My husband, Doug, loved his chocolate groom's cake that was topped with this smooth, creamy frosting and accented with chocolate-covered strawberries. Some were made to look like tuxedos.
I scaled this down to 6 servings to frost "Frosted Cake Brownies," also from this site. I used Bailey's, both in the brownies and in this frosting. I found it needed more milk (or in my case Bailey's) than the recipe called for. What I liked about this recipe after reading it over was the high ratio of butter to sugar compared to similar recipes. Just as expected, it produced a very rich and creamy frosting that did not dry out or harden. Simply perfect on the brownies, and I will go back to it for my next cake too. Thanks Amy!
Read MoreIt was a good flavor but had a gritty taste of the cocoa powder. It seems as though the powder should have been added in with water or something to take away the grit. I followed the directions exactly so I am not sure what happened. A friend thinks it was because there isn't any crisco in it but not sure that would have helped.
Read More I scaled this down to 6 servings to frost "Frosted Cake Brownies," also from this site. I used Bailey's, both in the brownies and in this frosting. I found it needed more milk (or in my case Bailey's) than the recipe called for. What I liked about this recipe after reading it over was the high ratio of butter to sugar compared to similar recipes. Just as expected, it produced a very rich and creamy frosting that did not dry out or harden. Simply perfect on the brownies, and I will go back to it for my next cake too. Thanks Amy!
I'm giving this 5 stars because my only problem with it was it tasted a little too cocoa-y, but that is probably my fault for adding slightly less sugar and not compensating with the amt. of cocoa powder. I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amt. to ice and fill a 9 inch round cake. In order to avoid having problems with the cake crumbing or coming apart when you frost, you will need to add more milk than the recipe calls for. The best way to do this is to add 1T at a time as you are mixing it. Stop the mixer and take a rubber spatula and spread it around the frosting as though you were spreading it on a cake. When you pull away the spatula, if it 'sticks' to the frosting and forms very stiff peaks when you pull it away, it is too stiff and you need to add more liquid (but only add a little bit at the time). You want the consistency to be very smooth and creamy; then it will spread with no problems. From now on this is the chocolate frosting recipe I will use.
Okay, if you are looking for the ultimate chocolate frosting, this is it! I followed others advice and halved the recipe. It was the perfect amount to frost a two layer, nine inch cake. (I like a generous amount of frosting.) This is the only frosting I will ever use from now on.
I asked my husband what he wanted me to bake for his birthday- I said I'd make anything- pie, cake, cookies, someother dessert. He asked for a bowl of this icing.
OMG! I think my search for the absolute best, most chocolately frosting is over! This stuff is awesome and so easy to make. I cut the recipe in half and that was more than enough for a dozen Texas sized cupcakes that were more like mini-cakes in and of themselves but that was OK because I didn't mind getting to taste a bit of it as if I could resist. I used half and half instead of milk and added just a bit more of that until I got the right consistency. Great recipe!
I gave this recipe 5 stars although I did alter it slightly. I have a small cupcake business that I operate from my home. I have experimented with endless frosting recipes trying to find the right mix and have discovered the following formula works best for me - for every 1 cup butter add 3 cups icing sugar. In doing this you will notice that the icing isn't sickly sweet, like burning in the back of your throat kind of sickly sweet when there is too much icing sugar in a frosting recipe. This formula works perfectly for me and my customers love it. I constantly get comments on how delicious my frosting is and not overly sweet. Another thing you will find when you reduce the ratio of icing sugar to butter is that your frosting will no longer crust over. That used to happen to me all the time and I didn't know why. The reason why is that the sugar content in most frosting recipes is too high in relation to the amount of butter used. 1 part butter to 3 parts icing sugar is perfect. Not sickly sweet and no crusting over. Beautiful and delicious!!!
