This rich chocolate buttercream is my favorite chocolate frosting because it takes about 5 minutes to make, is super creamy, and intensely flavorful.
This is one of those go-to recipes that only requires a handful of ingredients, a few minutes of time, and comes out creamy, intensely chocolaty, and delicious every single time.
Just like my favorite American Buttercream recipe, the secret to an intensely creamy and flavorful Chocolate Buttercream is to add a bit of heavy cream and PLENTY of flavoring - including salt.
It's no secret that I'm an advocate of adding more salt to desserts and sweet baked goods than is considered "traditional". Most dessert recipes contain a smidge of salt - a kind of nod to its necessity without actually adding enough to make any kind of real difference to the flavor.
But, salt is not about making food taste salty. It's about bringing out the flavor of the other ingredients and providing balance. In dessert, salt somehow manages to brings out the sweetness AND provide a sort of counter balance so that you taste the flavor of sweet rather than being hit over the head with it.
For that reason, my recipes often call for salted butter and/or more salt than you might be used to in sweet treats.
For example, my all-time favorite Homemade Cinnamon Roll Recipe contains salt in the dough, the gooey cinnamon filling, and the cream cheese frosting. My favorite Strawberry Rhubarb Jam calls for some salt AND ground black pepper. And don't even get me started on how delicious salt is in creamy homemade Caramel Sauce.
For this chocolate buttercream, I wanted the primary characteristic to be rich and chocolaty, not sweet. To be clear, we are talking about frosting. It is sweet. But not the kind of sweet that sets your teeth on edge.
That's what I want from a recipe for quick chocolate frosting and I hope you'll love this as much as I do.
xo,
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Ingredients needed to make this recipe
- Powdered sugar: the fine texture of powdered sugar keeps this frosting smooth and creamy
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla is a wonderful compliment to chocolate, enhancing the flavor and smoothing out some of the bitterness.
- Salt! We've already talked about this a lot but let me say one more time that salt is essential to an intensely flavorful and balanced chocolate buttercream.
- Butter: I use salted butter to make this frosting, but if you're sensitive to salt, use unsalted butter and then add as much additional salt as you like.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Cocoa powder helps create a rich tasting, stable frosting that's easy to spread and ideal for piping.
- Almond Extract (not pictured): This is an optional, but highly recommended addition to chocolate buttercream. It adds warmth and depth to this frosting that I think is just wonderful. Almond extract carries a much more intense flavor than vanilla, so use it somewhat sparingly.
*If you're looking for a chocolate frosting recipe that uses real melted chocolate, check out this recipe for Milk Chocolate Buttercream!
Why I add heavy cream to buttercream
Want super creamy buttercream? Add some cream. Profound, right?
And yet, many buttercream recipes call for thinning the consistency with milk instead. The reason adding cream to buttercream makes it more creamy is because cream is really good at trapping air.
We all understand the concept of whipped cream - you start with a liquid, beat it for a while, and end up with something that you have to scoop rather than pour. You can beat milk all day long and you'll never end up with airy, fluffy, whipped milk.
So, using cream instead of milk makes chocolate buttercream creamier and more fluffy. But it also accomplishes something else that you might not expect - it makes the buttercream taste less sweet. Again, this is because of cream's ability to trap some air in there. Airy buttercream with a high fat content will not only taste less sweet, it will allow you to incorporate slightly less sugar than if you use milk.
As an aside, the same concept of using whipped cream to incorporate air into a recipe can be applied to cake and muffin batter. Folding in a half cup (or so) of whipped cream to cake batter, like my favorite recipe for Red Velvet Cake, can give cake a light, almost silky texture that's hard to beat.
Serving suggestions: My favorite cakes to frost with chocolate buttercream
Some of you are going to find this suspect, but two of my favorite cakes to cover in chocolate buttercream are Spice Cake and Chocolate Spice Cake.
The idea of combining warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg with chocolate is not unusual in many cultures. For example, Mexican chocolate includes cinnamon and sometimes other spices like nutmeg or allspice. And Moroccan chocolate desserts often include cardamom, cinnamon and orange peel.
So, icing a cake that's packed with the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and ginger with chocolate buttercream is really not a unique idea. The combination of flavors is interesting, complex, and absolutely delicious.
My other favorite cakes to cover in Chocolate Buttercream include:
More easy frosting recipes:
Chocolate Buttercream is a Building Block Recipe
Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me.
Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
Quick Chocolate Buttercream with Heavy Cream
This rich chocolate buttercream is my favorite chocolate frosting because it takes about 5 minutes to make, is super creamy, and intensely flavorful.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (12 ounces/ 339 grams) salted butter, at room temperature
- 4 cups (452 grams) powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
- ¾ cup (63 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup (76 grams) heavy cream
- ½ - 1 teaspoon salt, to taste (*see note)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, more to taste
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, optional
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl, starting with ½ teaspoon of salt. Beat on low with an electric mixer just until the ingredients are blended.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 3-5 minutes, until the buttercream looks fluffy and aerated.
- Taste and add more vanilla, almond extract, or salt if desired. If the buttercream is thinner than you'd like it to be, add more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
Notes
I like to use salted butter to make chocolate buttercream, but if you're sensitive to salt, use unsalted butter and then add as much or as little additional salt as you like.
How to store chocolate buttercream: This frosting will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze chocolate buttercream for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Allow the buttercream to come to room temperature then use an electric mixer to beat the frosting until it's fluffy and aerated.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: ¼ cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 161Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 164mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 27gProtein: 1g
Madalina says
The chocolate buttercream didn't work out at all. It was dry as anything 🙁 There is no way I could get it that fluffy with all the cups of cocoa and sugar with so little cream. Are the measurements ok? It turned out a mushy mess. Cake layers were great though so maybe it's something with this cream recipe.
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Madalina! I'm so sorry to hear that you had trouble with this buttercream recipe. Can I ask how much butter you added? Did you add all 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups)?
Paula Santurri says
Just wondered can you use carob powder instead of cocoa. I have replaced cocoa with carob in some recipes and fantastic.
I made the cake and it looks fantastic. I don't want to ruin it with the wrong frosting so if carob is a no no please let me know.
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Paula! I'm honestly not sure if substituting carob powder will work in this buttercream. My instinct is to say yes - I really don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. But, I've never tried it myself and a quick google search didn't turn up any recipes for buttercream that uses carob powder. So, I'm just not sure. If I were you, I'd go ahead and try it, but start with less carob powder than cocoa powder - maybe just 1/4 cup. Taste and add more until you get to the flavor that tastes right to you. If you do try this, will you let me know how it comes out for you? xo
constance says
I don't have heavy cream and we are under stay at home orders during cv-19, I do have regular milk, soy milk and coconut milk, as well as butter.... can I use any of these as substitute for the heavy cream?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Constance! Great question. I would just leave out the cream entirely, add an extra tablespoon or two of butter, and then add a tablespoon or two of milk or coconut milk if the buttercream is too thick. If it's a good spreadable consistency before adding the milk, don't worry about it. If it seems too thick, which will make it difficult to spread, add a bit of milk. Please let me know if you have any other questions! And I'd love to hear what you think of this buttercream after you make it. xo
Foodieglam says
This cake looks so beautiful!! I would eat it all not only one piece haha
Rebecca Blackwell says
Thank you! The cake you see pictured here is a spice cake and it's pretty tasty. 😋 If you make it, I hope you'll let me know what you think! xo