Supersimple Chocolate Frosting
A great chocolate frosting should taste intensely of chocolate, be easy to put together, spread smoothly over a tender cake without tearing it, and hold its shape when piped through a pastry bag. This frosting has all of those characteristics. We made it with both natural and Dutch-process cocoa, and the natural cocoa was the hands-down winner for flavor.
Our guarantee: This frosting will have deep chocolate flavor, hold its shape enough to be piped, and be simple to put together.
- 1 3/4 cups unsweetened natural cocoa
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, very soft
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
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3) At first the mixture will look grainy; continue whisking for a minute. |
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5) Place the butter, salt, and 2 cups strained confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. |
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Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 25 mins.
- Baking time:
- Total time:
- 40 mins.
- Yield:
- 4 1/2 cups, enough to fill and frost a 2 or 3-layer cake, or 24 cupcakes.
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- Recipe comments (17) »
Tips from our bakers
- To make the frosting stiffer, add 1 more cup of sifted confectioners' sugar.
- Never frost a warm cake: the frosting will sink in, or the cake will tear.
- Chilling or freezing cakes or layers for 30 to 45 minutes before frosting will make the job go much easier. See our online class on cake decorating for pointers.
| Nutrition Facts | |
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Serving Size 1/30 recipe (35g)
Servings Per Batch about 30 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 160 | Calories from Fat 90 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 10g |
| Saturated Fat | 6g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 25mg |
| Sodium | 15mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 17g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1g |
| Sugars | 14g |
| Protein | 1g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
03/13/2010
Worked beautifully! Used it for a pirate chest cake I made for my son's b-day party. I, too, cut back on the cocoa because I knew some kids would not like a dark chocolate flavor. It was still plenty chocolatey with 1 1/4 c. of cocoa. I used Trader Joe's unsweetened cocoa powder (not the organic one), and it was perfect. Thank you, KAF, for another winner!
02/13/2010
Excellent and simple. I cut back the amount of chocolate a bit, because I like a lighter more mocha flavor. I used a heat diffuser when heating the heavy cream, which is always helpful when you are multi-tasking. I really beat everything extremely well and it came out wonderful.
10/18/2009
Made this today for my adult son's birthday cake. We found it to be too "chocolate" for our tastes, but a good flavor. I wish I had read the review from the poster who reduced her cocoa before I made this. It came together just as the blog indicated. I think I will try it again, but reduce the cocoa. Do wish we liked it as I now have the frosting and hate to throw it out. Think I will try to freeze it for a later use.
10/10/2009
Really easy to make and great texture for piping onto cupcakes.
09/23/2009
Yum! This frosting is incredible! From some of the reviews I was concerned that it might be too intensely chocolate for my kids (they don't have my dark chocolate-loving gene) so I cut back on the cocoa to 1c. It tasted great! I added the extra cup (plus a little more) of powdered sugar to firm it up. It was still very soft in my kitchen (probably from the reduced cocoa powder), but firmed up after a couple hours in my basement (~65F). Of course it softened up again over time once it was in the warmer part of the house but it lasted for the time of our party. This reminded me of chocolate mousse in texture and taste. Much lighter than heavy fudge-like chocolate frostings (although they are yummy, too!) I think next time I'll add the rest of the cocoa, or just decrease it by 1/4-1/3 cup. This frosting made the cake and it was very easy!
09/20/2009
Great quick and easy frosting. This has become my favorite "go to" chocolate frosting.
09/08/2009
I've made this twice in 2 weeks (late summer is a popular time for birthdays around here!) and everyone loves it. Super rich, incredibly easy.... Betty who? I'm never buying frosting again...
09/01/2009
This is now my 'go to' frosting. It's quick and easy to make, and it tastes fantastic. It also pipes like a dream. While I liked the original recipe, I prefer making two wee changes. I use dutch-process cocoa, and instead of the heavy cream, I use an equal amount of plain greek yogurt. (I only warmed it in the microwave, however, rather than bringing it to a simmer.) Rather than becoming dissolving like your cocoa mixture did, the cocoa/yogurt/sugar becames a thick paste. However once mixed with the butter and the rest of the sugar, it turned out fine, and was extremely smooth (not a bit grainy!). The yogurt adds a tang to the frosting that really works well with the dutch processed cocoa. Thanks for the recipe!
Terrific substitutions for this recipe! Your method and ingredients may welcome those who were previously timid about the process. Thanks for sharing it with all. Irene @ KAF
07/05/2009
This is so easy to make and it frosts like a dream! It is very chocolately but so delicious. I have never made frosting from scratch before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm making my third batch today and I feel like a pro. :) The feedback provided by others has been a wonderful tool in helping me select recipes from this site. Thanks to everyone who has contributed their experiences. Happy baking!
05/04/2009
This was my first time making 'real' frosting from scratch (I've done the powdered sugar and milk/water thing, but nothing this involved) and I was really happy with the results. I used it with a yellow cake I made from scratch and the cake wasn't too sweet so the frosting balanced it out well. Went on easy and everyone said it was delicious. It is very rich, so even I might go on overload if it was paired with cake that was also rich.
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