I’ve been curious about ruby chocolate for awhile now, mostly because of its gorgeous, all-natural mauve coloring. So when I saw these Chocolove Ruby Cacao bars at my local New Season’s, I almost squealed! I thought it was a super rare find but it turns out you can find ruby chocolate bars at most grocery stores now, especially around Valentine’s Day. It’s the latest chocolate confection since the invention of white chocolate, only it’s made from the ruby cocoa bean with no added flavoring or food coloring.
I was totally (pleasantly!) surprised at the all-natural flavor of this Ruby Cacao bar – it tastes mostly like raspberry with a hint of chocolate. It’s a total pleasure to eat, not too sweet or bitter at all, but a perfect balance of fruit and chocolate flavor. I knew I had to try making it into a buttercream because I imagined it would pair perfectly with my favorite chocolate cake (spoiler alert: it is a match made in heaven). Plus I had to find out what color the buttercream would end up!
To make this ruby chocolate buttercream, I used the method as my white chocolate buttercream recipe: melt the chocolate, cool it to room temp, and add it after creating the butter/powdered sugar mixture. You’ll notice that this buttercream doesn’t have a lot of powdered sugar in it, but trust me. There’s some sort of magic that happens after you add the melted chocolate and whip it all together. It ends up making more buttercream than you would expect (about 3 cups), frosts and pipes like a dream, and has such incredible flavor! A must try if you’re ready to experiment with a new kind of chocolate.
You’re probably wondering why the color of this chocolate is pink, since cacao beans are typically brown. If you Google image search ruby cacao beans, they’re actually a bit more ruby in color (hence the name), and the resulting chocolate gets even more of a pink hue after the beans have been processed in a specific way. It’s wild, and I’m a fan.
Ruby Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
- 6 oz (170g) ruby chocolate, chopped into small bits
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (180g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) heavy whipping cream, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Add the ruby chocolate into a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until all the ruby chocolate is melted and there are no lumps. Alternatively, you can melt the ruby chocolate using a double boiler. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, add the powdered sugar, and mix until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, give the melted ruby chocolate a few stirs and make sure it’s not hot enough to melt the butter (if it is still too hot, wait a few minutes before adding!), then add it in. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla, heavy whipping cream, and salt and beat for another minute on medium.
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.
Did you make this recipe? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram so I can see what you’re caking. I love to see your creations!
Do you think this recipe would go well with other cake flavors besides chocolate? I am not sure what else I could pair it with!
Yes! I think this would pair amazingly with my Matcha Cake Recipe (https://sugarandsparrow.com/matcha-cake-recipe/), vanilla cake, coconut cake (https://sugarandsparrow.com/almond-joy-cake-recipe/) and basically any cake that would pair well with raspberry and notes of chocolate.
Can’t wait to try this!
I had been curious about how to use ruby chocolate as a frosting, and this appeared in my Google search. Right after I made it, I found the taste too buttery. But after being in the fridge overnight, the taste is perfect and not too sweet. I am not a fan of food dyes and wanted to make a natural pink frosting. I know I could have used beet powder, strawberries, etc, but I wanted to try it with ruby chocolate. I used it as a topping for angel food cupcakes. This recipe was easy and delicious. Thank you for posting!
So happy to hear you love this recipe, Kerri! I am a huge fan of natural food colorings as well! If you haven’t already, you should try some buttercream recipes with freeze dried fruit – not only are the colors amazing, but the flavors are out of this world. Here is a Freeze Dried Raspberry Buttercream Recipe I wrote up in case you’re interested, and you can sub in an equal amount of any freeze dried fruit to change the flavor/color: https://sugarandsparrow.com/raspberry-buttercream-recipe/
Hi Whitney!
I am lactose intolerant – is there another ingredient I could use to substitute the heavy whipping cream?
Hi Sara! You can use a non-dairy milk of your choice as a sub for the heavy whipping cream!
Can i usea condensed milk instead of the sugar???
Hi Paulina! I’ve never tried that before, but I don’t think it would work as condensed milk is a liquid and the powdered sugar is a solid (and necessary to give this recipe structure).
Flavor wise is great, but it seemed to have split on me or separated or something. Buttercream got firm and crumbly within a few hours.
Oh no, Brittany! I’m so sorry to hear that and wonder what went wrong. Was the melted ruby chocolate room temperature when you added it? The only thing I can think of is maybe it was too warm and melted some of the butter?
I am so excited to try this. Could you tell me what temperature the melted ruby chocolate should be before adding it to the buttercream? I am so afraid I will add it while it is too hot. Thanks.
Hi Rachel! I’m not sure the exact temp, but it basically needs to be room temp or slightly above. I usually melt it in the microwave, wait about 10 minutes, then dip my finger in it to test. If it feels just slightly warm or room temp then its ready.