I have used this recipe twice now and it has come out PERFECTLY every time. I used it to frost a 2 layer chocolate cake with a strawberry layer in the middle with chocolate strawberries on top. Be sure to adjust the above recipe with your cake. I halved the recipe and still had enough frosting left over to put away for 12 cupcakes. Be sure to smooth the lumps out of your confectioners sugar! ALSO- I reduced the amount of sugar so it would not be so sweet. I use 2 cups in a halved recipe instead of 2.5 I also use SALTED butter.
This is a great chocolate frosting- I didn't find it too sweet and turns out nice and fluffy, both great things when you are piling it on cupcakes. My advice is to make this a night ahead and fridge it so the cocoa flavor can really mellow and the flavors can come together- but be sure to remove it from the fridge at least a half hour before using because its pretty hard otherwise. Also, half the recipe made a ton!
My family of chocoholics really enjoyed this frosting on a Duncan Hines Butter Recipe cake. Yummmm! It has a very distinctive cocoa taste, but that's what we like. I also really liked the texture. I scaled the recipe to work with 2.5 cups of powdered sugar (that's all I had) and it was sufficient for a 9x13 cake. Since the frosting is so rich, you don't need to go overboard on it. Oh, one last thing, I didn't have real butter so I substituted Land of Lakes margarine and it was just fine. Perhaps I'll try real butter next time just to see what the difference is, but don't let the fact that you don't have real butter on hand keep you from trying this recipe. We thought it was great!
I am trying many different chocolate frosting recipes for a cake I am making for work. So far, this one is my favorite. It is rich and creamy, not too sweet, has just the right amount of chocolate flavor, and the butter flavor is fantastic. The only thing I don't like is the color. It is just too light. The flavor more than makes up for that though!
Great recipe I'm giving only 4 stars due to having to half the recipe. Although it is great to also know the larger amount for when my 4 kids need cakes for cake walks and school activities. I make a cake and chocolate frosting that my family says is better then Hershey's Black Magic cake. My oddest daughter told me that a fudge-ier frosting would be even better for MY cake. SO when looking for a chocolate fudge frosting I found this one. After halving it I am VERY Happy with it! Can use 2%,whole milk, almond milk, heavy cream, 1/2 & 1/2, or buttermilk and either regular or dark cocoa powder. You can also add the following to change up the style of choco-frosting. 1/4tsp mint, raspberry, or orange extract (with the vanilla), 1/2 CUP creamy PB, 1TBSP strong brewed coffee, 1/2 CUP chopped Andes/York mint chocolate chopped or nuts chopped, or fold in very firm fresh chopped strawberries just before spreading onto the cake. Although, I do suggest sifting the dry ingredients before adding to the butter.
Oh my this frosting is sinfully delicious. I made half to frost a 2 layer 9 inch cake everyone loved it, yum.
Oh wow! I never like homemade chocolate frosting becuase it's just not chocolaty enough. This was sooo good! I used Ghirardelli Premium Baking Cocoa and only made 1/2 the batch for my cupcakes. I didn't use quite the full amount of milk since I wanted to decorate w/ it. I also added 1/4 cup of Mocha Almond Fudge International Delight liquid creamer. (I've made it w/o and it's just as good!)OH my goodness! The more you beat this, the creamier it gets and also increases in volume. This is also a nice crusting recipe. (Forms a crust when left out to sit but stays soft on the inside.) Cover when not using to prevent a crust from forming. :)
Scaled down the recipe in half. I don't like chocolate flavor so heavy so I cut cocoa in half. A pinch of salt brings out the yum factor. I beat the frosting in my heavy stand mixer for about 3 or 4 minutes to make very creamy. With these changes this is my family's favorite chocolate frosting. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Perfect buttercream. Very stable and easy to frost cakes and cupcakes. Tastes just like what you find in store bakeries.
I use this recipe a lot, it's almost perfect. I do use only a third or so of the sugar called for. I sift my sugar and cocoa over my butter , starting with about 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Once it starts to look right I add my vanilla and just a splash at a time of milk until it's spreadable. I usually only need about a half a cup of sugar more and it's heaven! It's fool proof and the best frosting I've found and it's just a few, simple ingredients. There's just way too much sugar as written. This time I cut the recipe down by a quarter and it was enough for a generously frosted 2 layer cake.
