Tips and Tricks for the Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting – silky smooth and delicious, this chocolate buttercream will be a new favorite in no time!
The goal for your chocolate buttercream should be a smooth, silky, easily spreadable consistency. It’s this amazing consistency that makes smoothing out your chocolate buttercream while decorating so much easier. Compared to other chocolate buttercream recipes I’ve tried, this is the smoothest and tastiest one around!
How to Make Chocolate Buttercream: Video Tutorial
STEP 1: SIFT YOUR POWDERED SUGAR
First things first – sift your powdered sugar! I know it adds a little time to the process, but it’s worth every extra second. It really is so crucial to making sure your chocolate buttercream is silky smooth.
You’ll first measure your powdered sugar and then whisk it through a mesh strainer to get a super fine granule. I think this is the fastest, easiest way to sift powdered sugar. Here is a great option for sifters from Orson Gygi.
Promise me you won’t skip this step!
STEP 2: USE SEMI-COLD BUTTER
I wish I could shout this one out to the world! Using semi-cold butter is key to ensuring your chocolate buttercream actually holds well and doesn’t fall from your spatula or off your cake. I recommend taking the butter out of your fridge about 30 minutes prior to making your buttercream. The butter should still be cold to the touch, but you’ll be able to make a slight imprint with your finger.
If the butter still feels too cold, just cut it into cubes and add to your mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment.
We’re going to let the mixer soften the butter for us, without the butter getting too warm. It’s when the butter is too warm that it creates major problems for our chocolate buttercream.
Run the mixer at medium speed for about two minutes to beat the butter. You’ll notice it gets lighter in color and looks fluffy and smooth. This is perfect. Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl and mix again for another 30 to 60 seconds.
STEP 3: HEAT YOUR CREAM AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS
While the butter is beating, combine your cream and chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high, using 30-second intervals. Stir until smooth.
The heavy whipping cream is the star of the show here! I use it in all of my buttercream recipes and it’s such a game-changer. A few tablespoons will do unless otherwise stated in my recipes.
Once the cream and chocolate are well mixed and silky smooth, slowly add the mixture to the butter while the mixer is on medium speed.
STEP 4: ADD THE POWDERED SUGAR
You’ll now want to turn your mixer to low speed. We’re going to gradually add our powdered sugar, about a half cup at a time. This tip just helps you make less of a mess.
Once you’ve added the powdered sugar, add a pinch of salt and some vanilla.
STEP 5: BEAT THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FOR FIVE MINUTES
With your heavy whipping cream added, it’s time for another critical step to making the best chocolate buttercream. Turn your mixer to medium-high speed and beat the buttercream for five minutes.
After five minutes is up, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for another minute or so.
STEP 6: MIX THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM BY HAND
You’ll notice your chocolate buttercream frosting lightens in color quite a bit as you beat it, but it will also darken after it sits out a bit. But it’s not quite ready to add to your cake yet.
The final step to making the best chocolate buttercream is actually mixing your frosting by hand. Grab a spatula or big wooden spoon and stir the frosting for a few minutes. You’re trying to push out the air that the electric mixer created. Doing this will help so that you don’t have all the air pockets (holes) in your frosting while you smooth the sides with your scraper.
INGREDIENTS
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- 2 cups unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 5 cups powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 10 oz. good quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
How to Make the Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- In a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high until light and fluffy.
- Heat the heavy cream and chocolate on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and heat for another 30 seconds. Continue until you’ve made a ganache.
- With the mixer on medium speed, gradually stream in the melted chocolate ganache. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat on low speed for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla and salt and beat until combined.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Frost the cake right away, or, if you cover and use later, make sure to mix with a rubber spatula right before applying it to the cake to get rid of air bubbles.
Other Tutorials You’ll Love
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 5 cups powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 10 oz. good quality, semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high until light and fluffy.
- Heat the cream and chocolate chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir and heat again for 30 more seconds. Do this until you've made a silky, smooth ganache.
- With the mixer on medium speed, gradually stream in the chocolate ganache. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat on low speed for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla and salt and beat until combined.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for another 5 minutes.
- Frost cake right away, or, if you cover and use later, make sure to mix with a rubber spatula right before applying to the cake to get rid of air bubbles.
Notes
- Apply a thin layer of the chocolate frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. Place the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill and set the crumb coat.
- Continue to frost the cake once the crumb coat is set.
And there you have it! The best chocolate buttercream frosting ever with an amazingly subtle vanilla flavor!
I can’t wait for you to try this chocolate buttercream frosting on everything!
xx,
Courtney
If the chocolate turns into chips when I add it to the butter does that mean I didn’t wait long enough for the chocolate to cool? Or was the butter too cold?
Hello Courtney,
I’ve read this about 10 times and it doesn’t say in your steps how to combine the chocolate to the frosting, or even if you melt it or use powered coco? Needing to make this but I’m a little confused 🤷🏻♀️.
– S
It says in the ingredient section to chop and melt the chocolate and let it cool. In the second step it tells you to stream it into the butter. Did you read the instructions at the bottom?
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe, I can’t wait to try it.
Cheers
Hi! How much frosting does the recipe make? And what piping tip did you use to decorate around the outside of the cake? Thank you
6 cups.
I have a kitchen aid stand mixer. What number setting for medium high?
Also, can I use this for frosting cupcakes?
Thank you.
PS love the basic course online I enrolled in but haven’t used it yet. LOL!
Medium high would be a 6 or 8. And yes the frosting is perfect for cupcakes!
Word to the wise – do NOT melt and cool your chocolate chips beforehand as it suggests in the recipe ingredients. Courtney – it’d probably be a good idea to remove that part and just leave it as “10 oz chopped chocolate”. Otherwise in the actual recipe, you’ll be reheating the melted cooled chocolate with cream and it’ll get too runny and hot to add to the whipped butter. This was really confusing!
The recipe is fast and easy! I loved your tutorial as well.
For anyone who hasn’t worked with melting chocolate it is improtant to keep the temp of your chocolate chips to 95F so the chocolate takes more time to incorporate into heavy cream making the gnash and not overheating the frosting when you add it to the recipe. I added the sifted powdered sugar before I added the gnash so as to have more cool product to work with when the warm gnash was added and this recipe turned out amazing.
Kent
Can I swap the dark chocolate with a white chocolate to keep the frosting white?
You bet!
The recipe is fast and easy! I loved your tutorial as well.
Kent
Can I make this two days in advance?
Yes keep in the fridge.
This frosting is way too sweet. I’m used to making Swiss Meringue buttercream which is not too sweet and light as a cloud. It is much easier to frost a cake with, tho, because it’s much denser and more stable.
Do you have online instructional videos? I am a grandma who would love to learn to bake and decorate cakes for my grandkids. Your buttercream frosting recipes sound delightfully delicious😊
I have a cake camp that you can sign up for and watch whenever you want! https://shop.cakebycourtney.com/pages/ws-online-cake-classes
No way. Where has this been all my life? This is THE BEST recipe out there. Smooth, velvety, rich, spreadable/pipeable, and delicious! Perfection!!
Thank you!!
Every single time I have tried to make this buttercream, I have wasted chocolate. When I melt the chocolate and cream together, it ALWAYS separates and gets thick and greasy. What the heck am I doing wrong? I’m not burning it because I’ve tried different bowls and microwaving for less intervals. Please help!