This chocolate buttercream frosting is rich and creamy. Cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet chocolate along with a little coffee give plenty of dark chocolate oomph to this frosting. The frosting is the perfect consistency to pipe onto cupcakes or decorate a cake.
Top my gluten and dairy-free cupcakes with this frosting including my gluten-free dairy-free vanilla cupcakes, gluten-free coconut cake or my gluten-free strawberry cupcakes. This frosting would also be an amazing topping on my gluten-free chocolate orange loaf cake.
Ingredients
This is BUTTERcream and I definitely prefer the taste of butter. If you avoid dairy I recommend trying my vegan chocolate frosting instead of using a butter substitute in this recipe. I find that the vegan butter makes the frosting too runny and I don’t like the texture of shortening (even the organic ones).
I like to use both unsweetened cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet chocolate. The cocoa powder is a good punch of pure chocolate and the melted chocolate gives the frosting a nice creamy texture. If you are looking for an allergy-free chocolate, I am a huge fan of Enjoy Life chocolate.
The addition of a tad of instant coffee granules is a great flavor enhancer for chocolate,
I prefer my chocolate buttercream more on the bittersweet side so I use 3 1/4 c powdered sugar. Feel free to add another 1/3 cup if you like it closer to semi-sweet.
Frosting Consistency
This frosting holds up very well to piping it onto cupcakes or for decorating cakes. If you want a creamier, more spreadable consistency, add more milk (dairy-free is fine) a couple of teaspoons at a time. It is surprising how just a little liquid goes a long way.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting For Cupcakes
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Ingredients
- 2 sticks 8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsps vanilla powder or vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp milk or non-dairy substitute
Instructions
- Beat the butter with a stand or hand mixer for 1 minute.
- Add half of the sugar and half of the cocoa powder and beat on low until most of it is combined. Add the remaining sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low until most of the sugar is incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, Add the vanilla, salt and 3 Tbsp milk and beat on high for 1 minute.
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