Creamy and delicious with just the right amount of chocolaty-ness. This recipe makes enough to generously frost two batches of cupcakes (i.e., 4 dozen). I made a batch of cupcakes today and will refrigerate the rest of the frosting for another batch next weekend. I better hide it from myself; I know I'll be tempted to take a taste now and then.
oops! almost forgot to rate this.. it is THE BEST chocolate frosting i have had besides ganache! last time i made frosting with butter and cocoa it was way too buttery, this was thick and chocolat-y.. loved it!
I consider myself a pretty serious baker and I was nervous to try this recipe because of the cocoa, I wasn't sure that it would be good enough. I was so totally wrong! This icing is SOOO easy and really tastes amazing!! I didn't really change anything, but I did sift the cocoa because I was afraid it would stay lumpy and someone would get a blob of cocoa. Because of all the powder (cocoa and confectioners) beware, this totally is a mess. Use your splatter guard for sure if you have one. Also, obviously, this makes a TON. I heavily iced 36 cupcakes and had about 2 cups left (maybe slightly less) which I gave away because I wasn't sure if you could freeze it because of the milk? In any case, this recipe is definitely a keeper. TRY IT!!!!
It was a good flavor but had a gritty taste of the cocoa powder. It seems as though the powder should have been added in with water or something to take away the grit. I followed the directions exactly so I am not sure what happened. A friend thinks it was because there isn't any crisco in it but not sure that would have helped.
This frosting was perfect in texture and taste, and it was even better the day after! I halved the recipe as well, and it was plenty. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent! I made an eighth of this recipe and used it to frost 15 cupcakes. It's delicious! My search for the perfect chocolate frosting recipe ends here!
delicious frosting, and very easy to make. Mine needed some more icing sugar, cuz it came out a little runny, but it all depends on the moisture in the air that day. Nothing that can't be fixed easily! Perfect for decorating and piping on a cake. I scaled it down to 8 servings, and was able to pipe two layers of rosettes and write a happy birthday message on an 8'cake with loooots leftover! I probably could have also filled the cake with the rest of the frosting! Great easy practical recipe. Thank you for sharing!!
Even though I made some slight adjustments, I am giving this recipe a 5. Like all recipes, the chef should adjust the amount of certain ingredients to suit their personal tastes. I halved this recipe since I was only frosting a 9" two tier cake. I also substituted the baking cocoa with Imported Dutch Processed Cocoa powder (it has a smoother taste...less powdery and bitter tasting). As I was looking for a creamy chocolate flavor, I used about 3/4 cups of Dutch cocoa; adding it slowly until I achieved the desired chocolate taste. I did the same with the milk until I reached the desired consistency. This was a great frosting, spread well, held up well and everybody at my New Year's Eve gathering loved it! This is my go-to chocolate frosting recipe.
I halved this recipe and it turned out nice. It looks beautiful and spreads nicely. I wanted a richer flavor. I know this sounds crazy considering the butter and amount of chocolate, but it not THE recipe. I'll keep hunting. I made this to go on a chocolate cake and the birthday girl loved it.
This was delicious!! I made the whole batch to ice my husbands 2 tier cake. He loved it!
