This Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting goes along with this Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake. That recipe card covers both, but this frosting is just too good to not have it’s own post! It would be great on so many different cakes or cupcakes. Don’t be turned off by the number of steps here. This recipe is originally from Cook’s Illustrated, which means every step and ingredient serves a specific purpose in turning out the most delicious end result! I’m so glad I stuck with the recipe and made this frosting. It’s more labor intensive than beating some butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder together but it’s sooo worth it. The flavor is so perfect. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, so the great chocolate flavor really shines through. You’re going to come back to this one again and again, I promise!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Semisweet chocolate – Chocolate chips work great, but so would a chopped up chocolate bar.
- Unsalted butter – Use real, unsalted butter. The butter in this recipe gets cooked with sugar. Although you could probably use salted butter, the salt at that step could affect the way the sugar dissolves. Adding it at the end helps highlight the chocolate flavor as well, so unsalted butter is preferred!
- Granulated sugar
- Light corn syrup – Like Karo brand. This is not high-fructose corn syrup, by the way. It’s mostly glucose and helps prevent sugar crystals from forming. You’ll find it on the baking aisle near the other syrups.
- Vanilla extract
- Table salt
- Heavy cream
How to Make Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting
- Start by melting some chocolate. The glass bowl you see in the pictures is sitting on top of a pan of simmering water. After the chocolate is melted, set the bowl aside and dump out the water that was in the pan. Now you’ve already got a warm pan for the next step (butter melting). Remember that when you read the recipe and it tells you to use 2 pans. I’m all about one less dish to
have sitting in my sink for dayswash. - To the melted butter, you’ll add a little corn syrup, vanilla, and granulated sugar. As soon as it’s all melted together and the sugar is dissolved, add it to a large bowl along with the chocolate. The beautiful, glorious, melted chocolate. And also some heavy cream. You know, for good measure.
- You’ll stir this all together and have sort of a chocolate sauce consistency. Place your bowl in a bowl of ice to bring the temperature down, and just keep stirring until the mixture starts hardening against the side of the bowl. Then you can pop the paddle attachment on your mixer and start whipping. Magically it turns thick and fluffy.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished frosting in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes then rewhip briefly before using.
- Don’t overcook your sugar mixture! Keep the heat low and remove it from heat as soon as you don’t see sugar crystals.
- If you jumped the gun and didn’t cool your frosting mixture enough, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and whip again!
- Note that the texture of this frosting is so light and soft, and whippy, that this frosting would probably be best for slathering- like smeared all over a cake, or just plopped on top of cupcakes, as opposed to piping. If you’re looking for a good chocolate icing for piping- try this Chocolate Frosting!
Frequently Asked Questions
For sure! Just store it in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and then rewhip to restore texture before using.
This recipe is best for semi-sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate will result in a softer, sweeter frosting (likely overly sweet) with a less deep chocolate flavor. White chocolate is mostly sugar and cocoa butter, with no cocoa solids, so it melts and behaves quite differently than semisweet chocolate. I would not expect the frosting to turn out well at all with white chocolate!
Regular whipping cream would be an ok substitution, but your frosting may not whip up as firmly. I would not use milk.
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped (I measured 16 ounces chocolate chips on a kitchen scale, it’s a teeny bit more than 2 ½ cups.)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoons table salt
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy cream
Instructions
- Melt Chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of stand mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1-2 minutes (frosting should be 70℉). Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.
Notes
- Store finished frosting in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes then rewhip briefly before using.
- Don’t overcook your sugar mixture! Keep the heat low and remove it from heat as soon as you don’t see sugar crystals.
- If you jumped the gun and didn’t cool your frosting mixture enough, or it just seems a little too soft, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and whip again!
- Note that the texture of this frosting is so light and soft, and whippy, that this frosting would probably be best for slathering- like smeared all over a cake, or just plopped on top of cupcakes, as opposed to piping. If you’re looking for a good chocolate icing for piping- try this Chocolate Frosting!
