One of my friends described this chocolate buttercream perfectly: it’s the kind you have to put in the sink and cover with water so you don’t eat the whole bowl. I think she’s totally right, because time and time again I find myself eating this stuff by the spoonful. I’m a huge fan of all things chocolate, so it doesn’t surprise my that this is my favorite buttercream of all. Yes, those are strong words, but this is how I feel.
The funny thing is there isn’t anything fancy about the process of making this buttercream or the ingredients involved, but the end result is amazingly tasty! It’s a simple American buttercream with cocoa powder added. I always opt for Hershey’s natural unsweetened cocoa powder for this one, but any unsweetened cocoa powder will do just fine. One thing to note about this recipe is that as soon as you finish whipping it up, the color looks like a light brown at first, but then ends up looking darker as the cocoa powder starts to saturate it. The end result is something more like the medium brown below.
You can pair this chocolate buttercream with just about any cake flavor that goes well with chocolate. My all-time favorite cake combination is pairing this chocolate buttercream with this chocolate cake recipe. I am pretty biased because I’m a huge fan of all things chocolate, but trust me on this one – it’s perfect! But beware, whatever cake you top it with, you’re gonna want to eat the extra by the spoonful. Consider yourself warned!
Here’s a quick recipe video to show you the process before you read all about it below:
PS: If you’re into cake decorating videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel! Click the Subscribe button while you’re there so you never miss a new video.
Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 Cups (360g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 Cup (45g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium-high speed until creamy and light in color, 4-5 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, salt, and vanilla extract. Cover the mixer with a clean kitchen towel (to prevent ingredients flying out of the bowl), then turn the mixer to low and mix until all ingredients start to come together.
- Remove the kitchen towel, scrape down the bowl and paddle, then continue mixing on low speed until uniform and smooth, 2-3 minutes.
Notes
- Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
- Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe.
Hi! Would you sift the icing sugar like in your vanilla buttercream? And the cocoa powder? Thanks!
Hi Lorena! I don’t usually sift the icing sugar or cocoa powder, only because I’m lazy haha! You totally can, but in my experience it hasn’t really made enough of a difference to go the extra mile.
Hi,
It’s baking! I bought some Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, not seeing that it says Dutched on it. Is that okay to use for the frosting, I still have some regular?
Thanks for the great instructions and video!
Hi Eileen! You can use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa for the frosting if you want, it will take on the dark cocoa flavor but will work just fine!
Love your other recipes! I’m making the chocolate buttercream for the first time and would like to know if I can sub heavy cream for whole milk? Or 1% milk for the whole milk? Or will this change the consistency?
Hi Amber! You can use heavy cream or 1% milk as a substitute for the whole milk. It may be a little thicker with the heavy cream, but shouldn’t affect the consistency enough to throw anything off!
I made this cake and frosting last night. I had no whole milk so used half skim and half heavy whipping cream in a double recipe for 3 – 8” layers. It was a bit thick by oh so delicious. The cake ended up too tall for my cake carrier as I needed to take it to work for a birthday. I had to also take the little bit of left over frosting so I could repair it once I took the lid off. Was so looking forward to slathering the leftover on some cookies for a light snack. Anyway it was a hit!! Another coworker has requested it already for her birthday. One question. I could never get the frosting as smooth looking as your picture. It has little bubbles/holes when I spread it. I also left it unrefrigerated overnight and when I took the lid off at work the frosting looked slightly speckled. Didn’t hurt the flavor just not sure what caused that. Any suggestions? Thank you for this. It’s a keeper!!
Hi Pat! I’m so happy this recipe was such a hit! To make your frosting smoother next time, I recommend adding a little more liquid (room temperature whole milk or heavy whipping cream) to thin the frosting out slightly and get rid of any air bubbles. Be sure to mix everything on low speed after Step 1. I’m not sure what would cause speckling, I’ve never seen that before. The only thing I can think of is perhaps there were small lumps in your cocoa powder that didn’t get fully mixed in? Sometimes cocoa powder can be clumpy, so next time try sifting it before adding it in.
If i wanted it to be less sweet is it okay to leave half the powdered sugar?
Hi Kaiya! The powdered sugar is what builds the frosting consistency, so if you half the frosting, it may end up being too runny to pipe or frost. Instead, I would recommend reducing the powdered sugar by 1/2 Cup and counteracting the sweetness with salt.
Hi I’m looking to make this cake for my sister’s 16th birthday as a surprise! I’ll be making this on Thursday. I just wondered is this recipe enough for the 3 tiered cake that you have linked it with? Just want to make sure that I have everything ready for the big day!
Yay, Shannon! To make enough for a triple layer cake (like the chocolate cake recipe linked to this post), I always double this recipe to have enough for filling and frosting. Enjoy!
How would you suggest making this a darker “chocolate” color?
Hi Donna! If you want to darken this buttercream, you could add some dark brown food coloring like this Americolor “Chocolate Brown”: https://amzn.to/2Hew27F
Hi, I’m wanting to cover a cake with chocolate buttercream then doing colourful drip. In you vanilla buttercream you provide options for consistency. Is this a good consistency for covering cakes?
Hi Becks! It is a great consistency for covering cakes. I use it for this all the time! And you can always add up to a Tbsp extra milk to thin it out if you prefer a thinner consistency.
When making cake flour from all purpose flour do you substitute 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for every cup of flour .
Yes, that’s correct! For every cup of flour, replace 2 Tbsp of the flour with 2 Tbsp cornstarch.
This cake and frosting is a hit with my family. I’ve made 3 birthday cakes
So happy to hear that, Joann!! Makes my day!
If I want to make a colored frosting do I just leave out the chocolate? Would I need to replace it with something else?
Hi Heather! To make a colored buttercream, I always start with a white buttercream like vanilla. My vanilla buttercream recipe can be found here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-buttercream-recipe/
Happy to have just found your site. Lots I see that I’d like to make!
Thank you so much for sharing, your cakes are gorgeous and the perfect inspiration!
Thanks so much, Melanie!!
Is 2 cups of buttercream is enough to cream the whole cake? If no, how much do you use for a 6in cake like your picture? Thanks! ☺️
Hi Jenny! To frost a 6 inch cake, I double this recipe. That will be enough to fill and frost the cake 🙂
What did you use the decorate the cake after frosting it? It looks beautiful and I want to try this!
Thanks so much, Judy! For the cake pictured, I used Wilton Tip 1M to pipe a rosette rope border around the top and then decorated with SprinklePop Sprinkles in the “Rainbow Road” mix: https://amzn.to/30kzeZy
nice consistency but insanely sweet. I usually use Italian buttercream so that might be why.
Hi Marie-Anne! Yes, American buttercream is the sweetest of all buttercreams, so if you’re used to Italian buttercream it’s going to seem really sweet. You can try decreasing the amount of powdered sugar by 1/2 cup and adding a little more salt to balance things out if you want to try again!
Nice!