Talk about rich! wooziers, I've harped before about not being able to make frostings with butter due to the area I was living in & that's true, with Oklahoma's humidity, I couldn't make a frosting that was butter based because it would be come oily & flat, if I dared leave it out on the counter or travel with the frosting anywhere. So being that I'm now in Oregon. I needed a frosting that was rich as it sounded & light n' fluffy & could easily hold up to the moisture & humidity in the area in which I live. This was the 1st butter based recipe I've tried in a very long time & me likie! I was concerned with the high amount of baking cocoa because I don't like that chalk like residue left behind & this recipe was fabulous, it didn't flatten, it set nicely & didn't have the residue left behind like other recipes have before. I sifted my cocoa & confectioner's sugar together prior to mixing it in, to make sure it was overall well blended. I also grabbed the whipping cream in place of the milk out of pure habit, not realizing until half a cup was already in the mixture when I looked down. I actually won't change that either. Instead of replacing the milk mid way, I chose to just keep with the heavy whipping cream. It build a nice fluff and body to recipes verses milk and I don't think I'll go to using regular milk the next time I make this, because there WILL be a next time. I loved the end result, it worked well with topping a cake and a batch of brownies. TY
Yum! This frosting is to die for. Made it to go with chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes and it was the perfect match! I think I forgot to add the vanilla extract but it was still delicious! Easy to pipe onto the cupcakes and even after two days tasted fresh! Hardens a little too so it's not so easily ruined. Definitely going into my recipe book.
Fabulous!! I halved the recipe and for an extra boost mixed in instant coffee into the milk. (coffee enhances the chocolate). Never making any other chocolate frosting! EVER!!!
We loved the recipe, but we cut the serving down to 12 and added 1/2 cup of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips for a fudgy indulgence!
I made half the recipe for a layered 9-inch cake and I still had a little leftover. This yields some fantastically flavorful frosting that was nice and creamy. I'm in love. I made along with the One Bowl Chocolate cake from this site and it's a match made in heaven. Thanks!!
This makes a TON of frosting. I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and it was almost coming out the top by the end of my making this. I was able to frost a 4 layer cake with plenty to spare! The frosting itself is very smooth, rich and creamy...it's to die for!
Perfect chocolatey goodness. My daughter has a dairy allergy so i used coconut oil in place of butter and it was still delicious!
Fantastic frosting. I also halved the recipe to cover a double layer 9in round cake. I accidentally used the 1/3 measuring cup instead of the 1/4 when measuring out the coco powder (so I basically used 1-2/3 cups instead of 1-1/4), and honestly it was still great. I think I'll keep it that way the next time I make it.
Made half a recipe and frosted a 9" layer cake with this. Went great with Too Much Chocolate Cake with raspberry filling.
BE CAREFUL! Try this recipe out before you make it for others. The recipe as it stands is so sweet it made my teeth hurt. I don't know how anyone could call this "good" frosting. I halved the amount of confectioners' sugar, cut the baking cocoa by 1/3, and increased the milk (I used half-and-half) by 1/3. It's plenty sweet and on the edge of tasting too "cocoa powdery." I suppose if you've only ever eaten sickeningly sweet American chocolate, you'll be able to tolerate this recipe without adjustment. For more sophisticated tastes, hold back on the sugar!!!
Wonderful creamy chocolate frosting. My family loved it on chocolate cake.
Great frosting!! First time making chocolate frosting and it seemed to be perfect. I did halve the recipe and it frosted a two layer 9 in round cake and I still had left over frosting.
OMG, this frosting is da BOMB! i'll never buy frosting again:) thanks for sharing Amy!
Pretty good. I made fewer servings than the recipe said, so I had to keep adding. Overall, YUM on vanilla cake!
This frosting was excellent. I halved the recipe and frosted 24 cupcakes heavily! I think this frosting is best on a chocolate cupcake, because the frosting is so chocolatey that it overpowers the flavor of the cake. I used it on yellow cake, and I ended up scraping off most of the frosting so I could taste the actual cake. Still, the frosting itself is wonderful.
Loved it. Easy as can be too! Following other's suggestions, I made a half batch and had PLENTY to generously frost a 2 -ayer 9" cake. This is a keeper.
Very good, creamy frosting. I would suggest adding the cocoa powder a little at a time - I only used half of the suggested amount and the frosting was plenty rich.
