This easy chocolate buttercream gets its extra-chocolatey flavour from using both melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Perfect for birthday cakes, layer cakes and cupcakes.
Over the weekend I shared my chocolate birthday cake recipe and what chocolate cake is complete without a decent dollop of chocolate buttercream all over it? As soon as the chocolate cake recipe was perfected I got straight to work on creating the buttercream to go with it.
For some strange and unknown reason I decided to leave sorting out the buttercream until I’d got the cake recipe nailed down, which meant baking even more cakes to test each buttercream with (OK I probably could have tasted the buttercreams without the cake and narrowed it down to a few favourites – but where’s the fun in that!).
Spreading my chocolate buttercream over the chocolate sponge – yum!
This chocolate buttercream is delicious in its own right and could go with all sorts of flavours of sponge, but it was designed to perfectly compliment my new chocolate cake. The key feature of this buttercream is that, like the cake, it gets its chocolate-iness from a combination of both cocoa powder and melted chocolate.
- Melt your chocolate first and make sure you cool it down to room temperature before adding it into the buttercream (if it’s warm it’ll melt the butter and you’ll end up with runny icing). If you stir it you should find it cools down to the right temperature in just a few minutes.
- Make sure your butter is soft, don’t try using it straight out of the fridge. I’ve tried it – you get lumpy uneven buttercream.
- Add your icing sugar and cocoa powder a spoon at a time and mix them in on a very low speed – this will (hopefully) stop them flying around your kitchen too much – something icing sugar in particular loves to do in my house!
- I generally find that my buttercream is the right consistency after adding the melted chocolate, but if yours is a little stiff then add a tiny bit of milk (no more than a tsp at a time) and mix it in until you get the right consistency (you’re aiming for it to be soft enough that you could spread it onto a slice of bread without it tearing but not so soft that it drips off the knife before you have a chance to spread it). If your buttercream is a little soft after adding the chocolate then pop it into the fridge and you should find that it firms up a bit.
What You’ll Need
Before you start, make sure you have all of the equipment needed.
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Weighing Scales- Measuring Spoons
- Knife – to cut the butter
- Something to melt the chocolate in – either a bowl in the microwave, small saucepan, or bowl over a small saucepan.
- Electric Mixer (or a bowl and hand mixer or wooden spoon)
- Sieve
- Piping Bags – if you’re planning on piping the cupcakes
- Piping Nozzle – To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the pictures you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle.
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Chocolate Buttercream
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g unsalted butter - soft at room temperature
- 250 g icing sugar
- 150 g milk chocolate - choose a chocolate from the baking aisle as this won’t go grainy when it’s melted
- 40 g cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- A little milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Break the chocolate (150g) into pieces and melt it (either using short bursts in the microwave – stirring regularly, over the lowest possible heat in a saucepan – stirring constantly, or in a bain marie – stirring constantly).
- Once melted remove from the heat and pour into another bowl (this will help it to cool as it needs to be back to room temperature before mixing with the buttercream).
- Beat the butter (250g) until soft then add the vanilla extract (¼ tsp), cocoa powder (40g) and icing sugar (250g) and beat until fully combined (it’s easier to avoid the cocoa powder and sugar flying everywhere if you add it a spoonful at a time).
- Once the chocolate has cooled to room temperature (DO NOT add the chocolate when it’s still warm as it’ll melt the butter and your buttercream will end up too runny) pour it into the buttercream and beat until fully combined. You should find that the buttercream is soft and spreadable. If it is a little stiff then add milk a tsp at a time until it is the right consistency.
- Your buttercream is now ready to use.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
karen says
27 August 2019 at 9:42 amIs it just 250g of icing sugar you need as this doesn’t seem a lot will it not be too runny thanks
Charlotte Oates says
4 September 2019 at 2:59 pmIt’s not I promise. The addition of chocolate helps to firm it up as the chocolate cools and the cocoa powder also adds a little thickness. I tested the recipe with more icing sugar but found it far too sweet. It doesn’t crust as some more traditional buttercreams do, but it’s the perfect consistency for piping.
