Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to buttercream frosting? ›

In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time.

Too much sugar or not enough liquid can cause the buttercream to break or become too gritty. Using room temperature or softened butter, can also help create a smoother texture.

If you are making a chocolate frosting, adding more cocoa powder is a great option for thickening it. The technique is basically the same as if you were thickening with powdered sugar, but you want to use a smaller quantity of cocoa powder than icing sugar. Try adding just 1 to 2 teaspoon at a time.

Chill your cake first, apply the crumb coat, chill again and then frost it. If you are then piping design work, chill it again before adding the details. Keep the icing in the refrigerator when not using it, and only add cold icing to your piping bag.

Try not to overbeat the buttercream after all the ingredients have been added or you might add bubbles, which will ruin the texture of the icing. ... For the best results chill your cake and bring the icing to room temperature. You can also beat the buttercream for a few minutes to create great fluffy texture.

The best way to distinguish frosting from buttercream is through the ingredients. While both contain powdered sugar, fat, flavouring and sometimes milk or water, frosting does not contain any butter whatsoever. Instead, frosting is usually made with shortening or cream cheese.

Classically there are four main types of buttercream: Italian, German, French & Swiss.

You may be familiar with one - American Buttercream. You add sifted powdered sugar into softened butter and a bit of liquid to thin it out. I categorize this as a simple buttercream because no emulsifying is taking place. We're just adding bulk to the butter as solid sugar granules.

We suspect that the bitterness may have come from the chocolate used. There are now many dark chocolates available with very high cocoa content.

Why does my chocolate buttercream look curdled? ›

A: Buttercream curdling or 'splitting' after adding milk is a common problem, especially in winter. The reason for this is that butter is essentially an emulsion and when you add milk the additional water (full cream milk is almost 90% water) causes butter emulsion to split.

My Chocolate Buttercream is Really Light in Color. After beating so much air into the mixture, chocolate buttercream can lighten up in color. Of course this doesn't change the flavor at all, but if you want it a little darker, I have a tried-and-true trick.

There are a few ways you'll know your buttercream is too thin: it looks soupy, bulges out from between your cake layers when used as a filling, or the details droop when you try to pipe with it. Buttercream might end up too thin if you add too much liquid or if you're working in a warm kitchen.

If the frosting has not reached your desired thickness after chilling, add a few tablespoons of sifted powdered sugar to help your buttercream stiffen. If you're making royal icing, often used for decorating cookies, mixing to the right consistency is key to achieving clean, pretty lines and decorative features.

Buttercream melts from the warmth of your hands as you're piping along. Trick is to keep your hands as cool as possible or have two bags so they can be swapped over as one begins to soften. Keep the bags cool. Royal icing doesn't melt in the same way as buttericing because it's just sugar and egg whites.

Maybe the meringue whipped too long, cooling to well below 75°F (24°C). Maybe the butter came straight from the fridge. Maybe your buttercream was even frozen in advance, but didn't fully thaw. Doesn't matter why—if your Swiss meringue buttercream looks dense and greasy (or even tastes that way), it's simply too cold.

Be sure to use the flat paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Using a whisk attachment will cause air bubbles to form. If your buttercream has been sitting for an extended period, you will need to re-mix on your mixer's lowest setting for a minute or two, or mix by hand with a rubber spatula for a few minutes.

How do I get the buttercream to stick to the cake? Chill the cake for 2 hours before you frost it. It's hard to be patient, but wait! If you frost the cake before it's cooled, the butter in the frosting will melt and soak into your cake.