This is my all-time favorite chocolate frosting recipe, and I think that once you try it it’ll be yours, too! This is a simple chocolate frosting that needs just 6 ingredients — it will easily frost a 2 layer 8″ or 9″ cake or generously ice a dozen cupcakes!
I’ve been using this chocolate frosting recipe for a while, but I’ve never shared it on its own yet. You may have spied it on my favorite chocolate cake, vanilla cupcakes, or my marble cake, and in the picture above it’s covering a cake that I’ll be sharing with you on Wednesday (can you guess the flavor!?).
This is my favorite chocolate frosting because it’s so incredibly smooth and silky thanks to the use of real melted chocolate (rather than cocoa powder) and two tablespoons of heavy cream.
Whipping the heavy cream into the frosting gives it an incredibly light texture that keeps this luxuriously rich chocolate frosting from feeling too heavy. Instead, it’s silky smooth and melts in your mouth, and the hardest part about making it is mustering up the willpower to keep from eating it all with a spoon before it makes it onto your cake or cupcakes!
Because we’re using melted chocolate in this recipe you will have to pay careful attention to the temperature of the chocolate (don’t worry, no actual thermometer is required), and I offer some tips below on how to make chocolate frosting using melted chocolate.
While I’ve written this recipe using semisweet chocolate bars, I also include tips on how to make the frosting using chocolate chips, instead. I’ve made this frosting both ways plenty of times and the frosting always tastes great regardless of which I use.
Tips on How to Make Chocolate Frosting:
- Be sure to coarsely cut the chocolate into pieces that are roughly the same size. When microwaving (regardless of whether you are using chocolate bars or chocolate chips), pause to stir your chocolate frequently (every 15 seconds), otherwise the chocolate can become too hot and seize.
- Allow your chocolate to cool at least 10 or 15 minutes before adding it to your butter. If it’s too hot, it will melt the butter and the sugar and you’ll just have a runny mess on your hands!
- Your butter should be at room temperature. If it’s too cold, some of your chocolate will harden as your ingredients are being combined and you will have chocolate pieces in your frosting rather than a smooth chocolate frosting.
- This recipe calls for unsalted butter (and you can read my post on salted vs unsalted butter to better understand why), but if you only have salted butter on hand you can still make this chocolate frosting, just leave out the salt that the recipe calls for.
This chocolate frosting recipe will frost one 8″ or 9″ 2-layer cake or will generously frost 12 cupcakes (see above photo of my vanilla cupcakes). If you’re more sparing with your frosting you could frost 2 dozen cupcakes.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate** chopped into small pieces of roughly the same size (170g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (226g)
- 2 cups powdered sugar (320g)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt***
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream (30ml)
Instructions
- Place your chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well. Return chocolate to microwave and heat for another 15 seconds and stir again. Continue heating chocolate for 15 seconds, stirring after each, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Allow chocolate to cool for at least 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want chocolate to cool so that it is not hot to the touch, otherwise it will melt your butter and sugar and the frosting will not turn out.
- While the chocolate is cooling, place butter in a separate bowl and use a stand mixer or electric mixer to beat until creamy.
- Add melted, cooled chocolate and stir well.
- Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl occasionally so that ingredients are well combined.
- Sprinkle in salt and vanilla extract, stir well.
- With mixer on low, gradually add heavy cream to frosting. Gradually increase speed to high and beat for 30 seconds.
- Pipe or spread frosting onto prepared, cooled baked good.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN IT:
Sharon
Hi Sam, now that I have tried your cheesecake, oatmeal cookies & the worst chocolate chip cookies (to die for), I am going to attempt to make your vanilla cake. I love Dunkin Hines milk chocolate frosting – which one of your frosting recipes is most like that one? Please let me know your thoughts.
Sam
Hi Sharon! I think this chocolate frosting is probably the closest. 🙂
Lori
Can this be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for a few days?
Sam
Sure thing! You will just want to let it come to room temperature to make it easier to work with and maybe stir it briefly if needed. 🙂
Kimberly
If this question has been asked and answered, I apologize for asking again. Can milk chocolate chips be used instead of semi-sweet chocolate? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Kimberly! You can use milk chocolate it will just be sweeter. 🙂
Jacob
The frosting tastes amazing but some of the chocolate hardened after I added it to the butter. I might have let it cool too long, I didn’t want to melt the butter or sugar. I ended up with more of a chocolate chip type frosting but it’s still excellent on the vanilla cake recipe!
Sam
Hi Jacob! I’m glad you still enjoyed it! Make sure your butter is at room temperature next time to ensure your chocolate doesn’t harden when added. 🙂
Lenore Scully
I don’t have heavy cream, can I use milk or almond milk instead?
Sam
Hi Lenore! I would try the milk, but you will need less of it here. 🙂
Rach
Beautiful and delicious, perfect consistency and absolutely plenty of frosting for 2 9” rounds.
Sarah
I’ve never commented on here before, but just had to on this one, in regards to the previous comment about this recipe not being enough to ice a full cake. I made the recipe exactly as written and had plenty to frost two 9″ layers, with enough left over for adequate sampling 🙂
Kerri Egan
Can you leave out the chocolate for a vanilla buttercream frosting? I want to frost my cake white. Also, is it good for piping?
Sam
Hi Kerri! See my vanilla buttercream frosting for making this vanilla, and yes both of these pipe well. 🙂
Janice Rose
Tastes good but cannot believe you ever tried to ice a whole cake with this. No way is there enough icing to do that.
Sam
Glad you enjoyed, Jancie! The cake in the photos was entirely iced with a single batch of this frosting (it’s my vanilla cake).
Sugar Spun Run
I am sorry that you did not have enough to frost your cake with just one batch. I can use one batch to frost a 2 layer 8″ or 9″ cake. Regardless, I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, Janice! 🙂
Daniela Tudoran
Fantastic recipe and easy to make. I used good 60% semisweet chocolate and it was fabulous. Thanks!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Daniela! 🙂
Karen
I like so many of your recipes!!
Thank you! Merry Christmas
Tamar
Hi Sam, excited to try this receipe for my sons birthday cake. I have MINI semi sweet chocolate chips on hand. Would i use 1 cup for those as well?
Sam
Hi Tamar! That should work just fine. 🙂
Tamar
awesome. Thank you so much!
Suzanne
Usually love your recipes but greasy icing is not my thing. This chocolate frosting was creamy but it was like licking a stick of butter, I don’t know what I was thinking making a recipe with so much butter proportionally. I was very disappointed and scraped off the icing once I tasted it on the cupcakes.
Sam
Disappointed to hear this, Suzanne. Could the chocolate have been too hot when it was added? That could cause a greasy icing that seemed too buttery. I truly LOVE this recipe, so I’m so disappointed you didn’t have the same result! 🙁
Suzanne
No I cooled the chocolate, and the consistency was beautiful but thank you.
Shelly
This was THE most amazing recipe. Love the slight taste of the butter coming through. Like Italian meringue buttercream in that it was not overly sweet. Unsure why others are getting a skewed end result.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Shelly! 🙂