This homemade chocolate buttercream frosting recipe is very creamy, light, and super easy to make. A good quality cocoa powder, pasteurized egg whites, powdered sugar, and butter create a fluffy buttercream that pairs well with chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cake, or classic yellow cake. It's also the base I use for the black frosting on my black velvet cake. If you've never made an egg-based frosting before, your life is about to change for the better.
This frosting is like a mock-Swiss meringue buttercream. Instead of cooking egg whites and granulated sugar, we're skipping that step and using powdered sugar and pasteurized egg whites. It's super creamy and fluffy, is perfect for frosting cakes and cupcakes, and can be left at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
Table of contents
Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients
This delicious frosting comes together with just 6 simple ingredients. No surprise here, there is a lot of butter in this "butter" cream recipe, so it's best to use high-quality butter. Unsalted butter is best for baking so that you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. Just a pinch of salt will go a long way.
Many meringue-based frostings use eggs as a key ingredient. Pasteurized egg whites are heat treated and are safe to eat without cooking and normally come in a carton. If you only have fresh eggs, I suggest making my chocolate Swiss meringue recipe.
Making Chocolate Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer. You MUST use pasteurized egg whites for this recipe, not raw. Pasteurized egg whites are heat-treated (like milk) so they are safe to eat.
- Attach the whisk attachment and mix on high for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
- Add the vanilla, salt, and softened butter in small chunks. Whip on high until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes. Once it tastes like ice cream and not butter, it's done. You can also use a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer by hand, just mix for longer to get the right consistency.
- To avoid curdled and separated buttercream, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together and make extra creamy frosting.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create very smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy. This buttercream is stable at room temperature for 24 hours, will last refrigerated for up to two weeks, or frozen for up to 6 months.
Using Chocolate Buttercream
- This recipe is great for frosting cupcakes. 2F and 1M piping tips are my favorite.
- This makes about 6 cups of frosting and is enough frosting to frost and fill two 8" x 2" cakes or three 6" x 2" cakes.
- This chocolate buttercream isn't very stable in high temperatures. I like to replace some of the butter with shortening to make it more stable, or use this recipe as a filling for my cakes, and frost the outside with chocolate ganache.
Tips For Success
- Is this your first time decorating a cake? Watch my free video tutorial on how to decorate a cake for the first time.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients for the best results. Baking is a science!
- A stand mixer works best, but you can also use a hand-held electric mixer. If you use a hand-mixer then you may need to mix for longer to achieve the same consistency.
- Room temperature ingredients are important so that your ingredients mix together properly.
FAQ
With any homemade frosting, it's important to have all of your ingredients at room temperature or a little warm to create an emulsion. When some of the ingredients are cold, your ingredients won't emulsify together and will cause your buttercream to break. Fix this by melting about 1 cup in the microwave until it's barely melted and pouring it back into your whipping buttercream. This will heat up the rest of the ingredients enough to bring them all together to make the buttercream smooth and glossy.
Yes, instead of using cocoa powder, you can melt down about 4 ounces of chocolate, cool it to about 80°F, and add it to your finished buttercream. Be careful to not add your chocolate when it's too hot or it'll melt the butter in the frosting. The better the chocolate the better tasting the buttercream will be. I personally love Valhrona or Cacao Barry chocolate.
Oxidation causes chocolate buttercream to sometimes get darker overnight. If you want your buttercream to be even darker, combine your cocoa powder with a little of your butter and melt it in the microwave. Let it cool to 80°F and add it to your buttercream. This will make your buttercream much darker. You can also up the amount of cocoa powder in your buttercream and use a special dark or dutched cocoa powder.
This frosting is not a crusting buttercream, but it will get pretty hard in the fridge when the butter sets up. If you want a crusting buttercream, American buttercream with melted chocolate or cocoa powder will be your best bet. The heavy cream and lots of butter will lead to crusting and create a sweeter buttercream that is great in hot or humid areas.
Yes, this chocolate buttercream is great under fondant as long as you chill your cakes. It will go on super smooth on your cake and is delicious paired with my homemade marshmallow fondant recipe (LMF).
This buttercream will last in an airtight container frozen for up to 6 months or refrigerated for 2 weeks. When you're ready to use it, mix it on medium speed with the paddle attachment, microwave about 1 cup until it's just barely melted, and pour it back into the buttercream to make it smooth.
Related Recipes
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with the whisk and paddle attachments
Ingredients
- 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites (¾ cup)
- 24 ounces powdered sugar (about 6 cups)
- 3 ounces cocoa powder (about 1 cup)
- 24 ounces unsalted butter (3 cups) softened
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the pasteurized egg whites, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on high for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
- Add the vanilla, salt, and softened butter in small chunks and whip on high until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes. Once it no longer tastes like butter, it's done.
- If your buttercream looks curdled, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together and make extra creamy frosting.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create very smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy. This buttercream can be left at room temperature for 24 hours, refrigerated for up to two weeks, or frozen up to 6 months.
Video
Notes
- You MUST use pasteurized egg whites for this recipe, if you don't have pasteurized egg whites then you can use my chocolate Swiss-meringue recipe instead. Pasteurized egg whites are heat-treated (like milk) so they are safe to eat, raw egg whites are not. You can also pasteurize your own egg whites.
- You can also use a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer by hand, just mix for longer to get the right consistency.
