Description
Fluffy, creamy, and perfectly smooth. This chocolatey buttercream is perfect for stacking, filling, coating, and piping! This recipe yields a little more than 3 cups of frosting, which is enough to decorate a mini cake, 12 cupcakes, or a small layer cake. Multiply the recipe as needed.
Ingredients
1/2 C. Unsalted butter
1/2 C. All-vegetable shortening
5 Tbsp Heavy whipping cream
3 3/4 C. (1 lb) Powdered sugar
1/3 C. Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 Tbsp Pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Sift together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
2. Cream together the butter and shortening on medium to medium-high for 5 minutes.
3. Pause mixing to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then resume mixing for another 5 minutes.
4. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and pinch of salt and mix on low for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for 3 more minutes until completely smooth.
5. Shift the mixing speed to the lowest setting, and very slowly add the powdered sugar.
6. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, mix on low or “stir” setting for several minutes until smooth or stir by hand by pressing the the frosting against the side of the bowl using a spatula to eliminate air bubbles.
Notes
- Depending on how you are using the frosting, you may need it more firm or more soft. If you need it more firm, add 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar at a time until you’ve reached the desired consistency. If you need it softer, add 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream in the same way.
- Have some vanilla buttercream you need to make into chocolate? No problem! Put the vanilla buttercream in the mixer, sift in the cocoa powder and mix on low for several minutes until combined!
- Take your time with creaming the ingredients together and adding the sugar. Adding the sugar slowly helps to avoid clumps and ensure a smooth finish!
- This recipe yields a little more than 3 cups of frosting, which is enough to decorate a mini cake, 12 cupcakes, or a small layer cake. Multiply the recipe as needed.
- I double this recipe to stack, fill, crumb coat, and final coat a 4 layer 6″ cake. I triple the recipe if I plan on adding piping decorations to the cake.
- Prep Time: 20 Min
- Category: Frosting
Keywords: Frosting, buttercream, chocolate buttercream, cake frosting, cake, chocolate frosting