Very good recipe! I have made this several times and it really does make a huge amount. I used one-fourth of a recip and easily frosted 8 cupcakes plus most of a 9X9 square cake. Also have made it with almond milk and extract for a nice subtle chocolate-almond flavor.
OMG. Best frosting that I have ever had! I made this exactly the way the recipe says to. I cut the recipe in half and it covered a 9x13 inch cake perfectly. I put this frosting on a chocolate cake (crazy cake from this website) for my son's 2nd birthday. Hands down, it was the best cake and frosting ever!
This frosting is RICH, but it is sooo good, definitely for chocolate lovers! It does taste somewhat cocoa-ey, but I think that's the point. 5 stars!
This recipe is WAY too sweet. All the measurements are totally non-correspondent and do not work well together. Also, much too liquidy.
Great recipe and very easy to make. You can adjust everything and it still comes out wonderful. I changed the amount of sugar and milk to my desire sweetness and consistency. I reduced cocoa and added a little bit of fine coffee powder to make mocha cream. It's very tasty and easy to spread on a cake! This is the best and easy butter cream recipe.
Wonderful! I scaled it down to 8 servings and thoroughly enjoyed my 9x13" pan of brownies!! Will make again and again!
This turned out so great! The recipe is very easy and is basically fool-proof. The only change I made was to use heavy cream instead of milk. I figured if I was going to die and go to heaven I may as well go fully loaded.
Perfect! There's a lot of powdered sugar/cocoa dust flying around when you make this but its worth the trouble to clean up. I didn't use quite as much sugar (maybe 8 cups) and I used almond milk since I'm lactose intolerant. I iced Cream Filled Cupcakes (by Grace W.) which were delicious also. My husband says its the best cupcake he's ever had - way better than the fancy cupcake store we go to.
My frosting attempts never turn out well-- and this one was absolutely perfect. I even accidentally just put all the ingredients in the bowl at the same time and used the hand mixer and it came out great. I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amount to frost a 9 x 13 cake.
recipe is extremely chocolaty and creamy. I made half the recipe which was enough, but I did add the 1/2 cup of milk to create more of a smooth and creamy and not so dry frosting. It was yummy!
Good texture, but not chocolately enough for me. I halfed the recipe for two dozen cupcakes. Maybe halving it threw the ratios off, but I still used more cocoa than was required.
Fantastic recipe! Very easy. I cut the recipe in half and had the perfect amount for a 2 layer 9" round cake. I even had a lot left over.
The name says it all---very rich and chocolatey! I will definitely use this frosting again. I didn't measure the milk--I just added it in small amounts alternately with the dry ingredients until I got the consistency I wanted. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Absolutely decadent, and so easy to make. I usually cut the recipe in half for a 13 x 9 cake, and have some leftover, which never goes to waste. Believe it or not I cut it up to look like fudge and it gets rave reviews. Just superb!
excellent frosting. It makes to much so I decreased it to half and it was plenty for a 2 layer cake plus had some still left over. Would be best though if put in the fridge after the cake was frosted. Got alittle soft sitting on the counter for a few hours.
I will echo the good reviews, I just wanted to add that you can use this recipe as a base for really any flavor, not JUST chocolate. The first time I made it, I tasted it before adding the cocoa (I don't like chocolate, but I was baking for a friend, and so wanted to make sure it was good), and it was divine. You could leave it plain for a buttercream, or add another flavor. Tonight I'm making strawberry cupcakes, so I might add some strawberry extract to it.
This is THE best chocolate frosting. I use it for all of my chocolate cakes. It is a great filling for stacked cakes too.
I halved the recipe and had more than enough for a two-layer 8" round cake. It was FANTASTIC! It was a rich, smooth chocolate.
Good frosting recipe and simple! Mine came out too thin to frost cupcakes, I think the milk was too much. BUt I just added more sugar and cocoa powder. My butter also was too soft, which made it break down too much as it was beating. Next time Ill make sure its still firm but soft. Good recipe, Ill make again. THanks!
