Everyone needs a “go-to” chocolate frosting and this is now mine! One of the most popular recipes on Our Best Bites is this vanilla Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling. Its velvety smooth texture combined with the not-so-sugary bite is perhaps the perfect thing on top of almost any cake or cupcake. One of the most commonly asked questions on that post is, “Where’s the chocolate version??!!” I experimented a lot with adding chocolate to that recipe without much luck. I came up with a lot of things that tasted amazing, but there were always slight problems with the consistency. I knew I had seen similar recipes in chocolate before but I couldn’t seem to find one until one of you dear readers pointed me to a recipe on Sugar Plum. Sure enough, it was just what I was in search of! I adapted the recipe slightly by using plain ol’ salted butter and omitting added salt. And then I added extra chocolate to get a richer color and flavor. Once you try this chocolate frosting you’ll be hooked!
Ingredient Notes
- Sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Milk
- Butter
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chocolate Frosting
- The recipe starts by cooking flour, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a sauce pan until it thickens, much like the first step in the beloved white frosting. You’ll strain the mixture so you don’t end up with icky flour lumps in your frosting, because who wants icky flour lumps in their frosting??
- While that mixture is cooling off, melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. I found this to be the key to having the frosting remain stable- the melted chocolate seems to bind it. Then we whip real butter with our chilled chocolate mixture until it’s light and fluffy.
- At this point it’s much like the results of just adding cocoa powder to the white frosting. But the secret is adding in the melted chocolate. Isn’t chocolate always the secret?? Whip that up and then give it a taste. If you want a richer chocolate flavor just add more cocoa powder. I added about 4 Tablespoons extra to get my frosting looking and tasting like this (I also found the color of the frosting darkened as it sat). It pipes beautifully, and tastes amazing!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store unused frosting in fridge and bring to room temperature before using again. If needed, beat with an electric beater before using.
- Note that the longer this frosting sits, the darker it appears. For darker, more intense flavor, use a chocolate chip with a higher cocoa content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! There is enough here to generously frost 24 cupcakes or to frost and fill an 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake.
Check out this post on How to Frost Cupcakes to help you achieve the perfect cupcake!
Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup real butter softened
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
- Optional: Additional cocoa powder as needed
Instructions
- Melt your chocolate chips if you haven’t already and set aside to cool. You obviously don’t want it so cool that it hardens, but you can get it close to room temperature and still have it be soft and stir-able.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, and milk; bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Boil 1-3 minutes or until thickened like a thinned pudding. Remove pan from heat and strain mixture into a small bowl. Cool completely in the refrigerator or freezer.
- When chocolate flour mixture is cooled, beat the butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until well combined fluffy, about 1 minute. Finally add in melted chocolate and beat again until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. If desired, add additional cocoa powder to taste, up to 4 tablespoons more. Spread or pipe frosting on to cupcakes or cake.
- Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes or to frost and fill an 8 or 9 inch round 2-layer cake.
Questions & Reviews
I tried making it for a second time to make sure it wasn't pure luck that it turned out perfect the first time, and I did kind of ruined it.. the consistency was still perfect but I added a little more cocoa powder and it killed the taste for me, my husband still loves it but I will use half of the cocoa it asks for next time just to be on the safe side.
Yes, you could refrigerate overnight, but it would be better to just leave them at room temp.
I would really like to make the cream filled cupcakes with this frosting for a baby shower in a few days. I'd love to make them the night before the event. Can I refrigerate them overnight?
This frosting turned out so great! I made it to top some chocolate strawberry filled cupcakes. I used bittersweet ghiradelli chocolate chips. It piped beautifully. I think this will be my go to chocolate frosting.
I made this frosting over the weekend, I don't have a stand mixer so I was using a hand mixer. I don't know if anyone else has had this happen but when i started mixing the butter to the mixture it got all wierd clumpy like the butter was in tiny balls or something. I was really worried that it wasn't going to turn out until I poured in the melted chocolate and BAM! Amazing Chocolate frosting! I wowed everyone with it!
I mixed-up the measurements for flour and sugar. With the flour, I used the measurements for sugar, and visa versa. 🙁
I'm a little confused Beth- what did you do wrong? You obviously made a mistake when making the recipe, right? This is chocolate frosting we're talking about- so yes, of course it's sweet! lol
Oh, I really screwed this up this morning for my husband's birthday. I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so I thought it was probably just my taste buds.
I mixed-up the measurements for flour and sugar and created the most bitter frosting known to man. My husband has been sweet about it, but it is depressing to put so much effort into a special homemade birthday cake and then, foul it up with one tiny mistake!
