Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe
This is based on a simple chocolate frosting that appears in the Cake Bible. The ingredients are essentially just chocolate and butter. What’s nice about this approach, aside from its amazing simplicity, is it’s texture which is quite rigid, much like having a chocolate bar draped over a chocolate cake. It’s the perfect thing for little 6-year-old Josephine, who loves chocolate in solid form but is suspicious of creamy frostings. Don’t ask me why, kids are like that.
For all those tempted to turn this frosting into a chocolate epicure’s delight, I’ll warn you now that while you can substitute a proportion of darker, higher quality chocolates for the cheaper milk chocolate chips, the effect will be an even harder, more rigid exterior once it firms. Too much dark chocolate and you won’t be able cut the cake without having half the coating shatter, especially if you lay it on thick. The pedestrian approach, trust me, is the way to go. The formula is:
8 ounces (two sticks) softened butter
24 ounces (two bags) milk chocolate chips
To prepare the frosting, pour the chips into a microwave-safe bowl and melt by zapping the frosting for 10 seconds, stirring, and applying another 10-second zap until the chocolate is mostly melted. Stir it for several minutes, using the residual heat to completely melt the chips. Allow the chocolate to cool until it is barely warm to the touch. Combine both the butter and the melted chocolate in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat together for about a minute or more until the frosting is smooth. Apply to a cake before it starts to firm. The recipe may well make more than you need. Cupcakes anyone?
For my version for the older group i added nut butter(kinda like pb) and warmed up coffee (strong double brewed about half a cup to the cup and a half chocolate) to thin it out a bit and it was a huge hit!
Suh-weet! Nice tweaking there, Catrina! Thanks for the note!
– Joe
This is what I’ve been searching for, thanks!
Question: If I want it a bit closer to the consistancy of traditional cake frosting, how much more butter can I safely add without ruining the texture altogether?
That’s a good question, Merri!
I’d add another 2-3 ounces and see what you think. In theory you could go further, but that should loosen it up a bit. Not as much as a traditional buttercream of course…on which note you could always go that route. A swiss meringue buttercream with four or five ounces of good chocolate…that may be more what you’re look for.
Cheers and let me know how it goes!
– Joe