This rich chocolate buttercream is my go-to, all-time 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.
The Importance of Salt in Buttercream
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.
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. I don't want to mislead - This buttercream IS sweet (it's frosting, after all), but not the kind of sweet that sets your teeth on edge. I don't think "sweet" is even the first word that will come to mind when you first taste it.
To that end, I suggest you use salted butter PLUS at least another ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix everything up with an electric mixer and taste it. If you like the flavor as is, leave it alone and get to frosting whatever it is you made this buttercream for. If you want to intensify the flavor even more, add a bit more salt and even a bit more vanilla and almond extract.
Adding Cream Makes Buttercream Extra Creamy
Want super creamy buttercream? Add some cream. Profound, eh? 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.
Vanilla and Almond Extract are Essential Flavorings for Chocolate Buttercream
Vanilla is a fascinating ingredient because it somehow manages to make the different flavors in desserts play nice with each other. I don't really understand why this is, I just know it's true. In most cases, if you feel that the flavors in a dessert just aren't coming together, a teaspoon of vanilla will do the trick. It's like a band in which every musician is playing their own tune, competing to be heard, and then suddenly they all start playing together in perfect harmony.
This quality is the reason vanilla is used so much in baking. And it's one of the reasons I've chosen to include so much of it in this recipe for chocolate buttercream. The second reason is because vanilla interacts with chocolate in a way that intensifies its flavor and gives it more complex, nuanced characteristics.
In general, I think a tablespoon of vanilla is the perfect amount in this buttercream. But, there are no rules here. Add less if you think that might be too much. Taste it and add more if you don't feel there's enough.
While vanilla extract is common to most desserts and baked goods, seeing almond extract in the ingredient list is somewhat unusual. This is a shame because a touch of almond extract adds warmth and flavor to everything from cakes, to muffins, to cookies, and of course, buttercream.
Almond extract is a MUST in desserts like Almond Plum Cake, Peach Almond Thumbprint Cookies, and Cherry Turnovers with Cream Cheese and Almonds. But, you might be surprised to find that just a half of a teaspoon of almond extract boosts the flavor in a wide variety of pastries from Apple Cobbler to Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Almond extract carries a much more intense flavor than vanilla, so use it somewhat sparingly. In this recipe start with a teaspoon or less and then add more if you like, drop by drop, until the buttercream has the flavor you prefer.
What Cakes are Best with Chocolate Buttercream?
Some of you are going to find this suspect, but the most recent cake I covered in chocolate buttercream was Spice Cake. And it was fabulous. 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 Classic Yellow Cake, Devil's Food Cake, and Vanilla Cake. I also sometimes forgo the caramel topping on these Buttermilk Cupcakes, opting for a swirl of chocolate buttercream instead.
And, when I'm not slathering this One Layer Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream, this simple chocolate buttercream is the perfect choice.
Other popular buttercream 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! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
Quick Chocolate Buttercream
This rich chocolate buttercream is my go-to, all-time favorite chocolate frosting because it takes about 5 minutes to make, is super creamy, and intensely flavorful.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (1 & ½ cups) salted butter, at room temperature (*See note)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup 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 then turn the mixer to high and beat for 3-5 minutes, until the buttercream is fully blended and "fluffy".
- 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.
- Taste and add more vanilla, almond extract, or salt if desired. If the buttercream is thinner than you'd like it to be, add a bit more powdered sugar to thicken it up.
Notes
- Here's how to quickly bring butter to room temperature
- 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.
- Chocolate Buttercream will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze this buttercream for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Always allow the buttercream to come to room temperature before re-beating for 30 seconds or so and using.
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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