- After refrigerating or freezing, always re-whip your buttercream before use. I melt one cup of the buttercream and mix it back in while whipping on high to make it creamy again.
- Instead of using cocoa powder, you can melt down about 4 ounces of real chocolate, cool it to about 80°F, and add it to your finished buttercream.
- If you want a more rich chocolate flavor, you can add more cocoa powder! You can also increase the powdered sugar for a sweeter frosting, but I wouldn't recommend adding less sugar.
Laurence says
Hello!
The metric conversion tool is not working. I prefer to use grams for baking. Can you please let me know the weight equivalent for this recipe? Thank you!
Liz Marek says
Here you go: 170 g egg whites, 680 g powdered sugar, 85 g cocoa powder, 680 g butter, 1 Tablespoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon salt. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Allison says
You mention subbing shortening for part of the butter to make it more stable. Are you using butter flavor shortening or white? Thank you for your help!
Liz Marek says
Just white
Jaz says
Have you tried this with carton egg whites (pasteurized)? Wondering if I can get the same results with just using those and mixing it more 🙂
Liz Marek says
Yes! Carton pasteurized egg whites are what this recipe uses. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Fatima says
Hi Liz,
Do you add the chunks of butter at one time or one at a time. I added them one at a time and then whipped for 8-10 minutes and the buttercream is too soft, almost soupy. What when wrong.
Liz Marek says
Add the butter in chunks while whipping. If it's soft, add a little more butter or chill it for 20 minutes and whip again. Also make sure everything is weighed, not measured in cups. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Peggy Stoll says
Love it, but I want to know how much shortening can I substitute for butter to make it more stable?
Elizabeth Marek says
Add small amounts at a time until its the consistency you want
Helen says
This was delicious, but the weights listed do not correspond to the cup measurements at all, which is weird. 680g powdered sugar is close to 6 cups, not 2.5. 85g cocoa powder is a full cup, not 1/3. 680g butter is 3 cups, not 2.5. I use measurements, so that was fine, but if anyone tries this using volume measurements, it's going to fail hard. I also used about 150g less powdered sugar than the recipe called for, because that's more to my taste, and it still worked great.
Liz Marek says
Thanks for flagging this! The cup measurements have been corrected to match the weights: 3 cups butter, about 6 cups powdered sugar, about 1 cup cocoa powder.
Alissa Deason says
I usually don't care for most frosting, but this stuff is amazing. I can eat it by the spoonful. I use salted butter and omit the additional salt and use Droste chocolate.
Liz Marek says
Droste is a great choice! So glad you love it.
Holly says
I am a big follower, but on this recipe your measurements don’t add up. I weigh my ingredients and 24 oz is way more than 2-1/2 cups. 3 oz of cocoa is way more than 1/3 cup. I made this twice and it’s too runny. I see other comments on this. Does an update need to be made .
Liz Marek says
Thank you for pointing this out! The cup equivalents were wrong, which explains the runny frosting. They're fixed now: about 6 cups powdered sugar, about 1 cup cocoa, and 3 cups butter.
Lan says
Really wanted to like this recipe as it was recommended by a few baker friends….I added all the correct ingredient measurements but it’s so watery? I live in a cold environment, so the heat isn’t an issue. It just wouldn’t firm up no matter how long it was whipped for 🙁
Liz Marek says
Thanks for trying it! The cup equivalents in the card were wrong and have been corrected, which may have been the issue if you measured by volume. If it's still soft, add a little more butter or chill it for 20 minutes and re-whip. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Olesya Tyner says
Hi there! So in your mock Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe, you also have 24 oz of butter, which is equivalent to 6 sticks, or 3 cups, but here you say 2.5 cups, or 5 sticks. I just made the chocolate buttercream for the first time, and it seems a lot more runny than the vanilla one. Which one is correct for this recipe, 2.5 cups or 3 cups?
Liz Marek says
Good catch! The cup conversions have been corrected in the recipe card. 24 ounces of butter is 3 cups, and 24 ounces of powdered sugar is about 6 cups.
Ericka says
So, can someone explain how 24oz is 2.5 cups of powered sugar? That doesn't add up in regards to weight
Liz Marek says
You're right, thank you! The cup amounts were off and have been fixed: 3 cups butter, about 6 cups powdered sugar, and about 1 cup cocoa powder.
Briana says
Quick question: I know it says 24oz of the butter is 2 1/2 cups, but wouldn't that actually be 3 cups instead?
Liz Marek says
Thanks for catching that! The cup equivalents were wrong, and they've been corrected: 24 ounces of butter is 3 cups, 24 ounces of powdered sugar is about 6 cups, and 3 ounces of cocoa is about 1 cup. Weighing gives the most reliable results.
Lori says
Tastes exactly like chocolate ice cream, my favorite as a kid. I couldn’t get it firm enough to pipe onto cupcakes, not anything at all like the picture. When I’m whipping the egg whites and sugar do I need to add more time? I tried chilling it and adding more sugar - no luck. What am I missing? I’m not ready to give up. It tastes so good!
Sugar Geek Show says
Oh no! Maybe your butter is too soft? Sometimes I'll stick my buttercream in the fridge for 20 minutes and it will firm up. If you add more sugar it will actually make it looser, so I'd try adding just the recommended amount of powdered sugar and see if that helps. If you live in a really hot area, you could also try doing 1/2 shortening, 1/2 butter and that will help with the stability.