Questions & Reviews
Seriously, are you totally trying to sabatoge my diet??? Hee hee, I am also more of a yellow cake fan, but this is making my mouth water.
Awesome! Just the other day, I made a chocolate cake and I was looking for a recipe for chocolate frosting that uses melted chocolate chips and of course, couldn’t find one. I knew I could count on you! 😉
I just read somewhere not to use chocolate chips, cause it is different from semi sweet chocolate. I am guessing it is in the form of bars. So I need to go back to the store to look for it.
I know I’m way late but going to post anyway… The reason for “no chocolate chips” is they can have a wax like coating to keep them from sticking together. That being said, I have often used chocolate chips and *I’ve* never had a problem. I don’t cook gourmet stuff but in something like frosting it should be fine. The concern would be with chocolate that needs tempering (truffles, chocolate coated anything when you want a snap when you bite into it) and even then, my husband has made chocolates and had no problems with the chips.
I just laughed so hard while reading this because my dishes would also just end up sitting in the sink for days.
It looks like this originally came from the March 2006 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. With your recommendation, I believe I will give it a try. thanks!
Thanks Holly- my issue is a “Best Of” so they obviously collect recipes from different issues. Try it, you’ll love it!
I’m more of a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This recipe makes me want to make one, NOW! I’m also a huge fan of Cooks Illustrated.
I agree with you, yellow cake with chocolate frosting is where it’s at! Can’t wait to try this on it!
So girls, in this same recipe book, on the very next page, is a recipe for their ultimate yellow cake with “no fail chocolate frosting”. I literally spend HOURS staring at both recipes trying to decide which to make. The yellow one is totally next on my list!
Ben and Jerrys has a yellow cake batter ice cream with chocolate frosting swirls… Just sayin’!
Sounds like the perfect cake!
No lie, yellow cake with chocolate frosting is such a tradition in my family, it’s what my sister and her husband had for their wedding cake. Best cake ever!
This looks great and I will definitely be trying it out, but I’ve got a question for you. I recently whipped up a red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting (of course!) i assembled my layers with frosting between each. By the time the cake reached its final destination it was leaning to right! The layers were sliding because of the frosting! The layers were completely cooled. . .any tips on preventing this? Maybe a way to make stiffer frosting. . .
This looks amazing! I have yet to find a chocolate frosting recipe that I love. I absolutely know what you mean about searching for chocolate chips in corners of the pantry. There was a blue M&M lodged under our computer desk for a while and I have to admit I thought about eating it often. But don’t worry. I just threw it away. I think . . .
Yummeroos! I think I should make this and dip graham crackers in it! Or apple slices? or, or or maybe strawberries .. forget the cake! LOL 🙂 can’t wait to try this (but I don’t have a paddle attachment for my mixer, what can be used in place of one)
No joke, this would be SO good for dipping stuff into. Graham crackers all the way! When I was a kid my Mom would always make graham cracker chocolate frosting sandwiches for treats. So good! Do you have the whisk attachment? I’m sure that would work fine.
My mom did the same thing- graham crackers and chocolate frosting. I failed my own children as I did not give them that “gourmet” treat as often as my mom did for me!
I’m just wondering how in the world did you refrain from sticking your finger in the chocolate waterfall? The only way I resisted while reading this post is because my finger couldn’t go through the monitor. You have mighty willpower, Sara!
maravilhoso este bolo adorei..bjs
This looks so yummy! But here’s my question: whats the difference in taste/texture between this recipe, and the other chocolate frosting you have on the site (I use that one ALL the time, and everyone LOVES it).
Good question Stacia. I haven’t made that other one in a long time so I think I’d have to see them side by side to make a really good comparison. But I would say this one (in terms of texture) is lighter, more billowy, more whippy? Lol Totally a word! Because it has cream in it, the flavor is very luxurious. I’d say this one is better for smearing on a cake or cupcake whereas the other would be better for piping.