i still wanted a rich, fudgy chocolate frosting for my toddler’s birthday! This recipe saved the day! It is definitely the best chocolate American buttercream that I’ve tried and I am saving it in my recipes!!!
Woohoo, so happy this was a hit for you, Megan! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
I tried this frosting and it came out way too soft it was dripping everywhere. I even tried to add more sugar and it was just a runny mess. I did wait a while for chocolate to cool so it wasn’t that.
Same here, trying to see if I can cool it in the fridge before use
I just made two recipes of this buttercream and it is DIVINE! Even before adding the ganache, it’s smooth and satiny and after adding it, even better! Perfectly chocolate-y but not too sweet. I had some creme fraiche I needed to use, so I made the ganache with half creme fraiche and half cream and that turned out great. I used Guittard 72% chocolate in the ganache and Dutch cocoa mixed with a little black cocoa. Regular C&H 10X powdered sugar seemed to work fine. I’m looking forward to using this on cupcakes I’m making later on this week. Thanks for such a great recipe!
I am a food snob to just call it what it is.
I am not a fan of chocolate on chocolate desserts, so I really dont ever whip up a chocolate icing, until a gender reveal request for chocolate cake with chocolate icing was presented to me. I tried to suggest other methods to incorporate choc in a subtle way, but nope, my German friend said full on Chocolate, so the search began. I ended up trying this recipe and it may have converted me! It is by far the BEST choc icing I’ve ever had. I used semi sweet Ghirardelli choc chips for my ganache and my brother tool and it turned out amazing. I also used Ghirardelli cocoa powder. This will be my chocolate icing forever.
What brand of chocolate bar semi sweet does she use?
Hi Deborah! Tessa loves using Ghirardelli brand semi-sweet chocolate baking bars, but any high-quality brand of baking chocolate bar should work just fine. Let us know what you think once you’ve given this chocolate buttercream a try 🙂
Delicious and so easy!!!! Thank you