Chocolate Fudge Frosting (With Melted Chocolate)
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The chocolate flavor in this chocolate fudge icing recipe comes from melted unsweetened chocolate, giving it a creamy, old-fashioned chocolate fudge flavor. This is my favorite chocolate frosting for topping fudgy brownies and piping onto chocolate chip cookie cake.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS CHOCOLATE FROSTING RECIPE
When it comes to the perfect indulgent chocolate frosting, I almost always turn to this chocolate buttercream recipe right here. It was the first ever chocolate frosting I made from scratch, and it stole my heart with one lick.
It comes together easily, boasts a rich chocolate flavor that is reminiscent of old-fashioned chocolate fudge, and is worlds better than anything you can find in a tub of store-bought frosting.
CHOCOLATE FROSTING: COCOA POWDER OR MELTED CHOCOLATE?
In the world of chocolate desserts, there are a few different avenues you can explore when it comes to bringing the chocolate flavor.
Most of the time, cakes, cupcakes, and cookies rely on Dutch-process cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder to bring chocolate flavor. By using these powdered chocolate ingredients, we can keep the crumb soft and light while still bringing plenty of chocolate flavor to whatever it is we’re baking.
When we’re looking for a deep chocolate flavor but don’t necessarily need to keep things light, some bakers turn to chocolate chips, melted dark chocolate, or chocolate ganache to bring the chocolate flavor– think dense and fudgy homemade brownies.
In this particular frosting recipe, we’re bringing all of the chocolate flavor from melted chocolate, unsweetened chocolate to be more specific. This is a great recipe for topping a chocolate fudge cake, a tray of brownies, or sheet cakes. It has a lighter, creamier chocolate taste compared to a frosting made with cocoa powder, so it is the perfect complement for baked goods that are already richly chocolatey.
If you’re in the market for a chocolate buttercream frosting with cocoa powder, I’ve got you covered there, too!
In fact, I am so confident in my buttercream recipes that I actually dedicated an entire cookbook to American buttercream, and it is one of my favorite resources for all of my very best tricks for making perfect buttercream frosting for any occasion. You’ll find both of these chocolate frosting recipes in that book.
Grab my COOKBOOK
THE HOME BAKER’S GUIDE TO BASIC BUTTERCREAM
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INGREDIENTS FOR THE BEST CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING
While you may not have unsweetened chocolate in your pantry, it’s likely you have the remaining simple ingredients on hand if you are even a casual home baker.
For this chocolate buttercream, you will need:
• unsweetened baking chocolate
• butter
• vanilla extract
• milk or cream
• powdered sugar
• salt
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE FLUFFY CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING
The process for making this chocolate buttercream is very simple. It can be ready to use in about 30 minutes, which includes about 15 minutes of cooling time for the melted chocolate mixture.
STEP #1
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the unsweetened baking chocolate and the butter, stirring constantly to prevent scorching or burning. Remove this mixture from the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.
STEP #2
Next, in a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cooled chocolate/butter mixture, vanilla extract, and milk or cream, starting with ¼ cup (60mL).
STEP #3
Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the powdered sugar and salt. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until completely combined, scraping down sides as needed. Add more liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. Buttercream is ready to use right away.
HOW TO DECORATE WITH CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING
What you will love about this perfect frosting is that it holds its shape nicely enough to pipe with a piping bag and tip or spread with a spatula. If you find that it is too loose to pipe, stick it in the refrigerator for a bit so the chocolate can harden a bit.
Waiting for the chocolate mixture to cool before proceeding with the recipe is imperative in order not to melt the whole batch of frosting, but it can leave the whole batch of frosting warmer than you are used to when you make buttercream from room temperature ingredients instead.
HOW TO USE THIS RECIPE
This buttercream recipe is perfect with so many cake, cupcake, cookie, or brownie recipes out there. As written, this recipe will top 24 cupcakes or frost a 2-layer cake (I always suggest scaling it up a bit if you want more for piping!).
If you would like to frost a pan of 8″ brownies, a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, or 24 sugar cookies, halve the recipe.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS
UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE: while I highly recommend using unsweetened chocolate for this recipe, you can use different chocolate in a pinch. This recipe is written specifically for the taste and water content of unsweetened chocolate, so using something else may change your flavor result as well as the consistency of the frosting. If you are looking for a chocolate frosting made with cocoa powder, I have a recipe for that one.
MILK/BUTTER: since bar chocolate contains milk, it is near impossible to keep chocolate frosting made in this manner vegan or dairy-free. That said, you can use plant-based milk as well as plant-based butter to make this chocolate frosting if need be.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING FAQs
MORE CHOCOLATE FAVORITES FROM FRESH APRIL FLOURS
Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (113g) unsweetened baking chocolate1 coarsely chopped
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ to ¾ cup (120-180mL) milk or cream
- 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan2 over medium heat, melt the unsweetened baking chocolate and the butter, stirring constantly to prevent scorching or burning. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
- In a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cooled chocolate/butter mixture, vanilla extract, and milk or cream, starting with ¼ cup (60mL).
- Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the powdered sugar and salt. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until completely combined, scraping down sides as needed. If it starts to clump, just keep mixing. It will work itself out.
- Add more liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. Buttercream is ready to use right away. Store leftovers covered at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 6 weeks. Frosting freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. You may need to beat it again for a minute or two to bring it back to life.
Notes
- Unsweetened chocolate: if all you have or can find is semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, you can still make this frosting. You may just need less liquid, so take care when adding liquid to the frosting base.
- Saucepan: you can also melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or the top of a double boiler.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Made this with a yellow cake – absolutely delicious! My kids licked the bowl clean!
Haha, I bet! We love it on yellow cake– my fav!
This came out rich and creamy and we cannot get enough of it!!
Right? So so good! Thanks so much, Min!