I usually make buttercream frosting, but I really loved the milkiness of this recipe! So creamy yet splendid for piping up large mounds of frosting - Used on Chocolate-Zucchini Cupcakes from this site.
This is the best frosting I have ever made. It should get 10 stars. I used others advice and added 1/2 cup of milk and then added extra a tablespoon at a time. It was ready to spead when spoon was pulled away and it did not make stiff peaks. I halved the recipe and used on a cake I had made in a 9x13 pan and had frosting left over. I put it in the frig and used it a couple of days later. All I had to do was put it in the microwave and stir it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This frosting is awesome! Very chocolatey, but delicious. It stays creamy, instead of hardening up like some homemade frostings do. Next time I think I'd add almond extract instead of the vanilla - that would make it even more delicious!
Awesome frosting, went perfectly with my homemade devil's food cake. I will never buy canned frosting again!
This was too sweet for my preference. It is a good frosting, and it is easy to work with, but was just too sweet for me.
Excellent recipe! 1/4 recipe covers and fills a 2-layer 6" cake. I used 3tbs of half&half instead of milk; worked perfectly.
This is an outstanding, smooth chocolate frosting recipe. I modified the servings to 16 (half the original recipe) and it was more than adequate to frost a two-layer, nine-inch cake.
YUM! Very smooth and creamy. Makes a ton! This frosting also freezes very well and keeps well in the fridge.
Love it! The original recipe is huge. I paired it down a lot. 1/2 cup of butter, 2 cups confec. sugar, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup milk. Voila! Perfect. Thanks Amy!
Nice icing to work with. Had no problems putting it together... just followed the directions. I did end up adding about 2 Tbs milk to get it to the Constancy that I was looking for. Made just half the recipe for just the outsides of a 3 layer, 9" cake and had about a cup left over. This already went into my recipe box for future cakes!***UPDATE*** This with the "Black Magic Cake" made a dessert that was that was to die for! Perfect combination with a cream cheese filling in between the layers.. Mmmmm!!
I was so excited to use this for a chocolate cake I was making, my first chocolate cake from scratch, but it did not go over well. My stomach hurts from eating this stuff. The proportions did not work for me. It was too bitter and too sweet all at the same time. HORRIBLE!
So simple and perfect! I used this on cupcakes and it was the perfect texture and flavor. I have sworn off premade chocolate frosting for life!
mabye I made a mistake while making it, I followed all the directions all the ingridients were right...Mixed it for 15 mins......and it came out as big chunks of chocolate butter.......
Very good. Might try substituting peppermint extract for the vanilla next time. Perfect for chocolate cake. Halved the recipe as suggested and it was plenty for the top of a 9x13 cake.
This frosting was amazing!! it is the best frosting i have ever tasted! made it exactly as stated except halved the recipe. this still made more than enough frosting to frost 2 9 inch single layer cakes very generously.
I will never use another recipe besides this one again.....I cut the recipe in half and added the milk one table spoon at a time and it is death by chocolate......
amazing stuff! I didn't use as much sugar as it calls for, but it was still amazing! Very mousse-like.
I scaled this down a lot to frost cupcakes. I sifted the powdered sugar and cocoa into the creamed butter. I found this frosting easy to beat together with a nice consistency. The texture was noticeably smooth, fluffy and held up nicely when piping onto to the cupcakes. It has a creamy, rich, chocolate-y flavor while not overly sweet. This frosting was easy to pipe onto the cupcakes. I was able to add garnishes on top of the frosting without it sinking or melting. This paired perfectly with “Peanut Butter Cupcakes,” from this website. This is a great frosting recipe and one I will keep in mind to use again for other desserts.
I halved this recipe & it was enough to frost a two layer 9" cake & a dozen cupcakes.
Oh me, Oh my, such wonderful frosting. It makes my inner chocoholic blissed out. I added this frosting to the Best Brownies by Angie and was in chocolate heaven. Thank you again AMY :-)
