Basic Chocolate Buttercream Icing

I think this is a really nice starting point for a chocolate buttercream. I liked the amount of cocoa powder, which really gave it a nice chocolaty flavor. I only added enough powdered sugar to suit my tastes (probably like 3-3 1/2 cups), plus a good pinch of salt. I also prefer to use heavy cream vs milk in my frostings; so I did that here as well. I do think that the recipe could use more butter. I don't feel like there was enough when compared to the amount of dry ingredients. I think that may be the cause of what some other reviewers were describing as "chalkiness". I would also make sure to cream the butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder together for several minutes, then add in the milk/heavy cream and vanilla. This helps the powdered sugar dissolve a bit more; which results in a smoother frosting. Overall though, not a bad frosting. I would make it again with more butter. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

This icing is SO good! I used it to decorate vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, it was perfect!

I used black cocoa for the darker chocolate look

I need to double the recipe as this one will barely cover a two layer cake! We like lots of icing. It has a wonderful flavor!

super easy and delicious