His family WAS NOT as sweet as he was, though. 🙁 They kept asking me what was wrong with it, and at that point, I didn't have any idea. A look over the recipe, after they left our home, revealed my problem.
Please tell me the regular version is sweet? I loved the consistency of it, so I'm not willing to give up on it for the next go 'round.
You should be able to beat it right in at the very end. If you are adding something really juicy, I'd just strain part of the liquid out of it before adding so you have a more concentrated fruit mixture.
Aaah…if I was to add maybe strawberry puree into that recipe, how would you suggest modifying it so the consistency wouldn't be too watery?
Suzuki- so many of the main ingredients are chocolate so I'm not sure you'd have much luck converting it to strawberry! You can definitely add fresh berries to this swiss buttercream though:
https://ourbestbites.com/2010/03/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream.html
I love the consistency of this frosting! So fluffy! Thank you so much for sharing. I've been trying to find a fluffy strawberry frosting that uses fresh strawberries. Is there anyway to convert this recipe into a fresh strawberry frosting?
I am a terrible cook and a worse baker.. but with your great easy instructions my frosting came out perfect! and it was absolutely the most delicious I have ever tried!! I love cupcakes but I hate trying to make them because the frosting ALWAYS disappoints me no matter how many good reviews it has.. so I am happy I found your cute blog and it took me about 2 weeks to go for it worrying it would be another hearth break or too hard for my non-existent skills but I am never EVER even bothering buying chocolate frosted cupcakes anymore.. I can make the best thanks to you! 😀
I'm not sure Ruby, I've never tried freezing it. If you do, let us know how it turns out!
Hello,
Does this frosting freeze well?
Thanks,
Ruby
OMG thank you so much for posting this! I cannot wait to try it!
Amazing Chocolate Frosting!!! I usually do make the white frosting with the cooked flour mixture and always wanted to try chocolate but didn't want to play around with it myself. So happy to have found this! Buttercream is too sweet for me so this one is perfect — not too sweet and creamy too.
Thanks!
Amy
Sara, this was amazing! I used this to frost your cream filled cupcakes in lieu of the ganache (sp?) and it was a big hit! Everyone thought they were bakery made :).
"[…] due to the fact that actual melted chocolate is also beaten in!). The recipe is from Our Best Bites. And guess what? There is a vanilla version […]"
http://lisa-is-hungry.blogspot.com/2010/06/double-dose-of-chocolate.html
I just tried this and it was sooo delicious! I ran out of milk so I subbed in coffee creamer diluted with water (sounds a little gross, but it was the best I could do) and the frosting still turned out well. It has a wonderful consistency for piping and its DELICIOUS! =D I honestly can't wait to try to vanilla version. Love love love, Lisa@ lisa-is-hungry.
Connie, my guess is that it will be just fine because once you beat it, it will thin out. If it were me, I'd probably give it a shot still, but I have no guarantee since I can't see what yours looks like!
I'm making this today. My flour mixture is cooling now, but it's so much thicker than yours, I couldn't get it to go through the strainer, and I'm wondering if I've ruined it. Do you think I over cooked it? I pulled it off the stove the second it started to thicken, but it got thick so fast, any suggestions?
Connie
I tried this frosting over the weekend. It was so light and smooth. I posted pictures of what I put it on at my blog. Thanks for the recipe.
Yummy! Made it yesterday and it is the perfect compliment to a cupcake. It provides the perfect creamy sweetness you want. I used milk chocolate chips (all I had) and it turned out great.
Made this yesterday and it turned out like a dream! I wanted to just eat it with a spoon! I used it on cupcakes and had quite a few leftover. They sat on the counter overnight and the frosting was just as soft and lovely as the day before. Thanks!
I had seen the white version of this frosting before and really wanted to try it but I have always been more of a fan of white/yellow cake with chocolate frosting so I was so happy to see this version… made it tonight and I love it! Thanks!
Made this yesterday and it was great! I love how it isn't a sweet as the powdered sugar kinds. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Sorry Krista, that's a typo. The original recipe called for unsalted butter and additional salt, but I omitted the salt because I used regular salted butter instead. So no need to add salt 🙂
hello there 🙂
I was just wondering, if I only have unsalted butter – how much salt am I supposed to add. I asked around and people told me 1/4 tsp salt for 1/2 unsalted butter is the right amount. Is it enough or too much salt for this recipe? It would mean 1/2 tsp salt for this recipe, right?
hey, sara… in the directions you mention salt, but it's not in the ingredient list. how much salt does it take?
Woohoo! I am so excited to try this one. I have been waiting for this!
I tried this recipe tonight with yellow cake cupcakes! Delicious! Thanks so much!! It turned out great! Also the first time I tried flour frostings!