Antoinette Trainor says
23 August 2019 at 11:55 amI love baking. And, have been searching for years for a fool proof recipe for a Birthday Cake recipe. Both vanilla & chocolate. Voila …both your cakes are divine to eat, easy to follow every step of the way.i I’ve fondant iced & butter creamed both. Just couldn’t find fault. Thank you. Disaster free at last. Have wasted so much time & heartache in the past. Not to say money. To the faint hearted. Give it a go!!!
Eira says
13 August 2019 at 12:51 pmMade this for my granddaughter’s birthday which is on Saturday. It is now Tuesday. I haven’t made the buttercream yet just the cake. Will it be ok to keep in the fridge or best to leave it out of the fridge in an airtight container? I made a small cupcake also for me to taste! and it was so chocolatey – just yummy. I could eat it on its own without anything on it. I love how you explain your method of making the cake – it’s just like you were talking to me! Better than all my cookery books put together. So thank you.
ps haven’t baked in years! Hubby diabetic!
Charlotte Oates says
18 August 2019 at 12:45 pmEither is fine, as long as it’s stored in an airtight container.
Thanks for your lovely comment about my writing style – that’s made my day 🙂
Stephanie New says
11 August 2019 at 9:18 amHow far in advance can I make the buttercream?
Charlotte Oates says
11 August 2019 at 5:41 pmI usually make it just before using it as it goes all little fudgey as it sets and is tricker to pipe or spread if it’s made in advance.
Frances says
26 June 2019 at 3:41 pmI have made a 30cm double layer choc cake and filled it with the buttercream. I have also put thin layer of buttercream aound the edge. I will put readymade fondant icing over it and decorate. It’s Wednesday and I want it for Saturday. Should I keep it in the fridge? Will the fondant icing be ok in the fridge and does it need covering? Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
28 June 2019 at 1:43 pmI’d keep it in the fridge as the weather is quite warm at the moment. The fondant should be OK but it depends on the fridge a little as some seem to have a higher level of moisture than others which can make fondant go sticky. It’s tricky to say without knowing your fridge and also what else you have stored in there (as some foods help make the fridge moister).
Abigail Humphreys says
18 June 2019 at 1:27 pmHi Charlotte, I’ve made the chocolate cake with the chocolate buttercream many times now for birthdays and it has always been fantastic so thank you! I was wondering if you could use dark chocolate instead of milk and still get a great result?
Abigail
Charlotte Oates says
18 June 2019 at 2:20 pmYou can make it with dark chocolate. I make it with milk chocolate as that’s what I prefer to eat. If you prefer the richer flavour of dark chocolate then simply switch that in.
Abigail Humphreys says
19 June 2019 at 10:21 amAwesome thank you! Will be baking on Friday for my sons birthday!
Abigail’
Gordon says
26 May 2019 at 7:34 pmHow far in advance could you bake and frost a cake in advance. I have a Sunday birthday party.. Either the Wednesday or Friday before are the only days I have any time to bake.
Have used your vanilla sponge with frosting and fondant for the last 3 years which kept well. This time I only want frosting on top.
Charlotte Oates says
30 May 2019 at 6:28 pmI usually bake my cakes on a Friday for a Sunday party (and decorate on Satured). However, the cakes are still good to eat about 4-5 days after the party (if they’re kept stored in an airtight container), so if you needed to make it earlier then it should still be fine.
Nikki says
8 May 2019 at 11:57 amI tried this recipe but mine turned out really dark looking not nice and light like in the picture, what could I have done wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
9 May 2019 at 2:54 pmIt could be the type of chocolate or cocoa powder you used as the colour of the buttercream is driven by those two factors. It could also be how much the buttercream has been beaten as I tend to find it lightens a little the more it is beaten. Finally, it could just be it was very sunny on the day I photographed it!
If you look at my chocolate orange cupcakes you’ll see the buttercream looks much darker. It’s the same recipe with added orange extract and so theoretically the colour should be similar but the way it photographed it looks quite a bit darker.
Nikki says
10 May 2019 at 7:34 amThanks for the reply, I’m making it again later so will see how it turns out. I’m sure it will still taste amazing no matter the colour
Annie Smith says
6 May 2019 at 5:16 pmHave not made cake yet but wonder what fondant icing you use. Do you make your own?
Charlotte Oates says
7 May 2019 at 4:37 pmI usually use Tesco own brand fondant icing.