If you’ve landed here from Instagram, welcome! You’ll notice that this is an ad-free website with no annoying pop-ups. I work very hard creating and testing delicious recipes to share with you. So if you like this recipe or any of my other popular recipes, make sure to follow me on Instagram and/or TikTok.
This is the ultimate silky, smooth, deeply chocolate frosting. I developed this recipe mostly because I couldn’t find a chocolate frosting recipe that didn’t taste gritty and/or look speckled from the cocoa powder. Swiss meringue buttercream with melted chocolate added is one alternative. But, while it is smooth, silky and perfect for piping, it’s missing that deep chocolate richness. Another option is chocolate ganache. It looks rich and creamy in those viral videos, but it’s a little too rich and overpowering to use as frosting in my opinion.
I think this frosting is the one! It has the best of both worlds, velvety but not too rich. You’ll notice that this frosting contains maple syrup. The syrup gives it a very subtle maple flavor in the background, but mostly, it helps to make the frosting silky and gives it shine. You can adjust the sweetness level of the frosting by choosing the chocolate you prefer. I used bittersweet chocolate, which I think is just right. This recipe makes enough frosting to frost a 2-layer 6-inch cake. You can easily double the recipe for larger cakes.
| Servings |
servings
|
- 1/2 cup (148ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) water
- 3/4 cup (67g) unsweetened Dutch process or dark cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder optional
- 8 ounces (113g) bittersweet 70-72%) or semisweet chocolate, chopped Not chocolate chips**
- 1 1/4 cups (283g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Ingredients
|
|
- In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the maple syrup, water, cocoa powder, and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir gently until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth and light in color. Add the powdered sugar and salt and continue beating until smooth and well combined.
- Gradually add the cooled maple syrup mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
- Stir in the melted chocolate until well combined. Smooth out any air bubbles by stirring gently with a rubber spatula.
*To find my favorite Dutch process cocoa powder, click here.
**For the smoothest results, use chopped bar chocolate and make sure chocolate is completely melted. Do not use chocolate chips. They contain an ingredient which prevents them from melting completely and may make your frosting lumpy.