This Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting goes along with this Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake. That recipe card covers both, but this frosting is just too good to not have it’s own post! It would be great on so many different cakes or cupcakes. Don’t be turned off by the number of steps here. This recipe is originally from Cook’s Illustrated, which means every step and ingredient serves a specific purpose in turning out the most delicious end result! I’m so glad I stuck with the recipe and made this frosting. It’s more labor intensive than beating some butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder together but it’s sooo worth it. The flavor is so perfect. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, so the great chocolate flavor really shines through. You’re going to come back to this one again and again, I promise!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Semisweet chocolate – Chocolate chips work great, but so would a chopped up chocolate bar.
- Unsalted butter – Use real, unsalted butter. The butter in this recipe gets cooked with sugar. Although you could probably use salted butter, the salt at that step could affect the way the sugar dissolves. Adding it at the end helps highlight the chocolate flavor as well, so unsalted butter is preferred!
- Granulated sugar
- Light corn syrup – Like Karo brand. This is not high-fructose corn syrup, by the way. It’s mostly glucose and helps prevent sugar crystals from forming. You’ll find it on the baking aisle near the other syrups.
- Vanilla extract
- Table salt
- Heavy cream
How to Make Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting
- Start by melting some chocolate. The glass bowl you see in the pictures is sitting on top of a pan of simmering water. After the chocolate is melted, set the bowl aside and dump out the water that was in the pan. Now you’ve already got a warm pan for the next step (butter melting). Remember that when you read the recipe and it tells you to use 2 pans. I’m all about one less dish to
have sitting in my sink for dayswash. - To the melted butter, you’ll add a little corn syrup, vanilla, and granulated sugar. As soon as it’s all melted together and the sugar is dissolved, add it to a large bowl along with the chocolate. The beautiful, glorious, melted chocolate. And also some heavy cream. You know, for good measure.
- You’ll stir this all together and have sort of a chocolate sauce consistency. Place your bowl in a bowl of ice to bring the temperature down, and just keep stirring until the mixture starts hardening against the side of the bowl. Then you can pop the paddle attachment on your mixer and start whipping. Magically it turns thick and fluffy.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished frosting in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes then rewhip briefly before using.
- Don’t overcook your sugar mixture! Keep the heat low and remove it from heat as soon as you don’t see sugar crystals.
- If you jumped the gun and didn’t cool your frosting mixture enough, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and whip again!
- Note that the texture of this frosting is so light and soft, and whippy, that this frosting would probably be best for slathering- like smeared all over a cake, or just plopped on top of cupcakes, as opposed to piping. If you’re looking for a good chocolate icing for piping- try this Chocolate Frosting!
Frequently Asked Questions
For sure! Just store it in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and then rewhip to restore texture before using.
This recipe is best for semi-sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate will result in a softer, sweeter frosting (likely overly sweet) with a less deep chocolate flavor. White chocolate is mostly sugar and cocoa butter, with no cocoa solids, so it melts and behaves quite differently than semisweet chocolate. I would not expect the frosting to turn out well at all with white chocolate!
Regular whipping cream would be an ok substitution, but your frosting may not whip up as firmly. I would not use milk.
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped (I measured 16 ounces chocolate chips on a kitchen scale, it’s a teeny bit more than 2 ½ cups.)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoons table salt
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy cream
Instructions
- Melt Chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of stand mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1-2 minutes (frosting should be 70℉). Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.
Notes
- Store finished frosting in the fridge in an airtight container. When ready to use, let sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes then rewhip briefly before using.
- Don’t overcook your sugar mixture! Keep the heat low and remove it from heat as soon as you don’t see sugar crystals.
- If you jumped the gun and didn’t cool your frosting mixture enough, or it just seems a little too soft, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and whip again!
- Note that the texture of this frosting is so light and soft, and whippy, that this frosting would probably be best for slathering- like smeared all over a cake, or just plopped on top of cupcakes, as opposed to piping. If you’re looking for a good chocolate icing for piping- try this Chocolate Frosting!
Questions & Reviews
Do you think that I could use milk in place of the heavy cream? Thanks!
Nope- the cream is an absolute must!
hi, what can you use if you don’t have corn syrup. Ivy@Malaysia
Hi Ivy- some other readers have suggested aAgave nectar, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, or honey. Although honey would change the flavor just a little.
I made this cake and frosting tonight and it was the bomb! The frosting is almost like a mousse. A bit more labor intensive than the “normal” chocolate frosting but soooo much easier to spread and super tasty. I wouldn’t make it w/ milk chocolate chips(as asked about in above comment) as it would sickening sweet. And I’m a milk chocolate kind of girl. I love how perfectly this cake cuts and presents itself. Too bad I ate way too much frosting before it was actually on the cake and then I couldn’t finish my piece.
What do you think about using white chocolate chips in this? If you can believe it my daughter does not like dark or milk chocolate. She does however love white chocolate. Her birthday is coming up so I may just give it a try. Of course I’ll have to make it before hand to test it.
I don’t know Erin…you would then have to leave out the cocoa powder as well and that would change things. You’d have to experiment with that one.
Do you think this frosting would spread well over your sugar cookie recipe? How much frosting does it make, more or less than the sugar cookie recipe gives you?
ohh, that would be so good. The frosting probably makes more than the cookies.
Hmmm…okay. I know this frosting probably doesn’t store well…I guess I’ll have to make the cake as well as the cookies! 🙂 Just kidding. Thanks anyway!
I just made this frosting and it turned out like sugar cookie dough. Not light and fluffy. URGH! I didn’t have a food scale so I just eyeballed the chocolate chips, do you think I just maybe put too many in? So frustrating since this recipe takes so many steps. However, it does taste delicious! There is no way this would ever spread over a cake though. Too doughy.
do you know of a way to save the frosting?
I’m such a dork. I forgot to ADD THE CREAM! I added it after the fact and it still turned out. I’m an idiot!
I’m glad I’m over here having a conversation with myself…
Lol! I was sitting here trying to figure out how you could possibly get a “doughy” consistency from that! Glad you figured it out 🙂
I just made this for some cupcakes. To answer another person’s question, yes, you can pipe this on cupcakes. Just let it sit in the fridge for at least 15 – 30 minutes (or longer) beforehand and it firms up nicely.
I did have a question though: has anyone tried this with milk chocolate and perhaps a bit less sugar? I like milk chocolate a lot better than semi-sweet and really tasted the semi-sweet chocolate in this recipe. Would it be too sweet with milk chocolate?
If you like milk, go ahead and try it. I bet it would taste great if you like it a little sweeter. I probably wouldn’t adjust the sugar *too* much though.
I just tried making this recipe with milk chocolate…and for those of you milk chocolate lovers….YUM! Just buy yourself a bunch of Hershey bars (or your favorite brand of milk chocolate). I used a scant 1/3 cup of sugar and it turned out great.
I have a question for you. How do you stay so THIN when you are constantly cooking yummy things like this?!?!?!
Answer: I don’t! lol Honestly though, it’s all about moderation. Good, healthy eating habits and regular exercise, and then you can enjoy the indulgences too!
At last!!! A delicious frosting recipe that doesn’t taste and feel like straight butter! You have no idea how long I’ve waited for a recipe like this. I could just kiss you through my computer (but I won’t, because that would be weird).
Thank you Sara!!.. I will definitely make this cake!!! Thank you . Bea